---
title: This kind of life was very trying to him and he endured it for some… — Gleanings from Chinese folklore · tree and pragmatics
description: This kind of life was very trying to him and he endured it for some months, and then, being a proud, spirited man, he determined that he would either die or change for the better in some way. Who acts: Yang. A sentence of «Gleanings from Chinese folklore» by Nellie Naomi Russell, A Story of Old Chin
---

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# Gleanings from Chinese folklore, A Story of Old China, part 2, sentence 78

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This kind of life was very trying to him and he endured it for some months, and then, being a proud, spirited man, he determined that he would either die or change for the better in some way.

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**Who acts:** Yang · **What happens:** try, endure, be, determine, die, change · **To what, where:** kind, Yang, proud spirited man

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This is a sentence of «Gleanings from Chinese folklore» by Nellie Naomi Russell, A Story of Old China, part 2. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (Yang), 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:pg75089:18:78
# text = This kind of life was very trying to him and he endured it for some months, and then, being a proud, spirited man, he determined that he would either die or change for the better in some way.
1	This	this	DET	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	2	det	_	_
2	kind	kind	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obj	_	_
3	of	of	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
4	life	life	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	_
5	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	7	aux	_	_
6	very	very	ADV	RB	_	7	advmod	_	_
7	trying	try	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	29	advcl	_	_
8	to	to	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
9	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	7	obl	_	_
10	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	12	cc	_	_
11	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	12	nsubj	_	_
12	endured	endure	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	7	conj	_	_
13	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	12	obj	_	_
14	for	for	ADP	IN	_	16	case	_	_
15	some	some	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	16	det	_	_
16	months	month	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	12	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	26	punct	_	_
18	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	26	cc	_	_
19	then	then	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	26	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
20	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	26	punct	_	_
21	being	be	AUX	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	26	cop	_	_
22	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	26	det	_	_
23	proud	proud	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	26	amod	_	SpaceAfter=No
24	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	23	punct	_	_
25	spirited	spirited	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	26	amod	_	_
26	man	man	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
27	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	7	punct	_	_
28	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	29	nsubj	_	_
29	determined	determine	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
30	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	34	mark	_	_
31	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	34	nsubj	_	_
32	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	34	aux	_	_
33	either	either	ADV	RB	PronType=Ind	34	advmod	_	_
34	die	die	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	29	ccomp	_	_
35	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	36	cc	_	_
36	change	change	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	34	conj	_	_
37	for	for	ADP	IN	_	39	case	_	_
38	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	39	det	_	_
39	better	good	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	36	obl	_	_
40	in	in	ADP	IN	_	42	case	_	_
41	some	some	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	42	det	_	_
42	way	way	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	39	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
43	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	29	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **try** | past · progressive | Yang *not said here* | this kind of life | Yang |  |  |  | vn try-61.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent kind=Eventuality |
| 2 | **endure** | past | Yang | kind |  |  | month |  | vn exist-47.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Theme it=Circumstance |
| 3 | **is a** | gerund |  | a proud spirited man |  |  | then |  | tree rules |
| 4 | **determine** | past | Yang |  |  |  |  |  | vn conjecture-29.5 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Theme |
| 5 | **die** | would | Yang |  |  |  |  | either *property* | vn calibratable\_cos-45.6.1 «NP.attribute V»: agent=Attribute |
| 6 | **change** | infinitive | Yang *not said here* |  |  |  |  | for the better in some way | vn dress-41.1.1-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

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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:** «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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