--- title: It took him a little while to get used to his tail and fins, as he s… — The Jade Story Book; Stories from the Orient · tree and pragmatics description: It took him a little while to get used to his tail and fins, as he still wanted to strike out with his hands and feet, but by degrees he became used to them, and then he swam swiftly with the current. Who acts: It, Sin. A sentence of «The Jade Story Book; Stories from the Orient» by Penrhyn Wingfiel --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg65965/16/30/) [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 Jade Story Book; Stories from the…](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg65965/) / [Opening, part 16](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg65965/16/) / 30 # The Jade Story Book; Stories from the Orient, Opening, part 16, sentence 30 It took him a little while to get used to his tail and fins, as he still wanted to strike out with his hands and feet, but by degrees he became used to them, and then he swam swiftly with the current. **Who acts:** It, Sin · **What happens:** take, use, want, strike out, become, swim · **To what, where:** Sin, degrees This is a sentence of «The Jade Story Book; Stories from the Orient» by Penrhyn Wingfield Coussens, Opening, part 16. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (It, Sin), what happens, when and where, as Mova's frames read it from the tree. **Mova's own parse.** This tree may be wrong. ## The tree {#tree} ```conllu # sent_id = book:pg65965:16:30 # text = It took him a little while to get used to his tail and fins, as he still wanted to strike out with his hands and feet, but by degrees he became used to them, and then he swam swiftly with the current. 1 It it PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 2 nsubj _ _ 2 took take VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 0 root _ _ 3 him he PRON PRP Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 2 obj _ _ 4 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 6 det _ _ 5 little little ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 6 amod _ _ 6 while while NOUN NN Number=Sing 2 obj _ _ 7 to to PART TO _ 9 mark _ _ 8 get get AUX VB VerbForm=Inf 9 aux:pass _ _ 9 used use VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass 6 acl _ _ 10 to to ADP IN _ 12 case _ _ 11 his his PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 12 nmod:poss _ _ 12 tail tail NOUN NN Number=Sing 9 obl _ _ 13 and and CCONJ CC _ 14 cc _ _ 14 fins fin NOUN NNS Number=Plur 12 conj _ SpaceAfter=No 15 , , PUNCT , _ 19 punct _ _ 16 as as SCONJ IN _ 19 mark _ _ 17 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 19 nsubj _ _ 18 still still ADV RB _ 19 advmod _ _ 19 wanted want VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 2 conj _ _ 20 to to PART TO _ 21 mark _ _ 21 strike strike VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 19 xcomp _ _ 22 out out ADP RP _ 21 compound:prt _ _ 23 with with ADP IN _ 25 case _ _ 24 his his PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 25 nmod:poss _ _ 25 hands hand NOUN NNS Number=Plur 21 obl _ _ 26 and and CCONJ CC _ 27 cc _ _ 27 feet foot NOUN NNS Number=Plur 25 conj _ SpaceAfter=No 28 , , PUNCT , _ 33 punct _ _ 29 but but CCONJ CC _ 33 cc _ _ 30 by by ADP IN _ 31 case _ _ 31 degrees degree NOUN NNS Number=Plur 33 obl _ _ 32 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 33 nsubj _ _ 33 became become VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 2 conj _ _ 34 used use VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass 33 xcomp _ _ 35 to to ADP IN _ 36 case _ _ 36 them they PRON PRP Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs 34 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 37 , , PUNCT , _ 41 punct _ _ 38 and and CCONJ CC _ 41 cc _ _ 39 then then ADV RB PronType=Dem 41 advmod _ _ 40 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 41 nsubj _ _ 41 swam swim VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 2 conj _ _ 42 swiftly swiftly ADV RB _ 41 advmod _ _ 43 with with ADP IN _ 45 case _ _ 44 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 45 det _ _ 45 current current NOUN NN Number=Sing 41 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 46 . . PUNCT . _ 2 punct _ _ ``` ## Pragmatics {#pragmatics} | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **take** | past | It | | Sin | | while | | vn bring-11.3 «NP V NP ADVP»: agent=Instrument he=Destination | | 2 | **use** | to-infinitive · passive | | | | | | to Sin's tail and fins | vn eat-39.1 «NP V» | | 3 | **want** | past | Sin | | | | still | | vn want-32.1-1-1 «NP V NP S\_INF»: agent=Pivot clause=Theme | | 4 | **strike out** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive | Sin *not said here* | | | | | with Sin's hands and feet | vn sound\_emission-43.2 «NP.location V PP.theme»: agent=Location with hand=Theme | | 5 | **become** | past | Sin | | | | | by degrees | tree rules | | 6 | **use** | participle | Sin *not said here* | | degrees *= degree* | | | | vn eat-39.1 «NP V»: agent=Agent | | 7 | **swim** | past | Sin | | | | then | with the current; swiftly *property* | vn swarm-47.5.1-1 «PP.location V PP.theme»: agent=Location with current=Theme | 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 Jade Story Book; Stories from the Orient» by Penrhyn Wingfield Coussens, Project Gutenberg book 65965 (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 29](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg65965/16/29/) - next →: [sentence 31](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg65965/16/31/) - ↑ back to [Opening, part 16](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg65965/16/)