---
title: At first he was so surprised he didn’t know what to think, but after… — The Green Fairy Book · tree and pragmatics
description: At first he was so surprised he didn’t know what to think, but after a time he grew a little uncomfortable, and went to an old witch to ask for advice. Who acts: speck. A sentence of «The Green Fairy Book» by Andrew Lang, The Biter Bit, part 3, with its dependency tree and the pragmatics of every cl
---

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# The Green Fairy Book, The Biter Bit, part 3, sentence 85

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
At first he was so surprised he didn’t know what to think, but after a time he grew a little uncomfortable, and went to an old witch to ask for advice.

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**Who acts:** speck · **What happens:** be, not know, think, grow, go, ask · **Speech:** someone speaks here

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This is a sentence of «The Green Fairy Book» by Andrew Lang, The Biter Bit, 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 (speck), 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:pg7277:28:85
# text = At first he was so surprised he didn’t know what to think, but after a time he grew a little uncomfortable, and went to an old witch to ask for advice.
1	At	at	ADP	IN	_	2	case	_	_
2	first	first	ADV	RB	NumForm=Word|NumType=Ord	6	obl	_	_
3	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	6	nsubj	_	_
4	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	6	cop	_	_
5	so	so	ADV	RB	_	6	advmod	_	_
6	surprised	surprised	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
7	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	10	nsubj	_	_
8	did	do	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	10	aux	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	n’t	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	10	advmod	_	_
10	know	know	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	6	parataxis	_	_
11	what	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	13	obj	_	_
12	to	to	PART	TO	_	13	mark	_	_
13	think	think	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	10	ccomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	20	punct	_	_
15	but	but	CCONJ	CC	_	20	cc	_	_
16	after	after	ADP	IN	_	18	case	_	_
17	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	18	det	_	_
18	time	time	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	20	obl	_	_
19	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	20	nsubj	_	_
20	grew	grow	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	10	parataxis	_	_
21	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	22	det	_	_
22	little	little	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	23	obl:unmarked	_	_
23	uncomfortable	uncomfortable	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	20	xcomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
24	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	26	punct	_	_
25	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	26	cc	_	_
26	went	go	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	20	conj	_	_
27	to	to	ADP	IN	_	30	case	_	_
28	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	30	det	_	_
29	old	old	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	30	amod	_	_
30	witch	witch	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	26	obl	_	_
31	to	to	PART	TO	_	32	mark	_	_
32	ask	ask	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	26	advcl	_	_
33	for	for	ADP	IN	_	34	case	_	_
34	advice	advice	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	32	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
35	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	6	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | past | speck |  |  |  |  | surprised *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **not** **know** | past · do-support | speck |  |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1-1 «NP V how S\_INF»: agent=Experiencer clause=Stimulus |
| 3 | **think** *speech: other* | to-infinitive |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn wish-62 «NP V NP»: agent=Pivot what=Theme |
| 4 | **grow** | past | speck |  |  |  | time | uncomfortable *property* | vn appear-48.1.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 5 | **go** | past | speck *not said here* |  |  |  |  | to a old witch | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V PP.initial\_location»: agent=Theme to witch=Initial\_Location |
| 6 | **ask** *speech: ask* | to-infinitive | speck *not said here* |  |  |  |  | for advice | vn inquire-37.1.2 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

<!-- .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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