--- title: If it fails, we must quickly take to our rafts; frail as they are, w… — The Arabian Nights Entertainments · tree and pragmatics description: If it fails, we must quickly take to our rafts; frail as they are, we have more chance of saving our lives with them than we have if we remain here." Who acts: plot, we, rafts, more chance. A sentence of «The Arabian Nights Entertainments» by Andrew Lang, Opening, part 15, with its dependency tree a --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg128/15/22/) [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 Arabian Nights Entertainments](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg128/) / [Opening, part 15](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg128/15/) / 22 # The Arabian Nights Entertainments, Opening, part 15, sentence 22 If it fails, we must quickly take to our rafts; frail as they are, we have more chance of saving our lives with them than we have if we remain here." **Who acts:** plot, we, rafts, more chance · **What happens:** fail, take, be, have, save, remain · **To what, where:** more chance, lives This is a sentence of «The Arabian Nights Entertainments» by Andrew Lang, Opening, part 15. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (plot, we, rafts, more chance), 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:pg128:15:22 # text = If it fails, we must quickly take to our rafts; frail as they are, we have more chance of saving our lives with them than we have if we remain here." 1 If if SCONJ IN _ 3 mark _ _ 2 it it PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 3 nsubj _ _ 3 fails fail VERB VBZ Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 8 advcl _ SpaceAfter=No 4 , , PUNCT , _ 3 punct _ _ 5 we we PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=1|PronType=Prs 8 nsubj _ _ 6 must must AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 8 aux _ _ 7 quickly quickly ADV RB _ 8 advmod _ _ 8 take take VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 0 root _ _ 9 to to ADP IN _ 11 case _ _ 10 our our PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=1|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 11 nmod:poss _ _ 11 rafts raft NOUN NNS Number=Plur 8 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 12 ; ; PUNCT : _ 13 punct _ _ 13 frail frail ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 8 parataxis _ _ 14 as as SCONJ IN _ 16 mark _ _ 15 they they PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs 16 nsubj _ _ 16 are be VERB VBP Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 13 advcl _ SpaceAfter=No 17 , , PUNCT , _ 19 punct _ _ 18 we we PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=1|PronType=Prs 19 nsubj _ _ 19 have have VERB VBP Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=1|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 8 conj _ _ 20 more more ADJ JJR Degree=Cmp 21 amod _ _ 21 chance chance NOUN NN Number=Sing 19 obj _ _ 22 of of SCONJ IN _ 23 mark _ _ 23 saving save VERB VBG VerbForm=Ger 21 acl _ _ 24 our our PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=1|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 25 nmod:poss _ _ 25 lives life NOUN NNS Number=Plur 23 obj _ _ 26 with with ADP IN _ 27 case _ _ 27 them they PRON PRP Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs 23 obl _ _ 28 than than SCONJ IN _ 30 mark _ _ 29 we we PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=1|PronType=Prs 30 nsubj _ _ 30 have have VERB VBP Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=1|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 23 advcl _ _ 31 if if SCONJ IN _ 33 mark _ _ 32 we we PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=1|PronType=Prs 33 nsubj _ _ 33 remain remain VERB VBP Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=1|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 30 ccomp _ _ 34 here here ADV RB PronType=Dem 33 advmod _ SpaceAfter=No 35 . . PUNCT . _ 8 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 36 " " PUNCT '' _ 8 punct _ _ ``` ## Pragmatics {#pragmatics} | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **fail** *a condition, not said to happen* | present | plot | | | | | | vn succeed-74-3-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent | | 2 | **take** | must | we | | | | | to our rafts *result*; quickly *property* | vn convert-26.6.2 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Patient to raft=Result | | 3 | **does** | present | rafts *= raft* | | | | | | vn exist-47.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme | | 4 | **have** | present | we | more chance | | | | | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent chance=Patient | | 5 | **save** | gerund | more chance *not said here* | our lives | | | | with rafts *= raft* | vn get-13.5.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent life=Theme | | 6 | **have** | present | we | | | | | | tree rules | | 7 | **remain** *a condition, not said to happen* | present | we | | | here | | | vn exist-47.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme | 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 Arabian Nights Entertainments» by Andrew Lang, Project Gutenberg book 128 (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 21](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg128/15/21/) - next →: [sentence 23](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg128/15/23/) - ↑ back to [Opening, part 15](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg128/15/)