---
title: The second was able to cut the soles off a man’s boots as he walked… — Folk tales from Tibet · tree and pragmatics
description: The second was able to cut the soles off a man’s boots as he walked along the road without the victim knowing that he had been robbed. Who acts: second, theft, victim. A sentence of «Folk tales from Tibet» by William Frederick Travers, Sir O'Connor, The Story of the Three Thieves., with its dependen
---

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# Folk tales from Tibet, The Story of the Three Thieves., sentence 4

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The second was able to cut the soles off a man’s boots as he walked along the road without the victim knowing that he had been robbed.

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**Who acts:** second, theft, victim · **What happens:** be, cut, walk, know, rob · **To what, where:** soles, road, theft · **Speech:** someone speaks here

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This is a sentence of «Folk tales from Tibet» by William Frederick Travers, Sir O'Connor, The Story of the Three Thieves.. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (second, theft, victim), 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:pg75000:15:4
# text = The second was able to cut the soles off a man’s boots as he walked along the road without the victim knowing that he had been robbed.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	second	second	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos|NumForm=Word|NumType=Ord	4	nsubj	_	_
3	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
4	able	able	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
5	to	to	PART	TO	_	6	mark	_	_
6	cut	cut	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	xcomp	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	soles	sole	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	obj	_	_
9	off	off	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
10	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	man	man	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	’s	's	PART	POS	_	11	case	_	_
13	boots	boot	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	obl	_	_
14	as	as	SCONJ	IN	_	16	mark	_	_
15	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	16	nsubj	_	_
16	walked	walk	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	6	advcl	_	_
17	along	along	ADP	IN	_	19	case	_	_
18	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	19	det	_	_
19	road	road	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	16	obl	_	_
20	without	without	ADP	IN	_	22	case	_	_
21	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	22	det	_	_
22	victim	victim	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	16	obl	_	_
23	knowing	know	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	22	acl	_	_
24	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	28	mark	_	_
25	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	28	nsubj:pass	_	_
26	had	have	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	28	aux	_	_
27	been	be	AUX	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	28	aux:pass	_	_
28	robbed	rob	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	23	ccomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
29	.	.	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 | the second |  |  |  |  | able *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **cut** | to-infinitive | the second *not said here* | the soles |  |  |  | off a man's boots | vn split-23.2 «NP V NP PP.co-patient»: agent=Agent sole=Patient off boot=Co-Patient |
| 3 | **walk** | past | theft |  |  | the road |  | without the victim | vn run-51.3.2-2-1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme along road=Trajectory |
| 4 | **know** | gerund | the victim *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1-1 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Experiencer clause=Stimulus |
| 5 | **rob** | past · perfect · passive |  | theft |  |  |  |  | vn cheat-10.6.1-1-1 «NP V NP»: subject=Source |

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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:** «Folk tales from Tibet» by William Frederick Travers, Sir O'Connor, Project Gutenberg book 75000 (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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