---
title: If they say there is, then I am to go free; but if they say there is… — Folk tales from Tibet · tree and pragmatics
description: If they say there is, then I am to go free; but if they say there is not, then the Tiger is at liberty to kill and eat me. Who acts: creatures, Tiger. A sentence of «Folk tales from Tibet» by William Frederick Travers, Sir O'Connor, The Story of Good Faith., with its dependency tree and the pragmati
---

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# Folk tales from Tibet, The Story of Good Faith., sentence 82

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If they say there is, then I am to go free; but if they say there is not, then the Tiger is at liberty to kill and eat me.

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**Who acts:** creatures, Tiger · **What happens:** say, be, go, not be, kill, eat · **To what, where:** liberty, me · **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 Good Faith.. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (creatures, Tiger), 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:pg75000:4:82
# text = If they say there is, then I am to go free; but if they say there is not, then the Tiger is at liberty to kill and eat me.
1	If	if	SCONJ	IN	_	3	mark	_	_
2	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
3	say	say	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	there	there	PRON	EX	PronType=Dem	5	expl	_	_
5	is	be	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	ccomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	9	punct	_	_
7	then	then	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	9	advmod	_	_
8	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	9	nsubj	_	_
9	am	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	parataxis	_	_
10	to	to	PART	TO	_	11	mark	_	_
11	go	go	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	9	xcomp	_	_
12	free	free	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	11	xcomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	;	;	PUNCT	,	_	17	punct	_	_
14	but	but	CCONJ	CC	_	17	cc	_	_
15	if	if	SCONJ	IN	_	17	mark	_	_
16	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	17	nsubj	_	_
17	say	say	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	parataxis	_	_
18	there	there	PRON	EX	PronType=Dem	19	expl	_	_
19	is	be	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	17	ccomp	_	_
20	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	19	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
21	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	27	punct	_	_
22	then	then	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	27	advmod	_	_
23	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	24	det	_	_
24	Tiger	Tiger	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	27	nsubj	_	_
25	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	27	cop	_	_
26	at	at	ADP	IN	_	27	case	_	_
27	liberty	liberty	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	19	conj	_	_
28	to	to	PART	TO	_	29	mark	_	_
29	kill	kill	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	27	acl	_	_
30	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	31	cc	_	_
31	eat	eat	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	29	conj	_	_
32	me	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	31	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
33	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **say** *speech: assert* | present | creatures *= creature* |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 2 | **be** | present |  |  |  | there |  |  | vn exist-47.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 3 | **go** | to-infinitive | creatures *= creature* *not said here* |  |  |  |  | free *property* | vn disappearance-48.2-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 4 | **say** *speech: assert* *a condition, not said to happen* | present | creatures *= creature* |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 5 | **not** **be** | present |  |  |  | there |  |  | vn exist-47.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 6 | **is** | present | the Tiger |  |  | liberty | then |  | tree rules |
| 7 | **kill** | to-infinitive |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V ADV-Middle»: agent=Experiencer |
| 8 | **eat** | infinitive |  | me |  |  |  |  | vn eat-39.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent i=Patient |

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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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