--- title: The past also must be reckoned with; it is seldom as far behind us a… — Irish Fairy Tales · tree and pragmatics description: The past also must be reckoned with; it is seldom as far behind us as we could wish: it is more often in front, blocking the way, and the future trips over it just when we think that the road is clear and joy our own. Who acts: past, we, future, road. A sentence of «Irish Fairy Tales» by James Steph --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg2892/29/3/) [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/) / [Irish Fairy Tales](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg2892/) / [Chapter II](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg2892/29/) / 3 # Irish Fairy Tales, Chapter II, sentence 3 The past also must be reckoned with; it is seldom as far behind us as we could wish: it is more often in front, blocking the way, and the future trips over it just when we think that the road is clear and joy our own. **Who acts:** past, we, future, road · **What happens:** reckon, be, wish, block, trip, think · **To what, where:** past, front, way · **Speech:** someone speaks here This is a sentence of «Irish Fairy Tales» by James Stephens, Chapter II. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (past, we, future, road), 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:pg2892:29:3 # text = The past also must be reckoned with; it is seldom as far behind us as we could wish: it is more often in front, blocking the way, and the future trips over it just when we think that the road is clear and joy our own. 1 The the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 2 det _ _ 2 past past NOUN NN Number=Sing 13 nsubj _ _ 3 also also ADV RB _ 6 advmod _ _ 4 must must AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 6 aux _ _ 5 be be AUX VB VerbForm=Inf 6 aux:pass _ _ 6 reckoned reckon VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass 2 acl:relcl _ _ 7 with with ADP IN _ 6 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 8 ; ; PUNCT , _ 13 punct _ _ 9 it it PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 13 nsubj _ _ 10 is be AUX VBZ Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 13 cop _ _ 11 seldom seldom ADV RB _ 13 advmod _ _ 12 as as ADV RB _ 13 advmod _ _ 13 far far ADV RB Degree=Pos 0 root _ _ 14 behind behind ADP IN _ 15 case _ _ 15 us we PRON PRP Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=1|PronType=Prs 13 obl _ _ 16 as as SCONJ IN _ 19 mark _ _ 17 we we PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=1|PronType=Prs 19 nsubj _ _ 18 could could AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 19 aux _ _ 19 wish wish VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 13 ccomp _ SpaceAfter=No 20 : : PUNCT : _ 26 punct _ _ 21 it it PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 26 nsubj _ _ 22 is be AUX VBZ Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 26 cop _ _ 23 more more ADV RBR Degree=Cmp 24 advmod _ _ 24 often often ADV RB _ 26 advmod _ _ 25 in in ADP IN _ 26 case _ _ 26 front front NOUN NN Number=Sing 19 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 27 , , PUNCT , _ 28 punct _ _ 28 blocking block VERB VBG Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part 26 conj _ _ 29 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 30 det _ _ 30 way way NOUN NN Number=Sing 28 obj _ SpaceAfter=No 31 , , PUNCT , _ 35 punct _ _ 32 and and CCONJ CC _ 35 cc _ _ 33 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 34 det _ _ 34 future future NOUN NN Number=Sing 35 nsubj _ _ 35 trips trip VERB VBZ Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 19 parataxis _ _ 36 over over ADP IN _ 37 case _ _ 37 it it PRON PRP Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 35 obl _ _ 38 just just ADV RB _ 41 advmod _ _ 39 when when ADV WRB PronType=Int 41 advmod _ _ 40 we we PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=1|PronType=Prs 41 nsubj _ _ 41 think think VERB VBP Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=1|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 35 conj _ _ 42 that that SCONJ IN _ 46 mark _ _ 43 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 44 det _ _ 44 road road NOUN NN Number=Sing 46 nsubj _ _ 45 is be AUX VBZ Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 46 cop _ _ 46 clear clear ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 41 ccomp _ _ 47 and and CCONJ CC _ 48 cc _ _ 48 joy joy NOUN NN Number=Sing 46 conj _ _ 49 our our PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=1|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 50 nmod:poss _ _ 50 own own ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 46 conj _ SpaceAfter=No 51 . . PUNCT . _ 13 punct _ _ ``` ## Pragmatics {#pragmatics} | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **reckon** | must · passive | | the past *not said here* | | | | | vn consider-29.9-1 «NP V how S» | | 2 | **is** | present | the past | | | | | behind us; far, seldom *property* | tree rules | | 3 | **wish** | could | we | | | | | | vn wish-62 «NP V for NP S\_INF»: agent=Pivot | | 4 | **is** | present | past | | | front | | often *property* | tree rules | | 5 | **block** | gerund | past *not said here* | the way | | | | | vn forbid-64.4-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Causer way=Theme | | 6 | **trip** | present | the future | | | way | | | vn run-51.3.2-2 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme over it=Trajectory | | 7 | **think** *speech: other* | present | we | | | | | | vn focus-87.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent | | 8 | **is** | present | the road | | | | | clear *property* | tree rules | | 9 | **be** | | the road *not said here* | | | | | | tree rules | 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:** «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. - ← previous: [sentence 2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg2892/29/2/) - next →: [sentence 4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg2892/29/4/) - ↑ back to [Chapter II](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg2892/29/)