---
title: The grass and briers were growing as high as if it were a hundred ye… — The Red Fairy Book · tree and pragmatics
description: The grass and briers were growing as high as if it were a hundred years since anyone had set foot there, but the Princess got through at last, though she gave herself a good many scratches by the way, and then she went into a dark, gloomy hall, where there was but one tiny hole in the wall through w
---

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# The Red Fairy Book, The Golden Branch, part 2, sentence 84

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The grass and briers were growing as high as if it were a hundred years since anyone had set foot there, but the Princess got through at last, though she gave herself a good many scratches by the way, and then she went into a dark, gloomy hall, where there was but one tiny hole in the wall through which the daylight could enter.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Who acts:** grass, way, Princess, daylight · **What happens:** grow, be, set, get through, give, go · **To what, where:** hundred years, anyone, last, good many scratches, Princess, dark gloomy hall

<!-- .vabout -->
This is a sentence of «The Red Fairy Book» by Andrew Lang, The Golden Branch, part 2. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (grass, way, Princess, daylight), 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:pg540:35:84
# text = The grass and briers were growing as high as if it were a hundred years since anyone had set foot there, but the Princess got through at last, though she gave herself a good many scratches by the way, and then she went into a dark, gloomy hall, where there was but one tiny hole in the wall through which the daylight could enter.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	grass	grass	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	_
3	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	4	cc	_	_
4	briers	brier	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	conj	_	_
5	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	6	aux	_	_
6	growing	grow	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
7	as	as	ADV	RB	_	8	advmod	_	_
8	high	high	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	xcomp	_	_
9	as	as	SCONJ	IN	_	15	mark	_	_
10	if	if	SCONJ	IN	_	15	mark	_	_
11	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	15	nsubj	_	_
12	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	15	cop	_	_
13	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	15	det	_	_
14	hundred	hundred	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	15	nummod	_	_
15	years	year	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	advcl	_	_
16	since	since	SCONJ	IN	_	19	mark	_	_
17	anyone	anyone	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Ind	19	nsubj:pass	_	_
18	had	have	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	19	aux	_	_
19	set	set	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	6	advcl	_	_
20	foot	foot	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	19	obj	_	_
21	there	there	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	19	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
22	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	26	punct	_	_
23	but	but	CCONJ	CC	_	26	cc	_	_
24	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	25	det	_	_
25	Princess	princess	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	26	nsubj	_	_
26	got	get	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	19	parataxis	_	_
27	through	through	ADV	RB	_	26	advmod	_	_
28	at	at	ADP	IN	_	29	case	_	_
29	last	last	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	26	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
30	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	33	punct	_	_
31	though	though	SCONJ	IN	_	33	mark	_	_
32	she	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	33	nsubj	_	_
33	gave	give	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	26	conj	_	_
34	herself	herself	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs|Reflex=Yes	33	iobj	_	_
35	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	38	det	_	_
36	good	good	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	38	amod	_	_
37	many	many	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	38	amod	_	_
38	scratches	scratch	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	33	obj	_	_
39	by	by	ADP	IN	_	41	case	_	_
40	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	41	det	_	_
41	way	way	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	33	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
42	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	46	punct	_	_
43	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	46	cc	_	_
44	then	then	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	46	advmod	_	_
45	she	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	46	nsubj	_	_
46	went	go	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	33	conj	_	_
47	into	into	ADP	IN	_	52	case	_	_
48	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	52	det	_	_
49	dark	dark	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	52	amod	_	SpaceAfter=No
50	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	49	punct	_	_
51	gloomy	gloomy	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	52	amod	_	_
52	hall	hall	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	46	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
53	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	56	punct	_	_
54	where	where	ADV	WRB	PronType=Rel	56	advmod	_	_
55	there	there	PRON	EX	PronType=Dem	56	expl	_	_
56	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	60	cop	_	_
57	but	but	CCONJ	CC	_	60	cc	_	_
58	one	one	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	60	nummod	_	_
59	tiny	tiny	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	60	amod	_	_
60	hole	hole	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	52	conj	_	_
61	in	in	ADP	IN	_	63	case	_	_
62	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	63	det	_	_
63	wall	wall	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	60	nmod	_	_
64	through	through	ADP	IN	_	65	case	_	_
65	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	69	obl	_	_
66	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	67	det	_	_
67	daylight	daylight	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	69	nsubj	_	_
68	could	could	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	69	aux	_	_
69	enter	enter	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	60	parataxis	_	SpaceAfter=No
70	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	6	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **grow** | past · progressive | the grass and briers |  |  |  |  | high *property* | vn appear-48.1.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 2 | **is a** | past | way | a hundred years |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 3 | **set** | past · perfect · passive |  | anyone |  | there |  |  | vn put-9.1-2 «NP V NP ADVP»: subject=Theme foot=Destination |
| 4 | **get through** | past | the Princess |  |  | last |  | through *property* | vn cope-83-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 5 | **give** | past | Princess | a good many scratches | Princess |  |  | by the way | vn give-13.1-1 «NP V NP-Dative NP»: agent=Agent herself=Recipient scratch=Theme |
| 6 | **go** | past | Princess |  |  | a dark gloomy hall but one tiny hole | then |  | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V PP.initial\_location»: agent=Theme into hall=Initial\_Location |
| 7 | **is a** | past | Princess *not said here* | one tiny hole |  | the wall |  |  | tree rules |
| 8 | **enter** | could | the daylight |  |  | one tiny hole |  |  | vn escape-51.1-1-2 «NP V PP.initial\_location»: agent=Theme through which=Initial\_Location |

<!-- .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 Red Fairy Book» by Andrew Lang, Project Gutenberg book 540 (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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