---
title: It is true that certain spiteful people were heard to say that this… — The Green Fairy Book · tree and pragmatics
description: It is true that certain spiteful people were heard to say that this was only one proof the more of their exceeding foolishness, but of course you will understand that these were not their own courtiers, since, after all, they were a King and Queen, and up to this time all things had prospered with t
---

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# The Green Fairy Book, Heart of Ice, part 1, sentence 2

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It is true that certain spiteful people were heard to say that this was only one proof the more of their exceeding foolishness, but of course you will understand that these were not their own courtiers, since, after all, they were a King and Queen, and up to this time all things had prospered with them.

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**Who acts:** It, certain spiteful people, this, you, these, people · **What happens:** be, hear, say, exceed, understand, not be · **To what, where:** certain spiteful people, one proof, own courtiers, King, things · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is a sentence of «The Green Fairy Book» by Andrew Lang, Heart of Ice, part 1. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (It, certain spiteful people, this, you), 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:pg7277:14:2
# text = It is true that certain spiteful people were heard to say that this was only one proof the more of their exceeding foolishness, but of course you will understand that these were not their own courtiers, since, after all, they were a King and Queen, and up to this time all things had prospered with them.
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	cop	_	_
3	true	true	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
4	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	9	mark	_	_
5	certain	certain	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
6	spiteful	spiteful	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
7	people	people	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	9	nsubj	_	_
8	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	9	aux:pass	_	_
9	heard	hear	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	3	advcl	_	_
10	to	to	PART	TO	_	11	mark	_	_
11	say	say	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	9	xcomp	_	_
12	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	17	mark	_	_
13	this	this	PRON	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	17	nsubj	_	_
14	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	17	cop	_	_
15	only	only	ADV	RB	_	17	advmod	_	_
16	one	one	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	17	nummod	_	_
17	proof	proof	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	ccomp	_	_
18	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	19	det	_	_
19	more	more	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	17	conj	_	_
20	of	of	ADP	IN	_	23	case	_	_
21	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	23	nmod:poss	_	_
22	exceeding	exceed	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	23	amod	_	_
23	foolishness	foolishness	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	19	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
24	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	30	punct	_	_
25	but	but	CCONJ	CC	_	30	cc	_	_
26	of	of	ADP	IN	_	28	case	_	_
27	course	course	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	26	fixed	_	_
28	you	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Person=2|PronType=Prs	30	nsubj	_	_
29	will	will	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	30	aux	_	_
30	understand	understand	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	parataxis	_	_
31	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	37	mark	_	_
32	these	this	PRON	DT	Number=Plur|PronType=Dem	37	nsubj	_	_
33	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	37	cop	_	_
34	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	37	advmod	_	_
35	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	37	nmod:poss	_	_
36	own	own	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	37	amod	_	_
37	courtiers	courtier	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	30	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
38	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	47	punct	_	_
39	since	since	ADP	IN	_	42	case	_	SpaceAfter=No
40	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	39	punct	_	_
41	after	after	ADP	IN	_	42	case	_	_
42	all	all	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	47	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
43	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	42	punct	_	_
44	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	47	nsubj	_	_
45	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	47	cop	_	_
46	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	47	det	_	_
47	King	King	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	37	appos	_	_
48	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	49	cc	_	_
49	Queen	Queen	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	47	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
50	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	59	punct	_	_
51	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	59	cc	_	_
52	up	up	ADV	RB	_	59	advmod	_	_
53	to	to	ADP	IN	_	55	case	_	_
54	this	this	DET	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	55	det	_	_
55	time	time	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	59	obl	_	_
56	all	all	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	57	det	_	_
57	things	thing	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	59	nsubj:pass	_	_
58	had	have	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	59	aux	_	_
59	prospered	prosper	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	3	parataxis	_	_
60	with	with	ADP	IN	_	61	case	_	_
61	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	59	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
62	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | It |  |  |  |  | true *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **hear** | past · passive |  | certain spiteful people |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 3 | **say** *speech: assert* | to-infinitive | certain spiteful people *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent |
| 4 | **is a** | past | this | one proof |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 5 | **be** |  | this *not said here* |  |  |  |  | of people's exceeding foolishness | tree rules |
| 6 | **exceed** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn exceed-90 «NP V NP»: agent=Pivot |
| 7 | **understand** | future | you |  |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Experiencer |
| 8 | **not** **is a** | past | these | people's own courtiers |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 9 | **is a** | past | people | a King and Queen |  |  | since all |  | tree rules |
| 10 | **prosper** | past · perfect · passive |  | all things |  |  | time | with King | tree rules |

<!-- .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 Green Fairy Book» by Andrew Lang, Project Gutenberg book 7277 (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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