---
title: If I can help you in any way only say the word, for I would like to… — The Yellow Fairy Book · tree and pragmatics
description: If I can help you in any way only say the word, for I would like to give you a proof of my gratitude.’ Who acts: I, you. A sentence of «The Yellow Fairy Book» by Andrew Lang, The Grateful Beasts(11), part 2, with its dependency tree and the pragmatics of every clause.
---

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# The Yellow Fairy Book, The Grateful Beasts(11), part 2, sentence 24

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
If I can help you in any way only say the word, for I would like to give you a proof of my gratitude.’

<!-- .vintro -->
**Who acts:** I, you · **What happens:** help, say, like, give, proof · **To what, where:** you, way, word, proof, gratitude · **Speech:** someone speaks here

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This is a sentence of «The Yellow Fairy Book» by Andrew Lang, The Grateful Beasts(11), 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 (I, you), 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:pg640:15:24
# text = If I can help you in any way only say the word, for I would like to give you a proof of my gratitude.’
1	If	if	SCONJ	IN	_	4	mark	_	_
2	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
3	can	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
4	help	help	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	10	advcl	_	_
5	you	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Person=2|PronType=Prs	4	obj	_	_
6	in	in	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	any	any	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	8	det	_	_
8	way	way	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
9	only	only	ADV	RB	_	10	advmod	_	_
10	say	say	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
11	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
12	word	word	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	17	punct	_	_
14	for	for	SCONJ	IN	_	17	mark	_	_
15	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	17	nsubj	_	_
16	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	17	aux	_	_
17	like	like	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	10	parataxis	_	_
18	to	to	PART	TO	_	19	mark	_	_
19	give	give	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	17	xcomp	_	_
20	you	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Person=2|PronType=Prs	19	iobj	_	_
21	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	22	det	_	_
22	proof	proof	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	19	obj	_	_
23	of	of	ADP	IN	_	25	case	_	_
24	my	my	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Sing|Person=1|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	25	nmod:poss	_	_
25	gratitude	gratitude	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	22	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
26	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	17	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
27	’	'	PUNCT	''	_	17	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **help** *a condition, not said to happen* | can | I |  | you | any way |  |  | vn help-72.1-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent you=Beneficiary |
| 2 | **say** *speech: assert* | imperative | you *not said here* | the word |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V NP.topic»: agent=Agent word=Topic |
| 3 | **like** | would | I |  |  |  |  |  | vn want-32.1-1-1 «NP V NP S\_INF»: agent=Pivot clause=Theme |
| 4 | **give** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive | I *not said here* | a proof of my gratitude | you |  |  |  | vn give-13.1-1 «NP V NP-Dative NP»: agent=Agent you=Recipient proof=Theme |
| 5 | **proof** |  |  | my gratitude |  |  |  |  | nom proof «cognition transitive»: of=patient |

<!-- .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 Yellow Fairy Book» by Andrew Lang, Project Gutenberg book 640 (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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