---
title: It was the only way they could get rid of such a man; but it was not… — Irish Fairy Tales · tree and pragmatics
description: It was the only way they could get rid of such a man; but it was not an easy way, for what Fionn’s father did not know in arms could not be taught to him even by Morna. Who acts: last, way, father, Morna. A sentence of «Irish Fairy Tales» by James Stephens, Chapter I, with its dependency tree and th
---

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# Irish Fairy Tales, Chapter I, sentence 7

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It was the only way they could get rid of such a man; but it was not an easy way, for what Fionn’s father did not know in arms could not be taught to him even by Morna.

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**Who acts:** last, way, father, Morna · **What happens:** be, get, not be, not know, not teach · **To what, where:** only way, easy way, father, arms · **Speech:** someone speaks here

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This is a sentence of «Irish Fairy Tales» by James Stephens, Chapter I. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (last, way, father, Morna), 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:pg2892:14:7
# text = It was the only way they could get rid of such a man; but it was not an easy way, for what Fionn’s father did not know in arms could not be taught to him even by Morna.
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	5	nsubj	_	_
2	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	only	only	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	way	way	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
6	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	8	nsubj	_	_
7	could	could	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	8	aux	_	_
8	get	get	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	acl:relcl	_	_
9	rid	rid	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	xcomp	_	_
10	of	of	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
11	such	such	DET	PDT	PronType=Ind	13	det:predet	_	_
12	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
13	man	man	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	;	;	PUNCT	,	_	21	punct	_	_
15	but	but	CCONJ	CC	_	21	cc	_	_
16	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	21	nsubj	_	_
17	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	21	cop	_	_
18	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	21	advmod	_	_
19	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	21	det	_	_
20	easy	easy	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	21	amod	_	_
21	way	way	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
22	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	30	punct	_	_
23	for	for	ADP	IN	_	24	case	_	_
24	what	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	30	obj	_	_
25	Fionn	Fionn	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	27	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
26	’s	's	PART	POS	_	25	case	_	_
27	father	father	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	30	nsubj	_	_
28	did	do	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	30	aux	_	_
29	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	30	advmod	_	_
30	know	know	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	parataxis	_	_
31	in	in	ADP	IN	_	32	case	_	_
32	arms	arm	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	36	obl	_	_
33	could	could	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	36	aux	_	_
34	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	36	advmod	_	_
35	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	36	aux:pass	_	_
36	taught	teach	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	30	ccomp	_	_
37	to	to	ADP	IN	_	38	case	_	_
38	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	36	obl	_	_
39	even	even	ADV	RB	_	41	advmod	_	_
40	by	by	ADP	IN	_	41	case	_	_
41	Morna	Morna	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	36	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
42	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | past | last | the only way but a easy way |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **get** | could | way | the only way but a easy way *not said here* |  |  |  | rid *property* | vn comprehend-87.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer way=Stimulus |
| 3 | **not** **is a** | past | last | a easy way |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 4 | **not** **know** | past · do-support | Fionn's father | the only way but a easy way |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 5 | **not** **teach** *speech: other* | could · passive | Morna |  | father | arms |  |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V PP.recipient how S»: agent=Agent to he=Recipient |

<!-- .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:** «Irish Fairy Tales» by James Stephens, Project Gutenberg book 2892 (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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