---
title: In a few cases, words and phrases have been softened, and sentences… — The grateful elephant · tree and pragmatics
description: In a few cases, words and phrases have been softened, and sentences have been omitted. A sentence of «The grateful elephant» by Eugene Watson Burlingame, Opening, part 1, with its dependency tree and the pragmatics of every clause.
---

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# The grateful elephant, Opening, part 1, sentence 31

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In a few cases, words and phrases have been softened, and sentences have been omitted.

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**What happens:** soften, omit · **To what, where:** words, few cases, sentences

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This is a sentence of «The grateful elephant» by Eugene Watson Burlingame, Opening, part 1. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: 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:pg74064:1:34
# text = In a few cases, words and phrases have been softened, and sentences have been omitted.
1	In	in	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
2	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
3	few	few	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	amod	_	_
4	cases	case	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	11	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	4	punct	_	_
6	words	word	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	11	nsubj:pass	_	_
7	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	8	cc	_	_
8	phrases	phrase	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	conj	_	_
9	have	have	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	11	aux	_	_
10	been	be	AUX	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	11	aux:pass	_	_
11	softened	soften	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	17	punct	_	_
13	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	17	cc	_	_
14	sentences	sentence	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	17	nsubj:pass	_	_
15	have	have	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	17	aux	_	_
16	been	be	AUX	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	17	aux:pass	_	_
17	omitted	omit	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	11	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
18	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	11	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **soften** | present · perfect · passive |  | words and phrases |  | a few cases |  |  | vn other\_cos-45.4 «NP V NP.patient»: subject=Patient |
| 2 | **omit** | present · perfect · passive |  | sentences |  |  |  |  | vn exclude-107.3 «NP V NP»: subject=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:** «The grateful elephant» by Eugene Watson Burlingame, Project Gutenberg book 74064 (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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