---
title: How could they when they knew that any of them might have cut off hi… — The Blue Fairy Book · tree and pragmatics
description: How could they when they knew that any of them might have cut off his head five or six times a day just to please her, and she would have thought it a mere trifle, so little did she care? Who acts: bonfires, Bellissima. A sentence of «The Blue Fairy Book» by Andrew Lang, The Yellow Dwarf, part 1, wi
---

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# The Blue Fairy Book, The Yellow Dwarf, part 1, sentence 16

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
How could they when they knew that any of them might have cut off his head five or six times a day just to please her, and she would have thought it a mere trifle, so little did she care?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Who acts:** bonfires, Bellissima · **What happens:** know, cut off, please, think, care · **To what, where:** any, Bellissima, entertainment · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is a sentence of «The Blue Fairy Book» by Andrew Lang, The Yellow Dwarf, 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 (bonfires, Bellissima), what happens, when and where, as Mova's frames read it from the tree.

<!-- .note-en -->
**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:pg503:5:16
# text = How could they when they knew that any of them might have cut off his head five or six times a day just to please her, and she would have thought it a mere trifle, so little did she care?
1	How	how	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	6	advmod	_	_
2	could	could	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	6	aux	_	_
3	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	6	nsubj	_	_
4	when	when	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	6	advmod	_	_
5	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	6	nsubj	_	_
6	knew	know	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
7	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	13	mark	_	_
8	any	any	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	13	nsubj:pass	_	_
9	of	of	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
10	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	8	nmod	_	_
11	might	might	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	13	aux	_	_
12	have	have	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	13	aux	_	_
13	cut	cut	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	6	advcl	_	_
14	off	off	ADP	RP	_	13	compound:prt	_	_
15	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	16	nmod:poss	_	_
16	head	head	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	17	compound	_	_
17	five	five	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	20	nummod	_	_
18	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	19	cc	_	_
19	six	six	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	17	conj	_	_
20	times	time	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	13	obl:unmarked	_	_
21	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	22	det	_	_
22	day	day	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	20	nmod:unmarked	_	_
23	just	just	ADV	RB	_	25	advmod	_	_
24	to	to	PART	TO	_	25	mark	_	_
25	please	please	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	13	advcl	_	_
26	her	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	25	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
27	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	32	punct	_	_
28	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	32	cc	_	_
29	she	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	32	nsubj	_	_
30	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	32	aux	_	_
31	have	have	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	32	aux	_	_
32	thought	think	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	6	conj	_	_
33	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	32	obj	_	_
34	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	36	det	_	_
35	mere	mere	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	36	amod	_	_
36	trifle	trifle	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	32	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
37	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	42	punct	_	_
38	so	so	ADV	RB	_	39	advmod	_	_
39	little	little	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	42	advmod	_	_
40	did	do	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	42	aux	_	_
41	she	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	42	nsubj	_	_
42	care	care	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	32	ccomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
43	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	6	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **know** | could | bonfires *= bonfire* |  |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Experiencer |
| 2 | **cut off** | might · perfect · passive |  | any |  |  | time |  | vn stop-55.4-1 «NP V NP.eventuality»: subject=Eventuality |
| 3 | **please** | to-infinitive |  | Bellissima |  |  |  |  | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Stimulus she=Experiencer |
| 4 | **think** *speech: other* | would · perfect | Bellissima | entertainment |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 5 | **care** | past · do-support | Bellissima |  |  |  |  |  | vn care-88.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Experiencer |

<!-- .note -->
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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