--- title: If he had been able to do so he might have spoken harshly to his dog… — Irish Fairy Tales · tree and pragmatics description: If he had been able to do so he might have spoken harshly to his dogs, but he could not; it was unthinkable that he should; and the boy might have spoken harshly to him if he had dared to do it. Who acts: Fionn, hound. A sentence of «Irish Fairy Tales» by James Stephens, Chapter VI, with its depende --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg2892/38/10/) [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 VI](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg2892/38/) / 10 # Irish Fairy Tales, Chapter VI, sentence 10 If he had been able to do so he might have spoken harshly to his dogs, but he could not; it was unthinkable that he should; and the boy might have spoken harshly to him if he had dared to do it. **Who acts:** Fionn, hound · **What happens:** be, do, speak, dare · **To what, where:** boy, Fionn, hound · **Speech:** someone speaks here This is a sentence of «Irish Fairy Tales» by James Stephens, Chapter VI. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (Fionn, hound), 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:pg2892:38:10 # text = If he had been able to do so he might have spoken harshly to his dogs, but he could not; it was unthinkable that he should; and the boy might have spoken harshly to him if he had dared to do it. 1 If if SCONJ IN _ 5 mark _ _ 2 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 5 nsubj _ _ 3 had have AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 5 aux _ _ 4 been be AUX VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part 5 cop _ _ 5 able able ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 0 root _ _ 6 to to PART TO _ 7 mark _ _ 7 do do VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 5 xcomp _ _ 8 so so ADV RB _ 12 advmod _ _ 9 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 12 nsubj _ _ 10 might might AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 12 aux _ _ 11 have have AUX VB VerbForm=Inf 12 aux _ _ 12 spoken speak VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part 7 advcl _ _ 13 harshly harshly ADV RB _ 12 advmod _ _ 14 to to ADP IN _ 16 case _ _ 15 his his PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 16 nmod:poss _ _ 16 dogs dog NOUN NNS Number=Plur 13 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 17 , , PUNCT , _ 25 punct _ _ 18 but but CCONJ CC _ 25 cc _ _ 19 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 20 nsubj _ _ 20 could could AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 25 aux _ _ 21 not not PART RB Polarity=Neg 20 advmod _ SpaceAfter=No 22 ; ; PUNCT , _ 20 punct _ _ 23 it it PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 25 nsubj _ _ 24 was be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 25 cop _ _ 25 unthinkable unthinkable ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 5 conj _ _ 26 that that SCONJ IN _ 28 mark _ _ 27 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 28 nsubj _ _ 28 should should AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 25 advcl _ SpaceAfter=No 29 ; ; PUNCT , _ 35 punct _ _ 30 and and CCONJ CC _ 35 cc _ _ 31 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 32 det _ _ 32 boy boy NOUN NN Number=Sing 35 nsubj:pass _ _ 33 might might AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 35 aux _ _ 34 have have AUX VB VerbForm=Inf 35 aux _ _ 35 spoken speak VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass 5 parataxis _ _ 36 harshly harshly ADV RB _ 38 advmod _ _ 37 to to ADP IN _ 38 case _ _ 38 him he PRON PRP Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 35 obl _ _ 39 if if SCONJ IN _ 42 mark _ _ 40 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 42 nsubj _ _ 41 had have AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 42 aux _ _ 42 dared dare VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part 35 advcl _ _ 43 to to PART TO _ 44 mark _ _ 44 do do VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 42 xcomp _ _ 45 it it PRON PRP Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 44 obj _ SpaceAfter=No 46 . . PUNCT . _ 5 punct _ _ ``` ## Pragmatics {#pragmatics} | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **is** | past · perfect | Fionn | | | | | able *property* | tree rules | | 2 | **do** | to-infinitive | Fionn *not said here* | | | | | | vn act-114-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent | | 3 | **speak** *speech: other* | might · perfect | Fionn | | | | | harshly *property* | vn talk-37.5 «NP V»: agent=Agent | | 4 | **is** | could | hound | | | | | unthinkable *property* | tree rules | | 5 | **speak** *speech: other* | might · perfect · passive | | the boy | Fionn | | | | tree rules | | 6 | **dare** *a condition, not said to happen* | past · perfect | Fionn | | | | | | vn urge-58.1-1 «NP V NP S\_ING»: agent=Agent clause=Topic | | 7 | **do** | to-infinitive | Fionn *not said here* | hound | | | | | vn act-114-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent it=Eventuality | 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 9](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg2892/38/9/) - next →: [sentence 11](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg2892/38/11/) - ↑ back to [Chapter VI](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg2892/38/)