---
title: It seemed as though nothing could be done to save him when, at the l… — Gleanings from Chinese folklore · tree and pragmatics
description: It seemed as though nothing could be done to save him when, at the last moment, a “great day of forgiveness” was announced on the birth of an heir to the throne. Who acts: It. A sentence of «Gleanings from Chinese folklore» by Nellie Naomi Russell, A Story of Old China, part 1, with its dependency t
---

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# Gleanings from Chinese folklore, A Story of Old China, part 1, sentence 77

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It seemed as though nothing could be done to save him when, at the last moment, a “great day of forgiveness” was announced on the birth of an heir to the throne.

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**Who acts:** It · **What happens:** seem, do, save, announce · **To what, where:** nothing, father, last moment, birth

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This is a sentence of «Gleanings from Chinese folklore» by Nellie Naomi Russell, A Story of Old China, part 1. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (It), 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:pg75089:17:77
# text = It seemed as though nothing could be done to save him when, at the last moment, a “great day of forgiveness” was announced on the birth of an heir to the throne.
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	seemed	seem	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	as	as	ADV	RB	_	2	advmod	_	_
4	though	though	SCONJ	IN	_	8	mark	_	_
5	nothing	nothing	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Neg	8	nsubj:pass	_	_
6	could	could	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	8	aux	_	_
7	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	8	aux:pass	_	_
8	done	do	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	2	xcomp	_	_
9	to	to	PART	TO	_	10	mark	_	_
10	save	save	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	8	advcl	_	_
11	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	10	obj	_	_
12	when	when	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	27	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	17	punct	_	_
14	at	at	ADP	IN	_	17	case	_	_
15	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	17	det	_	_
16	last	last	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	17	amod	_	_
17	moment	moment	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	27	nsubj:pass	_	SpaceAfter=No
18	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	22	punct	_	_
19	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	22	det	_	_
20	“	"	PUNCT	``	_	22	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
21	great	great	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	22	amod	_	_
22	day	day	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	17	appos	_	_
23	of	of	ADP	IN	_	24	case	_	_
24	forgiveness	forgiveness	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	22	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
25	”	"	PUNCT	''	_	22	punct	_	_
26	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	27	aux:pass	_	_
27	announced	announce	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	10	advcl	_	_
28	on	on	ADP	IN	_	30	case	_	_
29	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	30	det	_	_
30	birth	birth	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	27	obl	_	_
31	of	of	ADP	IN	_	33	case	_	_
32	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	33	det	_	_
33	heir	heir	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	30	nmod	_	_
34	to	to	ADP	IN	_	36	case	_	_
35	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	36	det	_	_
36	throne	throne	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	33	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
37	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **seem** | past | It |  |  |  |  |  | vn seem-109-1-1-1 «NP V S\_INF»: agent=Theme clause=Attribute |
| 2 | **do** | could · passive |  | nothing |  |  |  |  | vn act-114-1 «NP V NP»: subject=Eventuality |
| 3 | **save** | to-infinitive |  | father |  |  |  |  | vn get-13.5.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent he=Theme |
| 4 | **announce** *speech: other* | past · passive |  | the last moment |  | the birth of a heir to the throne |  |  | vn reflexive\_appearance-48.1.2 «NP V NP»: subject=Theme |

<!-- .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:** «Gleanings from Chinese folklore» by Nellie Naomi Russell, Project Gutenberg book 75089 (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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