--- title: The first thing he saw was a large notice written on a board saying… — The Pink Fairy Book · tree and pragmatics description: The first thing he saw was a large notice written on a board saying that if any man could find the king’s daughter within eight days he should have her to wife, but that if he tried and failed his head must be the forfeit. Who acts: son, first thing, man. A sentence of «The Pink Fairy Book» by Andre --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg5615/24/52/) [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 Pink Fairy Book](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg5615/) / [The Pink Fairy Book, part 24](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg5615/24/) / 52 # The Pink Fairy Book, The Pink Fairy Book, part 24, sentence 52 The first thing he saw was a large notice written on a board saying that if any man could find the king’s daughter within eight days he should have her to wife, but that if he tried and failed his head must be the forfeit. **Who acts:** son, first thing, man · **What happens:** see, be, write, say, find, have · **To what, where:** first thing, large notice, board, daughter, vessel, head · **Speech:** someone speaks here This is a sentence of «The Pink Fairy Book» by Andrew Lang, The Pink Fairy Book, part 24. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (son, first thing, man), 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:pg5615:24:52 # text = The first thing he saw was a large notice written on a board saying that if any man could find the king’s daughter within eight days he should have her to wife, but that if he tried and failed his head must be the forfeit. 1 The the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 3 det _ _ 2 first first ADJ JJ Degree=Pos|NumForm=Word|NumType=Ord 3 amod _ _ 3 thing thing NOUN NN Number=Sing 9 nsubj _ _ 4 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 5 nsubj _ _ 5 saw see VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 3 acl:relcl _ _ 6 was be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 9 cop _ _ 7 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 9 det _ _ 8 large large ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 9 amod _ _ 9 notice notice NOUN NN Number=Sing 0 root _ _ 10 written write VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass 9 acl _ _ 11 on on ADP IN _ 13 case _ _ 12 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 13 det _ _ 13 board board NOUN NN Number=Sing 10 obl _ _ 14 saying say VERB VBG Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part 10 advcl _ _ 15 that that SCONJ IN _ 20 mark _ _ 16 if if SCONJ IN _ 20 mark _ _ 17 any any DET DT PronType=Ind 18 det _ _ 18 man man NOUN NN Number=Sing 20 nsubj _ _ 19 could could AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 20 aux _ _ 20 find find VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 30 advcl _ _ 21 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 22 det _ _ 22 king king NOUN NN Number=Sing 24 nmod:poss _ SpaceAfter=No 23 ’s 's PART POS _ 22 case _ _ 24 daughter daughter NOUN NN Number=Sing 20 obj _ _ 25 within within ADP IN _ 27 case _ _ 26 eight eight NUM CD NumForm=Word|NumType=Card 27 nummod _ _ 27 days day NOUN NNS Number=Plur 20 obl _ _ 28 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 30 nsubj _ _ 29 should should AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 30 aux _ _ 30 have have VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 14 ccomp _ _ 31 her she PRON PRP Case=Acc|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 30 obj _ _ 32 to to PART TO _ 33 mark _ _ 33 wife wife NOUN NN Number=Sing 30 xcomp _ SpaceAfter=No 34 , , PUNCT , _ 39 punct _ _ 35 but but CCONJ CC _ 39 cc _ _ 36 that that SCONJ IN _ 39 mark _ _ 37 if if SCONJ IN _ 39 mark _ _ 38 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 39 nsubj _ _ 39 tried try VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 9 parataxis _ _ 40 and and CCONJ CC _ 41 cc _ _ 41 failed fail VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 39 conj _ _ 42 his his PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 43 nmod:poss _ _ 43 head head NOUN NN Number=Sing 41 obj _ _ 44 must must AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 47 aux _ _ 45 be be AUX VB VerbForm=Inf 47 cop _ _ 46 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 47 det _ _ 47 forfeit forfeit NOUN NN Number=Sing 9 conj _ SpaceAfter=No 48 . . PUNCT . _ 9 punct _ _ ``` ## Pragmatics {#pragmatics} | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **see** | past | son | the first thing *not said here* | | | | | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer thing=Stimulus | | 2 | **is a** | past | the first thing | a large notice and the forfeit | | | | | tree rules | | 3 | **write** | participle | | a large notice and the forfeit *not said here* | | a board | | | vn scribble-25.2-1 «NP V NP PP.destination»: agent=Agent on board=Destination | | 4 | **say** *speech: assert* | gerund | | | | | | | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic | | 5 | **find** *a condition, not said to happen* | could | any man | the king's daughter | | | day | | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent daughter=Topic | | 6 | **have** | should | son | vessel | | | | | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent she=Patient | | 7 | **try** *a condition, not said to happen* | past | son | | | | | | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V ADV-Middle»: agent=Experiencer | | 8 | **fail** | past | son *not said here* | son's head | | | | | vn succeed-74-3-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent head=Eventuality | | 9 | **is a** | must | the first thing *not said here* | the forfeit | | | | | tree rules | 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 Pink Fairy Book» by Andrew Lang, Project Gutenberg book 5615 (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 51](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg5615/24/51/) - next →: [sentence 53](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg5615/24/53/) - ↑ back to [The Pink Fairy Book, part 24](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg5615/24/)