---
title: Such a soldier was he that, single-handed, he could take the Fianna… — Irish Fairy Tales · tree and pragmatics
description: Such a soldier was he that, single-handed, he could take the Fianna out of any hole they got into, but such an inveterate poet was he that all the Fianna together could scarcely retrieve him from the abysses into which he tumbled. Who acts: soldier, Fionn, they, inveterate poet. A sentence of «Irish
---

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# Irish Fairy Tales, Chapter I, sentence 3

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Such a soldier was he that, single-handed, he could take the Fianna out of any hole they got into, but such an inveterate poet was he that all the Fianna together could scarcely retrieve him from the abysses into which he tumbled.

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**Who acts:** soldier, Fionn, they, inveterate poet · **What happens:** be, hand, take, get, tumble · **To what, where:** that, Fianna, hole, abysses

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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 (soldier, Fionn, they, inveterate poet), 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:pg2892:56:3
# text = Such a soldier was he that, single-handed, he could take the Fianna out of any hole they got into, but such an inveterate poet was he that all the Fianna together could scarcely retrieve him from the abysses into which he tumbled.
1	Such	such	DET	PDT	PronType=Ind	3	det:predet	_	_
2	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	soldier	soldier	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	_
4	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	6	cop	_	_
5	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	6	nsubj	_	_
6	that	that	PRON	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	14	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	10	punct	_	_
8	single	single	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	10	amod	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	8	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	handed	hand	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	6	acl	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	10	punct	_	_
12	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	14	nsubj	_	_
13	could	could	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	14	aux	_	_
14	take	take	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
15	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	16	det	_	_
16	Fianna	Fianna	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	14	obj	_	_
17	out	out	ADP	IN	_	20	case	_	_
18	of	of	ADP	IN	_	20	case	_	_
19	any	any	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	20	det	_	_
20	hole	hole	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	obl	_	_
21	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	22	nsubj	_	_
22	got	get	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	20	acl:relcl	_	_
23	into	into	ADP	IN	_	22	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
24	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	39	punct	_	_
25	but	but	CCONJ	CC	_	39	cc	_	_
26	such	such	DET	PDT	PronType=Ind	29	det:predet	_	_
27	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	29	det	_	_
28	inveterate	inveterate	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	29	amod	_	_
29	poet	poet	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	39	nsubj	_	_
30	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	39	cop	_	_
31	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	39	nsubj	_	_
32	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	39	mark	_	_
33	all	all	DET	PDT	PronType=Tot	35	det:predet	_	_
34	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	35	det	_	_
35	Fianna	Fianna	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	39	nsubj	_	_
36	together	together	ADV	RB	_	35	advmod	_	_
37	could	could	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	39	aux	_	_
38	scarcely	scarcely	ADV	RB	_	39	advmod	_	_
39	retrieve	retrieve	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	14	conj	_	_
40	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	39	obj	_	_
41	from	from	ADP	IN	_	43	case	_	_
42	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	43	det	_	_
43	abysses	abyss	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	39	obl	_	_
44	into	into	ADP	IN	_	45	case	_	_
45	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	47	obl	_	_
46	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	47	nsubj	_	_
47	tumbled	tumble	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	43	acl:relcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
48	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	14	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | past | such soldier | that |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **hand** | participle |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn send-11.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **take** | could | Fionn | the Fianna |  | any hole |  |  | vn bring-11.3 «NP V NP PP.initial\_location»: agent=Agent fianna=Theme out hole=Initial\_Location |
| 4 | **get** | past | they | any hole *not said here* |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer hole=Stimulus |
| 5 | **is** | could · past | such inveterate poet |  |  | the abysses |  | retrieve, scarcely *property* | tree rules |
| 6 | **tumble** | past | Fionn |  |  | the abysses |  |  | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V PP.initial\_location»: agent=Theme into which=Initial\_Location |

<!-- .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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