--- title: At the cross roads the two elder brothers debated if they should go… — The Green Fairy Book · tree and pragmatics description: At the cross roads the two elder brothers debated if they should go the same way as the youngest, but when they saw how dreary and deserted it looked they made up their minds that it would be impossible to find what they sought in these wilds, and so they stuck to their former paths. Who acts: broth --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg7277/30/14/) [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 Green Fairy Book](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg7277/) / [The Biter Bit, part 5](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg7277/30/) / 14 # The Green Fairy Book, The Biter Bit, part 5, sentence 14 At the cross roads the two elder brothers debated if they should go the same way as the youngest, but when they saw how dreary and deserted it looked they made up their minds that it would be impossible to find what they sought in these wilds, and so they stuck to their former paths. **Who acts:** brothers, it · **What happens:** debate, go, see, desert, look, make up · **To what, where:** two elder brothers, same way, minds, wilds This is a sentence of «The Green Fairy Book» by Andrew Lang, The Biter Bit, part 5. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (brothers, it), what happens, when and where, as Mova's frames read it from the tree. **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:pg7277:30:14 # text = At the cross roads the two elder brothers debated if they should go the same way as the youngest, but when they saw how dreary and deserted it looked they made up their minds that it would be impossible to find what they sought in these wilds, and so they stuck to their former paths. 1 At at ADP IN _ 4 case _ _ 2 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 4 det _ _ 3 cross cross NOUN NN Number=Sing 4 compound _ _ 4 roads road NOUN NNS Number=Plur 0 root _ _ 5 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 8 det _ _ 6 two two NUM CD NumForm=Word|NumType=Card 8 nummod _ _ 7 elder elder ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 8 amod _ _ 8 brothers brother NOUN NNS Number=Plur 4 nmod _ _ 9 debated debate VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass 8 acl _ _ 10 if if SCONJ IN _ 13 mark _ _ 11 they they PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs 13 nsubj _ _ 12 should should AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 13 aux _ _ 13 go go VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 9 advcl _ _ 14 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 16 det _ _ 15 same same ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 16 amod _ _ 16 way way NOUN NN Number=Sing 13 obl:unmarked _ _ 17 as as ADP IN _ 19 case _ _ 18 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 19 det _ _ 19 youngest young ADJ JJS Degree=Sup 13 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 20 , , PUNCT , _ 24 punct _ _ 21 but but CCONJ CC _ 24 cc _ _ 22 when when ADV WRB PronType=Int 24 advmod _ _ 23 they they PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs 24 nsubj _ _ 24 saw see VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 4 parataxis _ _ 25 how how ADV WRB PronType=Int 26 advmod _ _ 26 dreary dreary ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 24 xcomp _ _ 27 and and CCONJ CC _ 28 cc _ _ 28 deserted desert VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 24 conj _ _ 29 it it PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 30 nsubj _ _ 30 looked look VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 28 ccomp _ _ 31 they they PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs 32 nsubj _ _ 32 made make VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 30 ccomp _ _ 33 up up ADP RP _ 32 compound:prt _ _ 34 their their PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 35 nmod:poss _ _ 35 minds mind NOUN NNS Number=Plur 32 obj _ _ 36 that that SCONJ IN _ 40 mark _ _ 37 it it PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 40 expl _ _ 38 would would AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 40 aux _ _ 39 be be AUX VB VerbForm=Inf 40 cop _ _ 40 impossible impossible ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 32 parataxis _ _ 41 to to PART TO _ 42 mark _ _ 42 find find VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 40 csubj _ _ 43 what what PRON WP PronType=Int 42 obj _ _ 44 they they PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs 45 nsubj _ _ 45 sought seek VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 43 acl:relcl _ _ 46 in in ADP IN _ 48 case _ _ 47 these this DET DT Number=Plur|PronType=Dem 48 det _ _ 48 wilds wild NOUN NNS Number=Plur 45 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 49 , , PUNCT , _ 53 punct _ _ 50 and and CCONJ CC _ 53 cc _ _ 51 so so ADV RB _ 53 advmod _ _ 52 they they PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs 53 nsubj _ _ 53 stuck stick VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 24 conj _ _ 54 to to ADP IN _ 57 case _ _ 55 their their PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 57 nmod:poss _ _ 56 former former ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 57 amod _ _ 57 paths path NOUN NNS Number=Plur 53 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 58 . . PUNCT . _ 4 punct _ _ ``` ## Pragmatics {#pragmatics} | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **debate** | participle | | the two elder brothers *not said here* | | | | | vn battle-36.4-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent | | 2 | **go** *a condition, not said to happen* | should | brothers *= brother* | the same way | | | | as the youngest | vn disappearance-48.2-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme | | 3 | **see** | past | brothers *= brother* | | | | | dreary *property* | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Experiencer | | 4 | **desert** | past | brothers *= brother* *not said here* | | | | | | tree rules | | 5 | **look** | past | it | | | | | | tree rules | | 6 | **make up** | past | brothers *= brother* | brothers's minds | | | | | vn comprise-107.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Theme mind=Pivot | | 7 | **is** | would | | | | | | impossible *property* | tree rules | | 8 | **find** | to-infinitive | | | | | | | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent what=Topic | | 9 | **seek** | past | brothers *= brother* | | | this wilds | | | vn hunt-35.1 «NP V PP.theme PP.location»: agent=Agent in wild=Location | | 10 | **stick** | past | brothers *= brother* | | | | | to brothers's former paths | vn shake-22.3-2 «NP V NP PP»: agent=Agent to path=Co-Patient | | 11 | **mind** | | brothers *= brother* | | | | | | nom mind «cognition transitive»: poss=agent | 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 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. - ← previous: [sentence 13](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg7277/30/13/) - next →: [sentence 15](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg7277/30/15/) - ↑ back to [The Biter Bit, part 5](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg7277/30/)