---
title: But his teeth had got to the point where they were ready to drop, an… — The grateful elephant · tree and pragmatics
description: But his teeth had got to the point where they were ready to drop, and his jaws were smeared with blood. Who acts: teeth. A sentence of «The grateful elephant» by Eugene Watson Burlingame, Opening, part 7, with its dependency tree and the pragmatics of every clause.
---

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# The grateful elephant, Opening, part 7, sentence 47

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But his teeth had got to the point where they were ready to drop, and his jaws were smeared with blood.

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**Who acts:** teeth · **What happens:** get, be, drop, smear · **To what, where:** jaws

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This is a sentence of «The grateful elephant» by Eugene Watson Burlingame, Opening, part 7. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (teeth), 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:pg74064:7:49
# text = But his teeth had got to the point where they were ready to drop, and his jaws were smeared with blood.
1	But	but	CCONJ	CC	_	5	cc	_	_
2	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	3	nmod:poss	_	_
3	teeth	tooth	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	nsubj	_	_
4	had	have	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	aux	_	_
5	got	get	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
6	to	to	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	point	point	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	_
9	where	where	ADV	WRB	PronType=Rel	12	advmod	_	_
10	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	12	nsubj	_	_
11	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	12	cop	_	_
12	ready	ready	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	nmod	_	_
13	to	to	PART	TO	_	14	mark	_	_
14	drop	drop	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	12	xcomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	20	punct	_	_
16	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	20	cc	_	_
17	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	18	nmod:poss	_	_
18	jaws	jaw	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	20	nsubj	_	_
19	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	20	aux:pass	_	_
20	smeared	smear	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	5	conj	_	_
21	with	with	ADP	IN	_	22	case	_	_
22	blood	blood	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	20	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
23	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **get** | past · perfect | Tortoise's teeth |  |  |  |  | to the point *result* | vn convert-26.6.2 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Patient to point=Result |
| 2 | **is** | past | teeth *= tooth* |  |  |  |  | ready *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **drop** | to-infinitive | teeth *= tooth* *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn roll-51.3.1 «NP.theme V»: agent=Theme |
| 4 | **smear** | past · passive |  | Tortoise's jaws |  |  |  | with blood | vn spray-9.7-1 «NP V NP.destination PP.theme»: subject=Destination with blood=Theme |

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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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