--- title: But a time will come, O Babe of Tegumai, when we shall make letters-… — Just so stories · tree and pragmatics description: But a time will come, O Babe of Tegumai, when we shall make letters--all twenty-six of ‘em,--and when we shall be able to read as well as to write, and then we shall always say exactly what we mean without any mistakes. Who acts: time, we. A sentence of «Just so stories» by Rudyard Kipling, How the --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg2781/9/171/) [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/) / [Just so stories](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg2781/) / [How the First Letter Was Written](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg2781/9/) / 171 # Just so stories, How the First Letter Was Written, sentence 171 But a time will come, O Babe of Tegumai, when we shall make letters--all twenty-six of ‘em,--and when we shall be able to read as well as to write, and then we shall always say exactly what we mean without any mistakes. **Who acts:** time, we · **What happens:** come, make, be, read, write, say · **To what, where:** letters · **Speech:** someone speaks here This is a sentence of «Just so stories» by Rudyard Kipling, How the First Letter Was Written. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (time, we), 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:pg2781:9:171 # text = But a time will come, O Babe of Tegumai, when we shall make letters--all twenty-six of ‘em,--and when we shall be able to read as well as to write, and then we shall always say exactly what we mean without any mistakes. 1 But but CCONJ CC _ 5 cc _ _ 2 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 3 det _ _ 3 time time NOUN NN Number=Sing 5 nsubj _ _ 4 will will AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 5 aux _ _ 5 come come VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 0 root _ SpaceAfter=No 6 , , PUNCT , _ 8 punct _ _ 7 O of ADP IN Abbr=Yes 8 case _ _ 8 Babe Babe PROPN NNP Number=Sing 5 obl _ _ 9 of of ADP IN _ 10 case _ _ 10 Tegumai Tegumai PROPN NNP Number=Sing 8 nmod _ SpaceAfter=No 11 , , PUNCT , _ 15 punct _ _ 12 when when ADV WRB PronType=Int 15 advmod _ _ 13 we we PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=1|PronType=Prs 15 nsubj _ _ 14 shall shall AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 15 aux _ _ 15 make make VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 5 parataxis _ _ 16 letters letter NOUN NNS Number=Plur 15 obj _ SpaceAfter=No 17 -- -- PUNCT , _ 21 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 18 all all DET DT PronType=Tot 21 det:predet _ _ 19 twenty twenty NUM CD NumForm=Word|NumType=Card 21 compound _ SpaceAfter=No 20 - - PUNCT HYPH _ 19 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 21 six six NUM CD NumForm=Word|NumType=Card 16 appos _ _ 22 of of ADP IN _ 24 case _ _ 23 ‘ ' PUNCT `` _ 24 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 24 em em NOUN NN Number=Sing 21 nmod _ SpaceAfter=No 25 , , PUNCT , _ 24 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 26 -- -- PUNCT , _ 32 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 27 and and CCONJ CC _ 32 cc _ _ 28 when when ADV WRB PronType=Int 32 advmod _ _ 29 we we PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=1|PronType=Prs 32 nsubj _ _ 30 shall shall AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 32 aux _ _ 31 be be AUX VB VerbForm=Inf 32 cop _ _ 32 able able ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 15 conj _ _ 33 to to PART TO _ 34 mark _ _ 34 read read VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 32 xcomp _ _ 35 as as ADV RB ExtPos=ADV 34 advmod _ _ 36 well well ADV RB Degree=Pos 35 fixed _ _ 37 as as ADP IN _ 35 fixed _ _ 38 to to PART TO _ 39 mark _ _ 39 write write VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 34 conj _ SpaceAfter=No 40 , , PUNCT , _ 46 punct _ _ 41 and and CCONJ CC _ 46 cc _ _ 42 then then ADV RB PronType=Dem 46 advmod _ _ 43 we we PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=1|PronType=Prs 46 nsubj _ _ 44 shall shall AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 46 aux _ _ 45 always always ADV RB PronType=Tot 46 advmod _ _ 46 say say VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 5 parataxis _ _ 47 exactly exactly ADV RB _ 48 advmod _ _ 48 what what PRON WP PronType=Int 50 obj _ _ 49 we we PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=1|PronType=Prs 50 nsubj _ _ 50 mean mean VERB VBP Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=1|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 46 ccomp _ _ 51 without without ADP IN _ 53 case _ _ 52 any any DET DT PronType=Ind 53 det _ _ 53 mistakes mistake NOUN NNS Number=Plur 50 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 54 . . PUNCT . _ 5 punct _ _ ``` ## Pragmatics {#pragmatics} | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **come** | future | a time | | | | | of Babe of Tegumai | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V PP.initial\_location»: agent=Theme of babe=Initial\_Location | | 2 | **make** | shall | we | letters | | | | | vn build-26.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent letter=Product | | 3 | **is** | shall | we | | | | | able *property* | tree rules | | 4 | **read** | to-infinitive | we *not said here* | | | | | | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent | | 5 | **write** | to-infinitive | we *not said here* | | | | | | vn scribble-25.2-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent | | 6 | **say** *speech: assert* | shall | we | | | | then | always *property* | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V how S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic | | 7 | **mean** | present | we | | | | | without any mistakes | vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent what=Topic | 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:** «Just so stories» by Rudyard Kipling, Project Gutenberg book 2781 (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 170](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg2781/9/170/) - next →: [sentence 172](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg2781/9/172/) - ↑ back to [How the First Letter Was Written](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg2781/9/)