--- title: But nothing they could do would persuade the golden mermaid to go wi… — The Green Fairy Book · tree and pragmatics description: But nothing they could do would persuade the golden mermaid to go with them or move from the spot, for ever since she had left the sea, she had so attached herself to her Prince that she asked nothing else than to live or die with him. Who acts: princes, nothing, mermaid. A sentence of «The Green Fa --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg7277/52/93/) [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 Golden Mermaid](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg7277/52/) / 93 # The Green Fairy Book, The Golden Mermaid, sentence 93 But nothing they could do would persuade the golden mermaid to go with them or move from the spot, for ever since she had left the sea, she had so attached herself to her Prince that she asked nothing else than to live or die with him. **Who acts:** princes, nothing, mermaid · **What happens:** do, persuade, go, move, leave, attach · **To what, where:** golden mermaid, spot, sea, mermaid, Prince, nothing This is a sentence of «The Green Fairy Book» by Andrew Lang, The Golden Mermaid. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (princes, nothing, mermaid), 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:pg7277:52:93 # text = But nothing they could do would persuade the golden mermaid to go with them or move from the spot, for ever since she had left the sea, she had so attached herself to her Prince that she asked nothing else than to live or die with him. 1 But but CCONJ CC _ 7 cc _ _ 2 nothing nothing PRON NN Number=Sing|PronType=Neg 7 nsubj _ _ 3 they they PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs 5 nsubj _ _ 4 could could AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 5 aux _ _ 5 do do VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 2 acl:relcl _ _ 6 would would AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 7 aux _ _ 7 persuade persuade VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 0 root _ _ 8 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 10 det _ _ 9 golden golden ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 10 amod _ _ 10 mermaid mermaid NOUN NN Number=Sing 7 obj _ _ 11 to to PART TO _ 12 mark _ _ 12 go go VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 7 advcl _ _ 13 with with ADP IN _ 14 case _ _ 14 them they PRON PRP Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs 12 obl _ _ 15 or or CCONJ CC _ 16 cc _ _ 16 move move VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 12 conj _ _ 17 from from ADP IN _ 19 case _ _ 18 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 19 det _ _ 19 spot spot NOUN NN Number=Sing 16 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 20 , , PUNCT , _ 22 punct _ _ 21 for for ADP IN _ 22 case _ _ 22 ever ever ADV RB PronType=Ind 16 advmod _ _ 23 since since SCONJ IN _ 26 mark _ _ 24 she she PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 26 nsubj _ _ 25 had have AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 26 aux _ _ 26 left leave VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part 16 advcl _ _ 27 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 28 det _ _ 28 sea sea NOUN NN Number=Sing 26 obj _ SpaceAfter=No 29 , , PUNCT , _ 33 punct _ _ 30 she she PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 33 nsubj _ _ 31 had have AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 33 aux _ _ 32 so so ADV RB _ 33 advmod _ _ 33 attached attach VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass 7 parataxis _ _ 34 herself herself PRON PRP Case=Acc|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs|Reflex=Yes 33 nsubj:pass _ _ 35 to to ADP IN _ 37 case _ _ 36 her her PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 37 nmod:poss _ _ 37 Prince Prince PROPN NNP Number=Sing 33 obl _ _ 38 that that SCONJ IN _ 40 mark _ _ 39 she she PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 40 nsubj _ _ 40 asked ask VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 33 advcl _ _ 41 nothing nothing PRON NN Number=Sing|PronType=Neg 40 obj _ _ 42 else else ADV RB _ 41 advmod _ _ 43 than than SCONJ IN _ 45 mark _ _ 44 to to PART TO _ 45 mark _ _ 45 live live VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 41 acl _ _ 46 or or CCONJ CC _ 47 cc _ _ 47 die die VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 45 conj _ _ 48 with with ADP IN _ 49 case _ _ 49 him he PRON PRP Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 47 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 50 . . PUNCT . _ 7 punct _ _ ``` ## Pragmatics {#pragmatics} | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **do** | could | princes *= prince* | | | | | | vn act-114-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent | | 2 | **persuade** | would | nothing | the golden mermaid | | | | | vn compel-59.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent mermaid=Patient | | 3 | **go** | to-infinitive | nothing *not said here* | | | | | with princes *= prince* | vn help-72.1-2 «NP V PP.beneficiary»: agent=Agent with they=Beneficiary | | 4 | **move** | infinitive | nothing *not said here* | | | the spot | | | vn roll-51.3.1 «NP V PP.trajectory»: agent=Theme from spot=Trajectory | | 5 | **leave** | past · perfect | mermaid | the sea | | | | | vn keep-15.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent sea=Theme | | 6 | **attach** | past · perfect · passive | | mermaid | mermaid's Prince | | | | vn shake-22.3-2-1 «NP V NP PP»: subject=Patient to prince=Co-Patient | | 7 | **ask** *speech: ask* | past | mermaid | nothing | | | | | vn inquire-37.1.2 «NP V NP.recipient»: agent=Agent nothing=Recipient | | 8 | **live** | to-infinitive | mermaid *not said here* | nothing *not said here* | | | | | vn exist-47.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme | | 9 | **die** | infinitive | mermaid *not said here* | | | | | with emperor | vn calibratable\_cos-45.6.1 «NP.attribute V»: agent=Attribute | 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 92](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg7277/52/92/) - next →: [sentence 94](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg7277/52/94/) - ↑ back to [The Golden Mermaid](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg7277/52/)