---
title: The sons were all in despair over this demand, but as they each wish… — The Green Fairy Book · tree and pragmatics
description: The sons were all in despair over this demand, but as they each wished to win the crown, they determined to do their best, and after a very few days set out on their travels again. Who acts: sons. A sentence of «The Green Fairy Book» by Andrew Lang, The Biter Bit, part 4, with its dependency tree an
---

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# The Green Fairy Book, The Biter Bit, part 4, sentence 97

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The sons were all in despair over this demand, but as they each wished to win the crown, they determined to do their best, and after a very few days set out on their travels again.

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**Who acts:** sons · **What happens:** be, wish, win, determine, do, set out · **To what, where:** despair, crown, best

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This is a sentence of «The Green Fairy Book» by Andrew Lang, The Biter Bit, part 4. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (sons), 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:pg7277:29:97
# text = The sons were all in despair over this demand, but as they each wished to win the crown, they determined to do their best, and after a very few days set out on their travels again.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	sons	son	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	nsubj	_	_
3	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	6	cop	_	_
4	all	all	ADV	RB	_	6	advmod	_	_
5	in	in	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	despair	despair	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
7	over	over	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	this	this	DET	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	9	det	_	_
9	demand	demand	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	22	punct	_	_
11	but	but	CCONJ	CC	_	22	cc	_	_
12	as	as	SCONJ	IN	_	15	mark	_	_
13	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	15	nsubj	_	_
14	each	each	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	15	nsubj	_	_
15	wished	wish	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	22	advcl	_	_
16	to	to	PART	TO	_	17	mark	_	_
17	win	win	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	15	xcomp	_	_
18	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	19	det	_	_
19	crown	crown	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	17	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
20	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	15	punct	_	_
21	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	22	nsubj	_	_
22	determined	determine	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	6	parataxis	_	_
23	to	to	PART	TO	_	24	mark	_	_
24	do	do	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	22	xcomp	_	_
25	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	26	nmod:poss	_	_
26	best	good	ADJ	JJS	Degree=Sup	24	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
27	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	38	punct	_	_
28	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	38	cc	_	_
29	after	after	ADP	IN	_	33	case	_	_
30	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	33	det	_	_
31	very	very	ADV	RB	_	32	advmod	_	_
32	few	few	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	33	amod	_	_
33	days	day	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	38	obl	_	_
34	set	set	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	38	advcl	_	_
35	out	out	ADP	RP	_	34	compound:prt	_	_
36	on	on	SCONJ	IN	_	38	mark	_	_
37	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	38	nmod:poss	_	_
38	travels	travel	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	22	conj	_	_
39	again	again	ADV	RB	_	38	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
40	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	6	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | past | the sons |  |  | despair |  | over this demand; all *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **wish** | past | sons *= son* |  |  |  |  |  | vn wish-62 «NP V for NP S\_INF»: agent=Pivot clause=Theme |
| 3 | **win** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive | sons *= son* *not said here* | the crown |  |  |  |  | vn succeed-74-2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent crown=Eventuality |
| 4 | **determine** | past | sons *= son* |  |  |  |  |  | vn discover-84 «NP V how S\_INF»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 5 | **do** | to-infinitive | sons *= son* *not said here* | sons's best |  |  |  |  | vn act-114-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent good=Eventuality |
| 6 | **set out** | participle |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 7 | **travel** | present | sons *= son* *not said here* |  |  |  | again; day |  | vn run-51.3.2-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

<!-- .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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