--- title: He knew by experience that he had done something which failed to mee… — Uncle Remus, His Songs and His Sayings · tree and pragmatics description: He knew by experience that he had done something which failed to meet the approval of Uncle Remus, and he tried to remember what it was, so as to frame an excuse; but his memory failed him. Who acts: man, memory. A sentence of «Uncle Remus, His Songs and His Sayings» by Joel Chandler Harris, XIX. th --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg2306/22/8/) [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/) / [Uncle Remus, His Songs and His Sayings](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg2306/) / [XIX. the Fate of Mr. Jack Sparrow](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg2306/22/) / 8 # Uncle Remus, His Songs and His Sayings, XIX. the Fate of Mr. Jack Sparrow, sentence 8 He knew by experience that he had done something which failed to meet the approval of Uncle Remus, and he tried to remember what it was, so as to frame an excuse; but his memory failed him. **Who acts:** man, memory · **What happens:** know, do, fail, not meet, try, remember · **To what, where:** something, approval, frame excuse, man, Uncle Remus This is a sentence of «Uncle Remus, His Songs and His Sayings» by Joel Chandler Harris, XIX. the Fate of Mr. Jack Sparrow. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (man, memory), 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:pg2306:22:8 # text = He knew by experience that he had done something which failed to meet the approval of Uncle Remus, and he tried to remember what it was, so as to frame an excuse; but his memory failed him. 1 He he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 2 nsubj _ _ 2 knew know VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 0 root _ _ 3 by by ADP IN _ 4 case _ _ 4 experience experience NOUN NN Number=Sing 2 obl _ _ 5 that that SCONJ IN _ 8 mark _ _ 6 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 8 nsubj _ _ 7 had have AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 8 aux _ _ 8 done do VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part 2 advcl _ _ 9 something something PRON NN Number=Sing|PronType=Ind 8 obj _ _ 10 which which PRON WDT PronType=Rel 11 nsubj _ _ 11 failed fail VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 9 acl:relcl _ _ 12 to to PART TO _ 13 mark _ _ 13 meet meet VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 11 xcomp _ _ 14 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 15 det _ _ 15 approval approval NOUN NN Number=Sing 13 obj _ _ 16 of of ADP IN _ 18 case _ _ 17 Uncle Uncle PROPN NNP Number=Sing 18 compound _ _ 18 Remus Remus PROPN NNP Number=Sing 15 nmod _ SpaceAfter=No 19 , , PUNCT , _ 22 punct _ _ 20 and and CCONJ CC _ 22 cc _ _ 21 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 22 nsubj _ _ 22 tried try VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 2 parataxis _ _ 23 to to PART TO _ 24 mark _ _ 24 remember remember VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 22 xcomp _ _ 25 what what PRON WP PronType=Int 24 obj _ _ 26 it it PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 27 nsubj _ _ 27 was be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 25 acl:relcl _ SpaceAfter=No 28 , , PUNCT , _ 34 punct _ _ 29 so so ADV RB _ 34 advmod _ _ 30 as as ADP IN _ 32 case _ _ 31 to to PART TO _ 32 mark _ _ 32 frame frame NOUN NN Number=Sing 34 compound _ _ 33 an a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 34 det _ _ 34 excuse excuse NOUN NN Number=Sing 22 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 35 ; ; PUNCT , _ 39 punct _ _ 36 but but CCONJ CC _ 39 cc _ _ 37 his his PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 38 nmod:poss _ _ 38 memory memory NOUN NN Number=Sing 39 nsubj _ _ 39 failed fail VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 2 parataxis _ _ 40 him he PRON PRP Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 39 obj _ SpaceAfter=No 41 . . PUNCT . _ 2 punct _ _ ``` ## Pragmatics {#pragmatics} | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **know** | past | man | | | | | by experience | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Experiencer | | 2 | **do** | past · perfect | man | something | | | | | vn act-114-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent something=Eventuality | | 3 | **fail** | past | | | | | | | vn succeed-74-3-1-1 «NP V S\_INF»: agent=Agent clause=Eventuality | | 4 | **not** **meet** | to-infinitive | | the approval of Uncle Remus | | | | | vn meet-36.3-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent approval=Co-Agent | | 5 | **try** | past | man | a frame excuse | | | | | vn try-61.1 «NP V S\_INF»: agent=Agent clause=Eventuality | | 6 | **remember** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive | man *not said here* | | | | | | vn characterize-29.2-1-1 «NP V NP S\_ING»: agent=Agent what=Theme | | 7 | **fail** | past | man's memory | man | | | | | vn succeed-74-3-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent he=Eventuality | | 8 | **approve** | | | Uncle Remus | | | | | nom approval «act transitive»: of=patient | 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:** «Uncle Remus, His Songs and His Sayings» by Joel Chandler Harris, Project Gutenberg book 2306 (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 7](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg2306/22/7/) - next →: [sentence 9](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg2306/22/9/) - ↑ back to [XIX. the Fate of Mr. Jack Sparrow](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg2306/22/)