--- title: “Thou seest plainly that we are not able to keep our children, and I… — The Blue Fairy Book · tree and pragmatics description: “Thou seest plainly that we are not able to keep our children, and I cannot see them starve to death before my face; I am resolved to lose them in the wood to-morrow, which may very easily be done; for, while they are busy in tying up fagots, we may run away, and leave them, without their taking any --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg503/33/9/) [home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/) / [tales](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/) / [The Blue Fairy Book](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg503/) / [Little Thumb](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg503/33/) / 9 # The Blue Fairy Book, Little Thumb, sentence 9 “Thou seest plainly that we are not able to keep our children, and I cannot see them starve to death before my face; I am resolved to lose them in the wood to-morrow, which may very easily be done; for, while they are busy in tying up fagots, we may run away, and leave them, without their taking any notice.” **Who acts:** Thou, we, scarce, children · **What happens:** see, not be, keep, not see, starve, resolve · **To what, where:** children, scarce, wood, morrow, fagots, notice This is a sentence of «The Blue Fairy Book» by Andrew Lang, Little Thumb. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (Thou, we, scarce, children), what happens, when and where, as Mova's frames read it from the tree. **Parsed by Mova, not checked by a teacher.** This tree is Mova's own parse (the `en` model, on the CPU, when the site is built); it may be wrong. ## The tree {#tree} ```conllu # sent_id = book:pg503:33:9 # text = “Thou seest plainly that we are not able to keep our children, and I cannot see them starve to death before my face; I am resolved to lose them in the wood to-morrow, which may very easily be done; for, while they are busy in tying up fagots, we may run away, and leave them, without their taking any notice.” 1 “ " PUNCT `` _ 3 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 2 Thou thou PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=2|PronType=Prs|Style=Arch 3 nsubj _ _ 3 seest see VERB VBP Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=2|Style=Arch|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 0 root _ _ 4 plainly plainly ADV RB _ 3 advmod _ _ 5 that that SCONJ IN _ 9 mark _ _ 6 we we PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=1|PronType=Prs 9 nsubj _ _ 7 are be AUX VBP Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=1|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 9 cop _ _ 8 not not PART RB Polarity=Neg 9 advmod _ _ 9 able able ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 3 advcl _ _ 10 to to PART TO _ 11 mark _ _ 11 keep keep VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 9 xcomp _ _ 12 our our PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=1|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 13 nmod:poss _ _ 13 children child NOUN NNS Number=Plur 11 obj _ SpaceAfter=No 14 , , PUNCT , _ 19 punct _ _ 15 and and CCONJ CC _ 19 cc _ _ 16 I I PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs 19 nsubj _ _ 17 can can AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 19 aux _ SpaceAfter=No 18 not not PART RB Polarity=Neg 19 advmod _ _ 19 see see VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 11 conj _ _ 20 them they PRON PRP Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs 19 obj _ _ 21 starve starve VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 19 xcomp _ _ 22 to to ADP IN _ 23 case _ _ 23 death death NOUN NN Number=Sing 21 obl _ _ 24 before before ADP IN _ 26 case _ _ 25 my my PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Number=Sing|Person=1|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 26 nmod:poss _ _ 26 face face NOUN NN Number=Sing 21 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 27 ; ; PUNCT , _ 30 punct _ _ 28 I I PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs 30 nsubj _ _ 29 am be AUX VBP Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 30 aux:pass _ _ 30 resolved resolve VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass 3 conj _ _ 31 to to PART TO _ 32 mark _ _ 32 lose lose VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 30 xcomp _ _ 33 them they PRON PRP Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs 32 obj _ _ 34 in in ADP IN _ 36 case _ _ 35 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 36 det _ _ 36 wood wood NOUN NN Number=Sing 32 obl _ _ 37 to to ADP IN _ 39 case _ SpaceAfter=No 38 - - PUNCT HYPH _ 37 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 39 morrow morrow NOUN NN Number=Sing 32 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 40 , , PUNCT , _ 46 punct _ _ 41 which which PRON WDT PronType=Rel 46 obj _ _ 42 may may AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 46 aux _ _ 43 very very ADV RB _ 44 advmod _ _ 44 easily easily ADV RB _ 46 advmod _ _ 45 be be AUX VB VerbForm=Inf 46 aux:pass _ _ 46 done do VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass 39 acl:relcl _ SpaceAfter=No 47 ; ; PUNCT : _ 53 punct _ _ 48 for for SCONJ IN _ 53 mark _ SpaceAfter=No 49 , , PUNCT , _ 53 punct _ _ 50 while while SCONJ IN _ 53 mark _ _ 51 they they PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs 53 nsubj _ _ 52 are be AUX VBP Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 53 cop _ _ 53 busy busy ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 3 parataxis _ _ 54 in in SCONJ IN _ 55 mark _ _ 55 tying tie VERB VBG Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part 53 advcl _ _ 56 up up ADP RP _ 55 compound:prt _ _ 57 fagots fagot NOUN NNS Number=Plur 55 obj _ SpaceAfter=No 58 , , PUNCT , _ 61 punct _ _ 59 we we PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=1|PronType=Prs 61 nsubj _ _ 60 may may AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 61 aux _ _ 61 run run VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 53 parataxis _ _ 62 away away ADV RB _ 61 advmod _ SpaceAfter=No 63 , , PUNCT , _ 65 punct _ _ 64 and and CCONJ CC _ 65 cc _ _ 65 leave leave VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 61 conj _ _ 66 them they PRON PRP Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs 65 obj _ SpaceAfter=No 67 , , PUNCT , _ 70 punct _ _ 68 without without SCONJ IN _ 70 mark _ _ 69 their their PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 70 nsubj _ _ 70 taking take VERB VBG Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part 65 advcl _ _ 71 any any DET DT PronType=Ind 72 det _ _ 72 notice notice NOUN NN Number=Sing 70 obj _ SpaceAfter=No 73 . . PUNCT . _ 3 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 74 ” " PUNCT '' _ 3 punct _ _ ``` ## Pragmatics {#pragmatics} | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **see** *in a quote* | present | Thou | | | | | plainly *property* | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Experiencer | | 2 | **not** **is** *in a quote* | present | we | | | | | able *property* | tree rules | | 3 | **keep** *in a quote* | to-infinitive | we *not said here* | our children | | | | | vn keep-15.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent child=Theme | | 4 | **not** **see** *in a quote* | can | scarce | children *= child* | | | | | tree rules | | 5 | **starve** *in a quote* | infinitive | children *= child* *not said here* | | | | before my face | to death | tree rules | | 6 | **resolve** *in a quote* | present · passive | | scarce | | | | | tree rules | | 7 | **lose** *in a quote* | to-infinitive | | children *= child* | | the wood | | to morrow | vn succeed-74-3-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent they=Eventuality | | 8 | **do** *in a quote* | may · passive | | morrow | | | | easily *property* | vn act-114-1 «NP V NP»: which=Eventuality | | 9 | **is** *in a quote* | present | children *= child* | | | | | busy *property* | tree rules | | 10 | **tie up** *in a quote* | gerund | children *= child* *not said here* | fagots | | | | | vn mix-22.1-2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent fagot=Patient | | 11 | **run away** *in a quote* | may | we | | | | | away *property* | vn run-51.3.2-2-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme | | 12 | **leave** *in a quote* | infinitive | we *not said here* | children *= child* | | | | | vn keep-15.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent they=Theme | | 13 | **take** *in a quote* | gerund | children *= child* | any notice | | | | | vn bring-11.3 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent notice=Theme | One row per clause the reader finds. «not said here»: a role filled from the clause above. «roles by»: a VerbNet class and frame when one fits the verb, else the reader's rules on the tree. **Text:** «The Blue Fairy Book» by Andrew Lang, Project Gutenberg book 503 (public domain in the USA). **Tree:** Mova's own parse, Elamur Cosmic License. **Frames:** Mova's frames reader (`prag`), the chapter read in order. - ← previous: [sentence 8](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg503/33/8/) - next →: [sentence 10](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg503/33/10/) - ↑ back to [Little Thumb](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg503/33/)