--- title: The cruel stepmother said to her daughter: “I don’t understand this;… — The Jade Story Book; Stories from the Orient · tree and pragmatics description: The cruel stepmother said to her daughter: “I don’t understand this; I have had the pomelo tree destroyed, and yet the Princesses are as well as ever, although they never eat the dinner I give them. Who acts: cruel stepmother, pomelo tree, Princesses. A sentence of «The Jade Story Book; Stories from --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg65965/3/69/) [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 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg65965/3/) / 69 # The Jade Story Book; Stories from the Orient, Opening, part 3, sentence 69 The cruel stepmother said to her daughter: “I don’t understand this; I have had the pomelo tree destroyed, and yet the Princesses are as well as ever, although they never eat the dinner I give them. **Who acts:** cruel stepmother, pomelo tree, Princesses · **What happens:** say, not understand, have, destroy, be, not eat · **To what, where:** daughter, this, pomelo tree, dinner, Princesses · **Speech:** someone speaks here This is a sentence of «The Jade Story Book; Stories from the Orient» by Penrhyn Wingfield Coussens, Opening, part 3. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (cruel stepmother, pomelo tree, Princesses), 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:pg65965:3:70 # text = The cruel stepmother said to her daughter: “I don’t understand this; I have had the pomelo tree destroyed, and yet the Princesses are as well as ever, although they never eat the dinner I give them. 1 The the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 3 det _ _ 2 cruel cruel ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 3 amod _ _ 3 stepmother stepmother NOUN NN Number=Sing 4 nsubj _ _ 4 said say VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 0 root _ _ 5 to to ADP IN _ 7 case _ _ 6 her her PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 7 nmod:poss _ _ 7 daughter daughter NOUN NN Number=Sing 4 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 8 : : PUNCT : _ 13 punct _ _ 9 “ " PUNCT `` _ 13 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 10 I I PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs 13 nsubj _ _ 11 do do AUX VBP Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 13 aux _ SpaceAfter=No 12 n’t not PART RB Polarity=Neg 13 advmod _ _ 13 understand understand VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 4 parataxis _ _ 14 this this PRON DT Number=Sing|PronType=Dem 13 obj _ SpaceAfter=No 15 ; ; PUNCT , _ 18 punct _ _ 16 I I PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs 18 nsubj _ _ 17 have have AUX VBP Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 18 aux _ _ 18 had have VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part 13 parataxis _ _ 19 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 21 det _ _ 20 pomelo pomelo NOUN NN Number=Sing 21 compound _ _ 21 tree tree NOUN NN Number=Sing 18 obj _ _ 22 destroyed destroy VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass 18 xcomp _ SpaceAfter=No 23 , , PUNCT , _ 32 punct _ _ 24 and and CCONJ CC _ 32 cc _ _ 25 yet yet ADV RB _ 32 advmod _ _ 26 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 27 det _ _ 27 Princesses Princess PROPN NNPS Number=Plur 32 nsubj _ _ 28 are be AUX VBP Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 32 cop _ _ 29 as as ADV RB ExtPos=CCONJ 32 cc _ _ 30 well well ADV RB Degree=Pos 29 fixed _ _ 31 as as ADP IN _ 29 fixed _ _ 32 ever ever ADV RB PronType=Ind 13 advmod _ SpaceAfter=No 33 , , PUNCT , _ 37 punct _ _ 34 although although SCONJ IN _ 37 mark _ _ 35 they they PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs 37 nsubj _ _ 36 never never ADV RB PronType=Neg 37 advmod _ _ 37 eat eat VERB VBP Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 13 parataxis _ _ 38 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 39 det _ _ 39 dinner dinner NOUN NN Number=Sing 37 obj _ _ 40 I I PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs 41 nsubj _ _ 41 give give VERB VBP Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 37 conj _ _ 42 them they PRON PRP Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs 41 iobj _ SpaceAfter=No 43 . . PUNCT . _ 4 punct _ _ ``` ## Pragmatics {#pragmatics} | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **say** *speech: assert* | past | the cruel stepmother | | stepmother's daughter | | | | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V PP.recipient S-Quote»: agent=Agent to daughter=Recipient clause=Topic | | 2 | **not** **understand** *in a quote* | present · do-support | the cruel stepmother *= stepmother* | this | | | | | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1-1 «NP V NP PP.attribute»: agent=Experiencer this=Stimulus | | 3 | **have** *in a quote* | present · perfect | the cruel stepmother *= stepmother* | the pomelo tree | | | | | tree rules | | 4 | **destroy** *in a quote* | participle | the pomelo tree *not said here* | | | | | | vn destroy-44 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent | | 5 | **is** *in a quote* | present | the Princesses | | | | yet | ever *property* | tree rules | | 6 | **not** **eat** *in a quote* | present | Princesses *= princess* | the dinner | | | | | vn eat-39.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent dinner=Patient | | 7 | **give** *in a quote* | present | the cruel stepmother *= stepmother* | | Princesses *= princess* | | | | vn give-13.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent they=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 68](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg65965/3/68/) - next →: [sentence 70](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg65965/3/70/) - ↑ back to [Opening, part 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg65965/3/)