---
title: When he got to the twelfth he paused, but his curiosity was too much… — The Violet Fairy Book · tree and pragmatics
description: When he got to the twelfth he paused, but his curiosity was too much for him, and in another instant the key was turned and the cellar lay open before him. Who acts: CAN, curiosity, cellar. A sentence of «The Violet Fairy Book» by Andrew Lang, The Nine Pea-hens and the Golden Apples, with its depend
---

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# The Violet Fairy Book, The Nine Pea-hens and the Golden Apples, sentence 40

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
When he got to the twelfth he paused, but his curiosity was too much for him, and in another instant the key was turned and the cellar lay open before him.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Who acts:** CAN, curiosity, cellar · **What happens:** get, pause, be, turn, lie · **To what, where:** twelfth, key

<!-- .vabout -->
This is a sentence of «The Violet Fairy Book» by Andrew Lang, The Nine Pea-hens and the Golden Apples. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (CAN, curiosity, cellar), 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:pg641:7:40
# text = When he got to the twelfth he paused, but his curiosity was too much for him, and in another instant the key was turned and the cellar lay open before him.
1	When	when	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	3	advmod	_	_
2	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
3	got	get	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	to	to	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	twelfth	twelfth	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
7	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	8	nsubj	_	_
8	paused	pause	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	6	acl:relcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	15	punct	_	_
10	but	but	CCONJ	CC	_	15	cc	_	_
11	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	12	nmod:poss	_	_
12	curiosity	curiosity	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	15	nsubj	_	_
13	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	15	cop	_	_
14	too	too	ADV	RB	_	15	advmod	_	_
15	much	much	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	conj	_	_
16	for	for	ADP	IN	_	17	case	_	_
17	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	15	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
18	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	26	punct	_	_
19	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	26	cc	_	_
20	in	in	ADP	IN	_	22	case	_	_
21	another	another	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	22	det	_	_
22	instant	instant	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	26	obl	_	_
23	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	24	det	_	_
24	key	key	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	26	nsubj:pass	_	_
25	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	26	aux:pass	_	_
26	turned	turn	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	3	parataxis	_	_
27	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	30	cc	_	_
28	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	29	det	_	_
29	cellar	cellar	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	30	nsubj	_	_
30	lay	lie	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	26	conj	_	_
31	open	open	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	30	xcomp	_	_
32	before	before	ADP	IN	_	33	case	_	_
33	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	30	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
34	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **get** | past | CAN |  |  |  |  | to the twelfth *result* | vn convert-26.6.2 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Patient to twelfth=Result |
| 2 | **pause** | past | CAN | the twelfth *not said here* |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 3 | **is** | past | CAN's curiosity |  |  |  |  | for CAN; much *property* | tree rules |
| 4 | **turn** | past · passive |  | the key |  |  |  | in another instant | vn crane-40.3.2 «NP V NP PP.recipient PP.theme»: subject=Patient in instant=Topic |
| 5 | **lie** | past | the cellar |  |  |  | before CAN | open *property* | vn assuming\_position-50 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Agent before he=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 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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