--- title: But she couldn't finish what she was a-saying, for the funny old fel… — English Fairy Tales · tree and pragmatics description: But she couldn't finish what she was a-saying, for the funny old fellow started back in surprise, and he says to her, says he: “What! do you see me today?” Who acts: Dame, funny old fellow, fellow. A sentence of «English Fairy Tales» by Joseph Jacobs, Fairy Ointment, with its dependency tree and the --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg7439/46/29/) [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/) / [English Fairy Tales](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg7439/) / [Fairy Ointment](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg7439/46/) / 29 # English Fairy Tales, Fairy Ointment, sentence 29 But she couldn't finish what she was a-saying, for the funny old fellow started back in surprise, and he says to her, says he: “What! do you see me today?” **Who acts:** Dame, funny old fellow, fellow · **What happens:** not finish, be, start back, say, see · **To what, where:** surprise, Dame, fellow · **Speech:** someone speaks here This is a sentence of «English Fairy Tales» by Joseph Jacobs, Fairy Ointment. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (Dame, funny old fellow, fellow), 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:pg7439:46:29 # text = But she couldn't finish what she was a-saying, for the funny old fellow started back in surprise, and he says to her, says he: “What! do you see me today?” 1 But but CCONJ CC _ 5 cc _ _ 2 she she PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 5 nsubj _ _ 3 could could AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 5 aux _ SpaceAfter=No 4 n't not PART RB Polarity=Neg 5 advmod _ _ 5 finish finish VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 0 root _ _ 6 what what PRON WP PronType=Int 11 obj _ _ 7 she she PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 11 nsubj _ _ 8 was be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 11 cop _ _ 9 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 11 det _ SpaceAfter=No 10 - - PUNCT HYPH _ 9 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 11 saying say VERB VBG VerbForm=Ger 5 ccomp _ SpaceAfter=No 12 , , PUNCT , _ 18 punct _ _ 13 for for SCONJ IN _ 18 mark _ _ 14 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 17 det _ _ 15 funny funny ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 17 amod _ _ 16 old old ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 17 amod _ _ 17 fellow fellow NOUN NN Number=Sing 18 nsubj _ _ 18 started start VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 5 conj _ _ 19 back back ADV RB _ 18 advmod _ _ 20 in in ADP IN _ 21 case _ _ 21 surprise surprise NOUN NN Number=Sing 18 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 22 , , PUNCT , _ 25 punct _ _ 23 and and CCONJ CC _ 25 cc _ _ 24 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 25 nsubj _ _ 25 says say VERB VBZ Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 5 parataxis _ _ 26 to to ADP IN _ 27 case _ _ 27 her she PRON PRP Case=Acc|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 25 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 28 , , PUNCT , _ 29 punct _ _ 29 says say VERB VBZ Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 25 conj _ _ 30 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 37 nsubj _ SpaceAfter=No 31 : : PUNCT : _ 30 punct _ _ 32 “ " PUNCT `` _ 37 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 33 What what PRON WP PronType=Int 37 obj _ SpaceAfter=No 34 ! ! PUNCT . _ 33 punct _ _ 35 do do AUX VBP Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 37 aux _ _ 36 you you PRON PRP Case=Nom|Person=2|PronType=Prs 37 nsubj _ _ 37 see see VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 29 ccomp _ _ 38 me I PRON PRP Case=Acc|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs 37 obj _ _ 39 today today NOUN NN Number=Sing 37 obl:unmarked _ SpaceAfter=No 40 ? ? PUNCT . _ 5 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 41 ” " PUNCT '' _ 5 punct _ _ ``` ## Pragmatics {#pragmatics} | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **not** **finish** | could | Dame | | | | | | vn stop-55.4-1-1 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Affector clause=Eventuality | | 2 | **is** | past | Dame | | | | | say *property* | tree rules | | 3 | **start back** | past | the funny old fellow | | | surprise | | | vn begin-55.1-1-1 «NP.eventuality V»: agent=Eventuality | | 4 | **say** *speech: assert* | present | fellow | | Dame | | | | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V PP.recipient S-Quote»: agent=Agent to she=Recipient | | 5 | **say** *speech: ask* | present | fellow *not said here* | | | | | | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic | | 6 | **see** *in a quote* | present · do-support | fellow | fellow | | | today | | tree rules | 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:** «English Fairy Tales» by Joseph Jacobs, Project Gutenberg book 7439 (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 28](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg7439/46/28/) - next →: [sentence 30](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg7439/46/30/) - ↑ back to [Fairy Ointment](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg7439/46/)