---
title: They could not understand how she was able to do better than they, s… — Myths and Folk-lore of the Timiskaming Algonquin… · tree and pragmatics
description: They could not understand how she was able to do better than they, so they asked her, “What did you do it with?” Who acts: sons, mother, you. A sentence of «Myths and Folk-lore of the Timiskaming Algonquin and Timagami Ojibwa» by Frank G. Speck, Myths and Folk-lore of the Timagami Ojibwa., part 8, w
---

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# Myths and Folk-lore of the Timiskaming Algonquin and Timagami Ojibwa, Myths and Folk-lore of the Timagami Ojibwa., part 8, sentence 58

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They could not understand how she was able to do better than they, so they asked her, “What did you do it with?”

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**Who acts:** sons, mother, you · **What happens:** not understand, be, do, ask · **To what, where:** mother, many · **Speech:** someone speaks here

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This is a sentence of «Myths and Folk-lore of the Timiskaming Algonquin and Timagami Ojibwa» by Frank G. Speck, Myths and Folk-lore of the Timagami Ojibwa., part 8. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (sons, mother, you), 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:pg66509:18:58
# text = They could not understand how she was able to do better than they, so they asked her, “What did you do it with?”
1	They	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
2	could	could	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
3	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	4	advmod	_	_
4	understand	understand	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
5	how	how	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	8	advmod	_	_
6	she	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	8	nsubj	_	_
7	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	8	cop	_	_
8	able	able	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	ccomp	_	_
9	to	to	PART	TO	_	10	mark	_	_
10	do	do	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	8	xcomp	_	_
11	better	well	ADV	RBR	Degree=Cmp	10	advmod	_	_
12	than	than	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
13	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	11	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	17	punct	_	_
15	so	so	ADV	RB	_	17	advmod	_	_
16	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	17	nsubj	_	_
17	asked	ask	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	conj	_	_
18	her	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	17	iobj	_	SpaceAfter=No
19	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	24	punct	_	_
20	“	"	PUNCT	``	_	24	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
21	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	24	obj	_	_
22	did	do	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=2|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	24	aux	_	_
23	you	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Person=2|PronType=Prs	24	nsubj	_	_
24	do	do	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	conj	_	_
25	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	24	obj	_	_
26	with	with	ADP	IN	_	24	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
27	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
28	”	"	PUNCT	''	_	4	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **understand** | could | sons *= son* |  |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Experiencer |
| 2 | **is** | past | mother |  |  |  |  | able *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **do** | to-infinitive | mother *not said here* |  |  |  |  | well *property* | vn act-114-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 4 | **ask** *speech: ask* | past | sons *= son* |  | mother |  |  |  | vn inquire-37.1.2 «NP V NP.recipient»: agent=Agent she=Recipient |
| 5 | **do** *in a quote* | past · do-support | you | many |  |  |  | What *obj* | tree rules |

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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:** «Myths and Folk-lore of the Timiskaming Algonquin and Timagami Ojibwa» by Frank G. Speck, Project Gutenberg book 66509 (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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