---
title: It is a well-known fact that a bad woman seldom becomes better as sh… — The Violet Fairy Book · tree and pragmatics
description: It is a well-known fact that a bad woman seldom becomes better as she grows older, and Elsa’s stepmother was no exception to the rule; but as the figure that had taken the girl’s place could feel no pain, the blows that were showered on her night and day made no difference. Who acts: double, bad wom
---

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# The Violet Fairy Book, A Tale of the Tontlawald, sentence 156

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It is a well-known fact that a bad woman seldom becomes better as she grows older, and Elsa’s stepmother was no exception to the rule; but as the figure that had taken the girl’s place could feel no pain, the blows that were showered on her night and day made no difference.

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**Who acts:** double, bad woman, fact, stepmother, blows · **What happens:** know, be, become, grow, take, feel · **To what, where:** known fact, exception, figure, pain, blows, difference

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This is a sentence of «The Violet Fairy Book» by Andrew Lang, A Tale of the Tontlawald. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (double, bad woman, fact, stepmother), 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:pg641:2:156
# text = It is a well-known fact that a bad woman seldom becomes better as she grows older, and Elsa’s stepmother was no exception to the rule; but as the figure that had taken the girl’s place could feel no pain, the blows that were showered on her night and day made no difference.
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	7	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	7	cop	_	_
3	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
4	well	well	ADV	RB	Degree=Pos	6	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	4	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	known	know	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	7	amod	_	_
7	fact	fact	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
8	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	13	mark	_	_
9	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
10	bad	bad	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	11	amod	_	_
11	woman	woman	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	nsubj	_	_
12	seldom	seldom	ADV	RB	_	13	advmod	_	_
13	becomes	become	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	7	advcl	_	_
14	better	good	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	13	xcomp	_	_
15	as	as	SCONJ	IN	_	17	mark	_	_
16	she	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	17	nsubj	_	_
17	grows	grow	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	14	advcl	_	_
18	older	old	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	17	xcomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
19	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	26	punct	_	_
20	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	26	cc	_	_
21	Elsa	Elsa	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	23	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
22	’s	's	PART	POS	_	21	case	_	_
23	stepmother	stepmother	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	26	nsubj	_	_
24	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	26	cop	_	_
25	no	no	DET	DT	PronType=Neg	26	det	_	_
26	exception	exception	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	17	parataxis	_	_
27	to	to	ADP	IN	_	29	case	_	_
28	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	29	det	_	_
29	rule	rule	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	26	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
30	;	;	PUNCT	:	_	43	punct	_	_
31	but	but	CCONJ	CC	_	43	cc	_	_
32	as	as	ADP	IN	_	34	case	_	_
33	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	34	det	_	_
34	figure	figure	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	43	obl	_	_
35	that	that	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	37	nsubj:pass	_	_
36	had	have	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	37	aux	_	_
37	taken	take	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	34	acl:relcl	_	_
38	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	39	det	_	_
39	girl	girl	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	41	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
40	’s	's	PART	POS	_	39	case	_	_
41	place	place	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	37	obj	_	_
42	could	could	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	43	aux	_	_
43	feel	feel	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	7	parataxis	_	_
44	no	no	DET	DT	PronType=Neg	45	det	_	_
45	pain	pain	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	43	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
46	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	48	punct	_	_
47	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	48	det	_	_
48	blows	blow	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	57	nsubj	_	_
49	that	that	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	51	nsubj:pass	_	_
50	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	51	aux:pass	_	_
51	showered	shower	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	48	acl:relcl	_	_
52	on	on	ADP	IN	_	54	case	_	_
53	her	her	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	54	nmod:poss	_	_
54	night	night	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	51	obl	_	_
55	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	56	cc	_	_
56	day	day	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	54	conj	_	_
57	made	make	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	43	ccomp	_	_
58	no	no	DET	DT	PronType=Neg	59	det	_	_
59	difference	difference	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	57	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
60	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	7	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **know** | participle |  |  |  |  |  | well *property* | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Experiencer |
| 2 | **is a** | present | double | a known fact |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 3 | **become** | present | a bad woman |  |  |  |  | good, seldom *property* | vn become-109.1-1-1 «NP V PP.attribute»: agent=Patient |
| 4 | **grow** | present | fact |  |  |  |  | old *property* | vn appear-48.1.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 5 | **is a** | past | Elsa's stepmother | no exception |  |  |  | to the rule | tree rules |
| 6 | **take** | past · perfect · passive |  | the figure |  |  |  |  | vn bring-11.3 «NP V NP ADVP»: subject=Theme place=Destination |
| 7 | **feel** | could |  | no pain |  |  |  | as the figure | tree rules |
| 8 | **shower** | past · passive |  | the blows |  |  | night |  | vn dress-41.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP»: subject=Patient |
| 9 | **make** | past | the blows | no difference |  |  |  |  | vn build-26.1-1 «NP.asset V NP»: agent=Asset difference=Product |

<!-- .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 Violet Fairy Book» by Andrew Lang, Project Gutenberg book 641 (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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