--- title: Before the three days had passed I wrote a letter to my friend the s… — The Blue Fairy Book · tree and pragmatics description: Before the three days had passed I wrote a letter to my friend the secretary telling him of my resolution; and, without waiting for an answer, went to the coast, and entering the channel, between wading and swimming reached the port of Blefuscu, where the people, who had long expected me, led me to --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg503/46/59/) [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/) / [Chapter IV](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg503/46/) / 59 # The Blue Fairy Book, Chapter IV, sentence 59 Before the three days had passed I wrote a letter to my friend the secretary telling him of my resolution; and, without waiting for an answer, went to the coast, and entering the channel, between wading and swimming reached the port of Blefuscu, where the people, who had long expected me, led me to the capital. **Who acts:** I, secretary, wading, my · **What happens:** pass, write, tell, wait, go, enter · **To what, where:** three days, letter, friend, coast, channel, port · **Speech:** someone speaks here This is a sentence of «The Blue Fairy Book» by Andrew Lang, Chapter IV. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (I, secretary, wading, my), 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:pg503:46:59 # text = Before the three days had passed I wrote a letter to my friend the secretary telling him of my resolution; and, without waiting for an answer, went to the coast, and entering the channel, between wading and swimming reached the port of Blefuscu, where the people, who had long expected me, led me to the capital. 1 Before before SCONJ IN _ 6 mark _ _ 2 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 4 det _ _ 3 three three NUM CD NumForm=Word|NumType=Card 4 nummod _ _ 4 days day NOUN NNS Number=Plur 6 nsubj:pass _ _ 5 had have AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 6 aux _ _ 6 passed pass VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass 8 advcl _ _ 7 I I PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs 8 nsubj _ _ 8 wrote write VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 0 root _ _ 9 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 10 det _ _ 10 letter letter NOUN NN Number=Sing 8 obj _ _ 11 to to ADP IN _ 13 case _ _ 12 my my PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Number=Sing|Person=1|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 13 nmod:poss _ _ 13 friend friend NOUN NN Number=Sing 10 nmod _ _ 14 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 15 det _ _ 15 secretary secretary NOUN NN Number=Sing 13 appos _ _ 16 telling tell VERB VBG VerbForm=Ger 15 acl _ _ 17 him he PRON PRP Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 16 iobj _ _ 18 of of ADP IN _ 20 case _ _ 19 my my PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Number=Sing|Person=1|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 20 nmod:poss _ _ 20 resolution resolution NOUN NN Number=Sing 16 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 21 ; ; PUNCT : _ 30 punct _ _ 22 and and CCONJ CC _ 30 cc _ SpaceAfter=No 23 , , PUNCT , _ 22 punct _ _ 24 without without SCONJ IN _ 25 mark _ _ 25 waiting wait VERB VBG Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part 30 advcl _ _ 26 for for ADP IN _ 28 case _ _ 27 an a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 28 det _ _ 28 answer answer NOUN NN Number=Sing 25 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 29 , , PUNCT , _ 25 punct _ _ 30 went go VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 8 conj _ _ 31 to to ADP IN _ 33 case _ _ 32 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 33 det _ _ 33 coast coast NOUN NN Number=Sing 30 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 34 , , PUNCT , _ 36 punct _ _ 35 and and CCONJ CC _ 36 cc _ _ 36 entering enter VERB VBG Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part 30 advcl _ _ 37 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 38 det _ _ 38 channel channel NOUN NN Number=Sing 36 obj _ SpaceAfter=No 39 , , PUNCT , _ 44 punct _ _ 40 between between ADP IN _ 44 mark _ _ 41 wading wading NOUN NN Number=Sing 44 nsubj _ _ 42 and and CCONJ CC _ 43 cc _ _ 43 swimming swimming NOUN NN Number=Sing 41 conj _ _ 44 reached reach VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 30 conj _ _ 45 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 46 det _ _ 46 port port NOUN NN Number=Sing 44 obj _ _ 47 of of ADP IN _ 48 case _ _ 48 Blefuscu Blefuscu PROPN NNP Number=Sing 46 nmod _ SpaceAfter=No 49 , , PUNCT , _ 57 punct _ _ 50 where where ADV WRB PronType=Rel 57 advmod _ _ 51 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 52 det _ _ 52 people people NOUN NNS Number=Plur 57 nsubj:pass _ SpaceAfter=No 53 , , PUNCT , _ 57 punct _ _ 54 who who PRON WP PronType=Rel 57 nsubj:pass _ _ 55 had have AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 57 aux _ _ 56 long long ADV RB Degree=Pos 57 advmod _ _ 57 expected expect VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass 46 acl:relcl _ _ 58 me I PRON PRP Case=Acc|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs 57 obj _ SpaceAfter=No 59 , , PUNCT , _ 60 punct _ _ 60 led lead VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 44 conj _ _ 61 me I PRON PRP Case=Acc|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs 60 obj _ _ 62 to to ADP IN _ 64 case _ _ 63 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 64 det _ _ 64 capital capital NOUN NN Number=Sing 60 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 65 . . PUNCT . _ 8 punct _ _ ``` ## Pragmatics {#pragmatics} | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **pass** | past · perfect · passive | | the three days | | | | | vn escape-51.1-1-3 «NP V NP»: subject=Trajectory | | 2 | **write** | past | I | a letter | my friend | | | | vn say-37.7-1 «NP V NP PP.recipient»: agent=Agent letter=Topic to friend=Recipient | | 3 | **tell** *speech: assert* | gerund | the secretary *not said here* | | friend | | | of my resolution | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP.recipient»: agent=Agent he=Recipient | | 4 | **wait** | gerund | | | | | | for a answer | vn exist-47.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme | | 5 | **go** | past | I *not said here* | | | the coast | | | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V PP.initial\_location»: agent=Theme to coast=Initial\_Location | | 6 | **enter** | gerund | I *not said here* | the channel | | | | | vn escape-51.1-1-2 «NP V NP»: agent=Theme channel=Destination | | 7 | **reach** | past | wading and swimming | the port of Blefuscu | | | | | vn body\_motion-49.2-1-1 «NP V NP ADV»: agent=Agent port=Theme | | 8 | **expect** | past · perfect · passive | | the people | | | | long *property* | vn conjecture-29.5-1 «NP V NP to be NP»: subject=Theme i=Eventuality | | 9 | **lead** | past | wading and swimming *not said here* | me | | the capital | | | vn accompany-51.7 «NP V NP PP.destination»: agent=Agent i=Theme to capital=Destination | | 10 | **resolve** | | my | | | | | | nom resolution «communication transitive»: poss=agent | 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 58](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg503/46/58/) - next →: [sentence 60](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg503/46/60/) - ↑ back to [Chapter IV](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg503/46/)