---
title: It was strange, too, to observe how the earth, out of which they had… — Tanglewood Tales · tree and pragmatics
description: It was strange, too, to observe how the earth, out of which they had so lately grown, was incrusted, here and there, on their bright breastplates, and even, begrimed their faces; just as you may have seen it clinging to beets and carrots, when pulled out of their native soil. Who acts: look, teeth, 
---

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# Tanglewood Tales, The Dragon's Teeth., part 4, sentence 63

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It was strange, too, to observe how the earth, out of which they had so lately grown, was incrusted, here and there, on their bright breastplates, and even, begrimed their faces; just as you may have seen it clinging to beets and carrots, when pulled out of their native soil.

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**Who acts:** look, teeth, you · **What happens:** be, observe, grow, incrust, begrime, see · **To what, where:** earth, faces, look, native soil

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This is a sentence of «Tanglewood Tales» by Nathaniel Hawthorne, The Dragon's Teeth., part 4. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (look, teeth, you), what happens, when and where, as Mova's frames read it from the tree.

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**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:pg976:13:63
# text = It was strange, too, to observe how the earth, out of which they had so lately grown, was incrusted, here and there, on their bright breastplates, and even, begrimed their faces; just as you may have seen it clinging to beets and carrots, when pulled out of their native soil.
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	cop	_	_
3	strange	strange	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	5	punct	_	_
5	too	too	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	8	punct	_	_
7	to	to	PART	TO	_	8	mark	_	_
8	observe	observe	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	3	parataxis	_	_
9	how	how	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	23	advmod	_	_
10	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	earth	earth	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	23	nsubj:pass	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	20	punct	_	_
13	out	out	ADP	IN	_	15	case	_	_
14	of	of	ADP	IN	_	15	case	_	_
15	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	20	obl	_	_
16	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	20	nsubj	_	_
17	had	have	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	20	aux	_	_
18	so	so	ADV	RB	_	20	advmod	_	_
19	lately	lately	ADV	RB	_	20	advmod	_	_
20	grown	grow	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	11	acl:relcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
21	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	20	punct	_	_
22	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	23	aux:pass	_	_
23	incrusted	incrust	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	8	advcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
24	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	25	punct	_	_
25	here	here	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	23	advmod	_	_
26	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	27	cc	_	_
27	there	there	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	25	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
28	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	32	punct	_	_
29	on	on	ADP	IN	_	32	case	_	_
30	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	32	nmod:poss	_	_
31	bright	bright	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	32	amod	_	_
32	breastplates	breastplate	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	23	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
33	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	37	punct	_	_
34	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	37	cc	_	_
35	even	even	ADV	RB	_	37	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
36	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	37	punct	_	_
37	begrimed	begrime	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	conj	_	_
38	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	39	nmod:poss	_	_
39	faces	face	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	37	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
40	;	;	PUNCT	:	_	46	punct	_	_
41	just	just	ADV	RB	_	46	advmod	_	_
42	as	as	SCONJ	IN	_	46	mark	_	_
43	you	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Person=2|PronType=Prs	46	nsubj	_	_
44	may	may	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	46	aux	_	_
45	have	have	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	46	aux	_	_
46	seen	see	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	3	parataxis	_	_
47	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	46	obj	_	_
48	clinging	cling	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	46	advcl	_	_
49	to	to	ADP	IN	_	50	case	_	_
50	beets	beet	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	48	obl	_	_
51	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	52	cc	_	_
52	carrots	carrot	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	50	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
53	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	55	punct	_	_
54	when	when	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	55	advmod	_	_
55	pulled	pull	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	50	acl	_	_
56	out	out	ADP	IN	_	60	case	_	_
57	of	of	ADP	IN	_	60	case	_	_
58	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	60	nmod:poss	_	_
59	native	native	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	60	amod	_	_
60	soil	soil	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	55	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
61	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | past | look |  |  |  |  | strange *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **observe** | to-infinitive |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **grow** | past · perfect | teeth *= tooth* |  |  | the earth |  | lately *property* | vn appear-48.1.1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme out which=Location |
| 4 | **incrust** | past · passive |  | the earth |  | here |  |  | tree rules |
| 5 | **begrime** | past | look *not said here* | teeth's faces |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 6 | **see** | may · perfect | you | look |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer it=Stimulus |
| 7 | **cling** | gerund | you *not said here* |  |  |  |  | to beets and carrots | vn cling-22.5 «NP V PP.co-theme»: agent=Theme to beet=Co-Theme |
| 8 | **pull out** | participle |  | teeth's native soil |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 9 | **soil** |  | teeth *= tooth* |  |  |  |  |  | nom soil «state transitive»: poss=agent |

<!-- .note -->
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:** «Tanglewood Tales» by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Project Gutenberg book 976 (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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