---
title: I had begun to perform my promise to him, for it was I whom you saw… — The Jade Story Book; Stories from the Orient · tree and pragmatics
description: I had begun to perform my promise to him, for it was I whom you saw in a dream in the shape of an old man. Who acts: I, promise, you, my. A sentence of «The Jade Story Book; Stories from the Orient» by Penrhyn Wingfield Coussens, Opening, part 17, with its dependency tree and the pragmatics of every
---

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# The Jade Story Book; Stories from the Orient, Opening, part 17, sentence 123

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I had begun to perform my promise to him, for it was I whom you saw in a dream in the shape of an old man.

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**Who acts:** I, promise, you, my · **What happens:** begin, perform, be, see, promise · **To what, where:** promise, father, dream

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This is a sentence of «The Jade Story Book; Stories from the Orient» by Penrhyn Wingfield Coussens, Opening, part 17. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (I, promise, you, my), what happens, when and where, as Mova's frames read it from the tree.

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**Mova's own parse.** This tree may be wrong.

## The tree {#tree}

```conllu
# sent_id = book:pg65965:17:123
# text = I had begun to perform my promise to him, for it was I whom you saw in a dream in the shape of an old man.
1	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	had	have	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux	_	_
3	begun	begin	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
4	to	to	PART	TO	_	5	mark	_	_
5	perform	perform	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	xcomp	_	_
6	my	my	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Sing|Person=1|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	7	nmod:poss	_	_
7	promise	promise	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obj	_	_
8	to	to	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
9	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	5	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	15	punct	_	_
11	for	for	ADP	IN	_	15	case	_	_
12	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	15	nsubj	_	_
13	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	15	cop	_	_
14	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	15	nsubj	_	_
15	whom	whom	PRON	WP	PronType=Rel	3	obl	_	_
16	you	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Person=2|PronType=Prs	17	nsubj	_	_
17	saw	see	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=2|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	15	acl:relcl	_	_
18	in	in	ADP	IN	_	20	case	_	_
19	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	20	det	_	_
20	dream	dream	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	17	obl	_	_
21	in	in	ADP	IN	_	23	case	_	_
22	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	23	det	_	_
23	shape	shape	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	17	obl	_	_
24	of	of	ADP	IN	_	27	case	_	_
25	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	27	det	_	_
26	old	old	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	27	amod	_	_
27	man	man	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	23	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
28	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **begin** | past · perfect | I |  |  |  |  |  | vn begin-55.1-1-1 «NP V S\_INF»: agent=Agent clause=Eventuality |
| 2 | **perform** | to-infinitive | I *not said here* | my promise | father |  |  |  | vn performance-26.7 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent promise=Theme |
| 3 | **is** | past | promise |  |  |  |  | I *nsubj* | tree rules |
| 4 | **see** | past | you |  |  | a dream |  | in the shape of a old man | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Experiencer |
| 5 | **promise** |  | my |  |  |  |  |  | nom promise «communication transitive»: poss=agent |

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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:** «The Jade Story Book; Stories from the Orient» by Penrhyn Wingfield Coussens, Project Gutenberg book 65965 (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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