---
title: As the three Princes were always submissive and obedient to the Sult… — The Blue Fairy Book · tree and pragmatics
description: As the three Princes were always submissive and obedient to the Sultan’s will, and each flattered himself fortune might prove favorable to him, they all consented to it. Who acts: three Princes, each, fortune. A sentence of «The Blue Fairy Book» by Andrew Lang, The Story of Prince Ahmed and the Fair
---

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# The Blue Fairy Book, The Story of Prince Ahmed and the Fairy Paribanou, part 1, sentence 9

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As the three Princes were always submissive and obedient to the Sultan’s will, and each flattered himself fortune might prove favorable to him, they all consented to it.

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**Who acts:** three Princes, each, fortune · **What happens:** be, flatter, prove, consent · **To what, where:** sultan, Princes, fortune

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This is a sentence of «The Blue Fairy Book» by Andrew Lang, The Story of Prince Ahmed and the Fairy Paribanou, part 1. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (three Princes, each, fortune), what happens, when and where, as Mova's frames read it from the tree.

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**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:pg503:49:9
# text = As the three Princes were always submissive and obedient to the Sultan’s will, and each flattered himself fortune might prove favorable to him, they all consented to it.
1	As	as	SCONJ	IN	_	7	mark	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
3	three	three	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	4	nummod	_	_
4	Princes	prince	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	nsubj	_	_
5	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	7	cop	_	_
6	always	always	ADV	RB	PronType=Tot	7	advmod	_	_
7	submissive	submissive	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
8	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	9	cc	_	_
9	obedient	obedient	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	conj	_	_
10	to	to	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
11	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
12	Sultan	Sultan	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	14	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	’s	's	PART	POS	_	12	case	_	_
14	will	will	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	9	aux	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	18	punct	_	_
16	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	18	cc	_	_
17	each	each	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	18	nsubj	_	_
18	flattered	flatter	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	7	conj	_	_
19	himself	himself	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs|Reflex=Yes	18	obj	_	_
20	fortune	fortune	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	22	nsubj	_	_
21	might	might	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	22	aux	_	_
22	prove	prove	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	18	xcomp	_	_
23	favorable	favorable	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	22	xcomp	_	_
24	to	to	ADP	IN	_	25	case	_	_
25	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	23	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
26	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	29	punct	_	_
27	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	29	nsubj	_	_
28	all	all	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	29	nsubj:pass	_	_
29	consented	consent	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	7	conj	_	_
30	to	to	ADP	IN	_	31	case	_	_
31	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	29	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
32	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	7	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | past | the three Princes |  |  |  |  | always, submissive *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **be** | future | the three Princes *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 3 | **flatter** | past | each | sultan |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 4 | **prove** | might | fortune |  |  |  |  | favorable *property* | vn declare-29.4-1-1 «NP V what S\_INF»: agent=Agent |
| 5 | **consent** | participle · passive |  | Princes *= prince* | fortune |  |  |  | tree rules |

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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.

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**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.

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