--- title: The King replied that he thought it altogether unbecoming to propose… — The Yellow Fairy Book · tree and pragmatics description: The King replied that he thought it altogether unbecoming to propose such a thing to Ring, seeing that he could not tell him where the things were; but Red pretended not to hear the King’s excuses, and went on talking about it until the King gave in to him. Who acts: King, Ring, things, Red. A sente --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg640/42/89/) [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 Yellow Fairy Book](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg640/) / [Prince Ring (30)](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg640/42/) / 89 # The Yellow Fairy Book, Prince Ring (30), sentence 89 The King replied that he thought it altogether unbecoming to propose such a thing to Ring, seeing that he could not tell him where the things were; but Red pretended not to hear the King’s excuses, and went on talking about it until the King gave in to him. **Who acts:** King, Ring, things, Red · **What happens:** reply, think, propose, ring, see, not tell · **To what, where:** thing, Christmas, excuses, Ring · **Speech:** someone speaks here This is a sentence of «The Yellow Fairy Book» by Andrew Lang, Prince Ring (30). The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (King, Ring, things, Red), 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:pg640:42:89 # text = The King replied that he thought it altogether unbecoming to propose such a thing to Ring, seeing that he could not tell him where the things were; but Red pretended not to hear the King’s excuses, and went on talking about it until the King gave in to him. 1 The the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 2 det _ _ 2 King King PROPN NNP Number=Sing 3 nsubj _ _ 3 replied reply VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 0 root _ _ 4 that that SCONJ IN _ 6 mark _ _ 5 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 6 nsubj _ _ 6 thought think VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 3 advcl _ _ 7 it it PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 9 nsubj _ _ 8 altogether altogether ADV RB _ 9 advmod _ _ 9 unbecoming unbecoming ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 6 ccomp _ _ 10 to to PART TO _ 11 mark _ _ 11 propose propose VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 9 xcomp _ _ 12 such such DET PDT PronType=Ind 14 det:predet _ _ 13 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 14 det _ _ 14 thing thing NOUN NN Number=Sing 11 obj _ _ 15 to to PART TO _ 16 mark _ _ 16 Ring ring VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 14 acl _ SpaceAfter=No 17 , , PUNCT , _ 18 punct _ _ 18 seeing see VERB VBG Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part 16 advcl _ _ 19 that that SCONJ IN _ 23 mark _ _ 20 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 23 nsubj _ _ 21 could could AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 23 aux _ _ 22 not not PART RB Polarity=Neg 23 advmod _ _ 23 tell tell VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 18 advcl _ _ 24 him he PRON PRP Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 23 iobj _ _ 25 where where ADV WRB PronType=Rel 23 ccomp _ _ 26 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 27 det _ _ 27 things thing NOUN NNS Number=Plur 25 nsubj _ _ 28 were be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 25 cop _ SpaceAfter=No 29 ; ; PUNCT : _ 32 punct _ _ 30 but but CCONJ CC _ 32 cc _ _ 31 Red Red PROPN NNP Number=Sing 32 nsubj _ _ 32 pretended pretend VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 3 parataxis _ _ 33 not not PART RB Polarity=Neg 35 advmod _ _ 34 to to PART TO _ 35 mark _ _ 35 hear hear VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 32 xcomp _ _ 36 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 37 det _ _ 37 King King PROPN NNP Number=Sing 39 nmod:poss _ SpaceAfter=No 38 ’s 's PART POS _ 37 case _ _ 39 excuses excuse NOUN NNS Number=Plur 35 obj _ SpaceAfter=No 40 , , PUNCT , _ 42 punct _ _ 41 and and CCONJ CC _ 42 cc _ _ 42 went go VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 32 conj _ _ 43 on on SCONJ IN _ 44 mark _ _ 44 talking talk VERB VBG Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part 42 advcl _ _ 45 about about ADP IN _ 46 case _ _ 46 it it PRON PRP Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 44 obl _ _ 47 until until SCONJ IN _ 50 mark _ _ 48 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 49 det _ _ 49 King King PROPN NNP Number=Sing 50 nsubj _ _ 50 gave give VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 42 advcl _ _ 51 in in ADP RP _ 50 compound:prt _ _ 52 to to ADP IN _ 53 case _ _ 53 him he PRON PRP Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 50 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 54 . . PUNCT . _ 3 punct _ _ ``` ## Pragmatics {#pragmatics} | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **reply** *speech: assert* | past | the King | | | | | | vn respond-113 «NP V»: agent=Agent | | 2 | **think** *speech: other* | past | Ring | | | | | | vn focus-87.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent | | 3 | **propose** | to-infinitive | Ring *not said here* | such thing | | | | | vn reflexive\_appearance-48.1.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent thing=Theme | | 4 | **ring** | to-infinitive | Ring *not said here* | such thing *not said here* | | | | | vn sound\_emission-43.2 «NP V»: agent=Theme | | 5 | **see** | gerund | Ring *not said here* | | | | | | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Experiencer | | 6 | **not** **tell** *speech: assert* | could | Ring | | Christmas | | | | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP.recipient»: agent=Agent he=Recipient | | 7 | **is** | past | the things | | | | | where *property* | tree rules | | 8 | **pretend** | past | Red | | | | | | tree rules | | 9 | **not** **hear** | to-infinitive | Red *not said here* | the King's excuses | | | | | vn see-30.1-1-1 «NP V S»: agent=Experiencer excuse=Stimulus | | 10 | **go** | past | Red *not said here* | | | | | | vn disappearance-48.2-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme | | 11 | **talk** | gerund | Red *not said here* | | | | | about idea | vn talk-37.5 «NP V PP.topic»: agent=Agent about it=Topic | | 12 | **give in** | past | the King | | Ring | | | | vn acquiesce-95.1-1 «NP V PP.pivot»: agent=Agent to he=Pivot | | 13 | **excuse** | | the King | | | | | | nom excuse «communication transitive»: poss=agent | 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 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. - ← previous: [sentence 88](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg640/42/88/) - next →: [sentence 90](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg640/42/90/) - ↑ back to [Prince Ring (30)](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg640/42/)