---
title: So nearly perfect was he that the gods asked the greatest God to tes… — Indian tales of the great ones among men, women,… · tree and pragmatics
description: So nearly perfect was he that the gods asked the greatest God to test his goodness. Who acts: gods. A sentence of «Indian tales of the great ones among men, women, and bird-people» by Cornelia Sorabji, Opening, part 2, with its dependency tree and the pragmatics of every clause.
---

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# Indian tales of the great ones among men, women, and bird-people, Opening, part 2, sentence 119

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So nearly perfect was he that the gods asked the greatest God to test his goodness.

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**Who acts:** gods · **What happens:** be, ask, test · **To what, where:** King, greatest God, goodness

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This is a sentence of «Indian tales of the great ones among men, women, and bird-people» by Cornelia Sorabji, Opening, part 2. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (gods), 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:pg69647:2:119
# text = So nearly perfect was he that the gods asked the greatest God to test his goodness.
1	So	so	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	_
2	nearly	nearly	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	_
3	perfect	perfect	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
4	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
5	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	obl	_	_
6	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	9	mark	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	gods	god	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	9	nsubj	_	_
9	asked	ask	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	advcl	_	_
10	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
11	greatest	great	ADJ	JJS	Degree=Sup	12	amod	_	_
12	God	God	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	9	iobj	_	_
13	to	to	PART	TO	_	14	mark	_	_
14	test	test	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	9	xcomp	_	_
15	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	16	nmod:poss	_	_
16	goodness	goodness	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | past |  | King |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **ask** *speech: ask* | past | the gods |  | the greatest God |  |  |  | vn inquire-37.1.2 «NP V NP whether S\_INF»: agent=Agent god=Recipient clause=Topic |
| 3 | **test** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive | the gods *not said here* | King's goodness |  |  |  |  | vn assessment-34.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent goodness=Theme |

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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:** «Indian tales of the great ones among men, women, and bird-people» by Cornelia Sorabji, Project Gutenberg book 69647 (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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