---
title: Moreover, when I stood with the tree between my thighs, the tips of… — The grateful elephant · tree and pragmatics
description: Moreover, when I stood with the tree between my thighs, the tips of its branches used to rub against my belly. Who acts: I. A sentence of «The grateful elephant» by Eugene Watson Burlingame, Opening, part 12, with its dependency tree and the pragmatics of every clause.
---

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# The grateful elephant, Opening, part 12, sentence 111

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Moreover, when I stood with the tree between my thighs, the tips of its branches used to rub against my belly.

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**Who acts:** I · **What happens:** stand, use, rub · **To what, where:** thighs, branches, belly

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This is a sentence of «The grateful elephant» by Eugene Watson Burlingame, Opening, part 12. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (I), what happens, when and where, as Mova's frames read it from the tree.

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**Mova's own parse.** This tree may be wrong.

## The tree {#tree}

```conllu
# sent_id = book:pg74064:12:116
# text = Moreover, when I stood with the tree between my thighs, the tips of its branches used to rub against my belly.
1	Moreover	moreover	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	1	punct	_	_
3	when	when	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	5	advmod	_	_
4	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	5	nsubj	_	_
5	stood	stand	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
6	with	with	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	tree	tree	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	_
9	between	between	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
10	my	my	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Sing|Person=1|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	11	nmod:poss	_	_
11	thighs	thigh	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	14	punct	_	_
13	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	14	det	_	_
14	tips	tip	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	11	conj	_	_
15	of	of	ADP	IN	_	17	case	_	_
16	its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	17	nmod:poss	_	_
17	branches	branch	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	14	nmod	_	_
18	used	use	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	17	acl	_	_
19	to	to	PART	TO	_	20	mark	_	_
20	rub	rub	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	18	xcomp	_	_
21	against	against	ADP	IN	_	23	case	_	_
22	my	my	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Sing|Person=1|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	23	nmod:poss	_	_
23	belly	belly	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	20	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
24	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **stand** | past | I |  |  | my thighs and the tips of tree's branches |  | with the tree; moreover *property* | vn assuming\_position-50 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Agent between thigh=Location |
| 2 | **use** | participle |  | tree's branches *not said here* |  |  |  |  | vn use-105.1 «NP V NP S\_INF»: agent=Agent clause=Eventuality |
| 3 | **rub** | to-infinitive |  |  |  | my belly |  |  | vn spray-9.7-1 «NP V PP.destination»: agent=Theme against belly=Destination |

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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 grateful elephant» by Eugene Watson Burlingame, Project Gutenberg book 74064 (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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