---
title: I knew there was an English clergyman in the place, the Rev. William… — Legends and tales of the Harz Mountains · tree and pragmatics
description: I knew there was an English clergyman in the place, the Rev. William Samper, and we thought it better to acquaint him with our embarrassment, as we were alone, and ask his advice. Who acts: I, English clergyman, we, our. A sentence of «Legends and tales of the Harz Mountains» by Toofie Lauder, Legen
---

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# Legends and tales of the Harz Mountains, Legends and Tales., part 4, sentence 59

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I knew there was an English clergyman in the place, the Rev. William Samper, and we thought it better to acquaint him with our embarrassment, as we were alone, and ask his advice.

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**Who acts:** I, English clergyman, we, our · **What happens:** know, be, think, acquaint, ask, embarrass · **To what, where:** clergyman, Rev., advice · **Speech:** someone speaks here

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This is a sentence of «Legends and tales of the Harz Mountains» by Toofie Lauder, Legends and Tales., part 4. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (I, English clergyman, we, our), 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:pg74323:5:59
# text = I knew there was an English clergyman in the place, the Rev. William Samper, and we thought it better to acquaint him with our embarrassment, as we were alone, and ask his advice.
1	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	knew	know	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	there	there	PRON	EX	PronType=Dem	4	expl	_	_
4	was	be	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	2	ccomp	_	_
5	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
6	English	English	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
7	clergyman	clergyman	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
8	in	in	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	place	place	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	14	punct	_	_
12	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	14	det	_	_
13	Rev.	Rev.	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	14	nmod:desc	_	_
14	William	William	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	10	appos	_	_
15	Samper	Samper	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	14	flat	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	19	punct	_	_
17	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	19	cc	_	_
18	we	we	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=1|PronType=Prs	19	nsubj	_	_
19	thought	think	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=1|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	2	conj	_	_
20	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	19	obj	_	_
21	better	good	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	23	punct	_	_
22	to	to	PART	TO	_	23	mark	_	_
23	acquaint	acquaint	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	19	ccomp	_	_
24	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	23	obj	_	_
25	with	with	ADP	IN	_	27	case	_	_
26	our	our	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=1|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	27	nmod:poss	_	_
27	embarrassment	embarrassment	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	23	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
28	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	32	punct	_	_
29	as	as	SCONJ	IN	_	32	mark	_	_
30	we	we	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=1|PronType=Prs	32	nsubj	_	_
31	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=1|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	32	cop	_	_
32	alone	alone	ADV	RB	_	23	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
33	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	35	punct	_	_
34	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	35	cc	_	_
35	ask	ask	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	23	conj	_	_
36	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	37	nmod:poss	_	_
37	advice	advice	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	35	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
38	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **know** | past | I |  |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1-1 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Experiencer clause=Stimulus |
| 2 | **be** | past | a English clergyman in the place |  |  | there |  |  | vn exist-47.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 3 | **think** *speech: other* | past | we | clergyman |  |  |  |  | vn consider-29.9-2 «NP V NP ADJ»: agent=Agent it=Attribute clause=Theme |
| 4 | **acquaint** *speech: other* | to-infinitive |  |  | Rev. |  |  | with our embarrassment | vn tell-37.2 «NP V NP.recipient»: agent=Agent he=Recipient |
| 5 | **is** | past | we |  |  |  |  | alone *property* | tree rules |
| 6 | **ask** *speech: ask* | infinitive |  | Rev.'s advice |  |  |  |  | vn inquire-37.1.2 «NP V NP.recipient»: agent=Agent advice=Recipient |
| 7 | **embarrass** |  | our |  |  |  |  |  | nom embarrassment «feeling transitive»: poss=agent |

<!-- .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:** «Legends and tales of the Harz Mountains» by Toofie Lauder, Project Gutenberg book 74323 (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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