---
title: If he has really come to woo you, treat him kindly, listen to his wo… — The Sampo: A Wonder Tale of the Old North · tree and pragmatics
description: If he has really come to woo you, treat him kindly, listen to his words of honey, and answer ‘Yes’ to every question; for never will you have a nobler suitor.” Who acts: doubt, you. A sentence of «The Sampo: A Wonder Tale of the Old North» by James Baldwin, The Old Man’s Wooing, with its dependency 
---

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# The Sampo: A Wonder Tale of the Old North, The Old Man’s Wooing, sentence 19

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If he has really come to woo you, treat him kindly, listen to his words of honey, and answer ‘Yes’ to every question; for never will you have a nobler suitor.”

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**Who acts:** doubt, you · **What happens:** come, woo, treat, listen, answer, not have · **To what, where:** you, doubt, nobler suitor, honey

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This is a sentence of «The Sampo: A Wonder Tale of the Old North» by James Baldwin, The Old Man’s Wooing. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (doubt, 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:pg66819:23:19
# text = If he has really come to woo you, treat him kindly, listen to his words of honey, and answer ‘Yes’ to every question; for never will you have a nobler suitor.”
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	has	have	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	aux	_	_
4	really	really	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
5	come	come	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	14	advcl	_	_
6	to	to	PART	TO	_	7	mark	_	_
7	woo	woo	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	xcomp	_	_
8	you	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Person=2|PronType=Prs	7	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	10	punct	_	_
10	treat	treat	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	7	conj	_	_
11	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	10	obj	_	_
12	kindly	kindly	ADV	RB	_	10	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	14	punct	_	_
14	listen	listen	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
15	to	to	ADP	IN	_	17	case	_	_
16	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	17	nmod:poss	_	_
17	words	word	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	14	obl	_	_
18	of	of	ADP	IN	_	19	case	_	_
19	honey	honey	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	17	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
20	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	22	punct	_	_
21	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	22	cc	_	_
22	answer	answer	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	14	conj	_	_
23	‘	'	PUNCT	``	_	24	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
24	Yes	yes	INTJ	UH	Polarity=Pos	22	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
25	’	'	PUNCT	''	_	24	punct	_	_
26	to	to	ADP	IN	_	28	case	_	_
27	every	every	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	28	det	_	_
28	question	question	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	22	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
29	;	;	PUNCT	:	_	34	punct	_	_
30	for	for	SCONJ	IN	_	34	mark	_	_
31	never	never	ADV	RB	PronType=Neg	34	advmod	_	_
32	will	will	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	34	aux	_	_
33	you	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Person=2|PronType=Prs	34	nsubj	_	_
34	have	have	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	14	parataxis	_	_
35	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	37	det	_	_
36	nobler	noble	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	37	amod	_	_
37	suitor	suitor	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	34	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
38	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	34	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
39	”	"	PUNCT	''	_	34	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **come** *a condition, not said to happen* | present | doubt |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **woo** | to-infinitive | doubt *not said here* | you |  |  |  |  | vn compel-59.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent you=Patient |
| 3 | **treat** | infinitive | doubt *not said here* |  | doubt |  |  | kindly *property* | vn equip-13.4.2-1 «NP V NP.recipient»: agent=Agent he=Recipient |
| 4 | **listen** | imperative | you *not said here* |  |  |  |  | to doubt's words of honey | vn peer-30.3 «NP V PP.theme»: agent=Agent to word=Theme |
| 5 | **answer** *speech: assert* | infinitive | you *not said here* |  |  |  |  | to every question | vn reciprocate-112-1 «NP V PP»: agent=Agent yes=Eventuality |
| 6 | **not** **have** | future | you | a nobler suitor |  |  |  |  | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent suitor=Patient |
| 7 | **word** |  | doubt | honey |  |  |  |  | nom word «communication transitive»: poss=agent of=patient |

<!-- .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:** «The Sampo: A Wonder Tale of the Old North» by James Baldwin, Project Gutenberg book 66819 (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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