---
title: Much practice was necessary before the rider could maintain his or h… — Hawaiian Legends of Volcanoes (mythology) · tree and pragmatics
description: Much practice was necessary before the rider could maintain his or her balance, guide the sled, and gain a velocity which would carry them far beyond any competitor. Who acts: Much practice, rider, velocity. A sentence of «Hawaiian Legends of Volcanoes (mythology)» by W. D. Westervelt, Pele and Kaha
---

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# Hawaiian Legends of Volcanoes (mythology), Pele and Kaha-wali, sentence 19

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Much practice was necessary before the rider could maintain his or her balance, guide the sled, and gain a velocity which would carry them far beyond any competitor.

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**Who acts:** Much practice, rider, velocity · **What happens:** be, maintain, guide, gain, carry, balance · **To what, where:** balance, sled, velocity, sleds

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This is a sentence of «Hawaiian Legends of Volcanoes (mythology)» by W. D. Westervelt, Pele and Kaha-wali. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (Much practice, rider, velocity), 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:pg66516:10:19
# text = Much practice was necessary before the rider could maintain his or her balance, guide the sled, and gain a velocity which would carry them far beyond any competitor.
1	Much	much	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	amod	_	_
2	practice	practice	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
3	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
4	necessary	necessary	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
5	before	before	SCONJ	IN	_	9	mark	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	rider	rider	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	nsubj	_	_
8	could	could	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	9	aux	_	_
9	maintain	maintain	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	advcl	_	_
10	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	13	nmod:poss	_	_
11	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	13	cc	_	_
12	her	her	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	13	nmod:poss	_	_
13	balance	balance	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	15	punct	_	_
15	guide	guide	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	9	conj	_	_
16	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	17	det	_	_
17	sled	sled	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	15	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
18	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	20	punct	_	_
19	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	20	cc	_	_
20	gain	gain	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	4	parataxis	_	_
21	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	22	det	_	_
22	velocity	velocity	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	20	obj	_	_
23	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	25	nsubj	_	_
24	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	25	aux	_	_
25	carry	carry	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	22	acl:relcl	_	_
26	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	25	obj	_	_
27	far	far	ADV	RB	Degree=Pos	25	advmod	_	_
28	beyond	beyond	ADP	IN	_	30	case	_	_
29	any	any	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	30	det	_	_
30	competitor	competitor	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	27	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
31	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | past | Much practice |  |  |  |  | necessary *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **maintain** | could | the rider | rider's balance |  |  |  |  | vn declare-29.4-1 «NP V NP ADJ»: agent=Agent balance=Theme |
| 3 | **guide** | infinitive | the rider *not said here* | the sled |  |  |  |  | vn accompany-51.7 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent sled=Theme |
| 4 | **gain** | infinitive |  | a velocity |  |  |  |  | vn get-13.5.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent velocity=Theme |
| 5 | **carry** | would | a velocity | sleds *= sled* |  |  |  | far *property* | vn carry-11.4 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent they=Theme |
| 6 | **balance** |  | rider |  |  |  |  |  | nom balance «state intransitive»: 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:** «Hawaiian Legends of Volcanoes (mythology)» by W. D. Westervelt, Project Gutenberg book 66516 (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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