---
title: It was opened and they came in, saying, “For the first time we have… — Gleanings from Chinese folklore · tree and pragmatics
description: It was opened and they came in, saying, “For the first time we have heard what sounded like a quarrel, and have come to see what it is about.” Who acts: crying, we, Meantime. A sentence of «Gleanings from Chinese folklore» by Nellie Naomi Russell, A Story of Old China, part 3, with its dependency tr
---

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# Gleanings from Chinese folklore, A Story of Old China, part 3, sentence 101

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It was opened and they came in, saying, “For the first time we have heard what sounded like a quarrel, and have come to see what it is about.”

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**Who acts:** crying, we, Meantime · **What happens:** open, come in, say, hear, sound, come · **To what, where:** Meantime · **Speech:** someone speaks here

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This is a sentence of «Gleanings from Chinese folklore» by Nellie Naomi Russell, A Story of Old China, part 3. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (crying, we, Meantime), 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:pg75089:19:101
# text = It was opened and they came in, saying, “For the first time we have heard what sounded like a quarrel, and have come to see what it is about.”
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj:pass	_	_
2	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux:pass	_	_
3	opened	open	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
4	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	6	cc	_	_
5	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	6	nsubj	_	_
6	came	come	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	conj	_	_
7	in	in	ADV	RB	_	6	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	9	punct	_	_
9	saying	say	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	6	advcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	18	punct	_	_
11	“	"	PUNCT	``	_	18	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	For	for	ADP	IN	_	15	case	_	_
13	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	15	det	_	_
14	first	first	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos|NumForm=Word|NumType=Ord	15	amod	_	_
15	time	time	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	18	obl	_	_
16	we	we	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=1|PronType=Prs	18	nsubj	_	_
17	have	have	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=1|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	18	aux	_	_
18	heard	hear	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	9	ccomp	_	_
19	what	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	20	nsubj	_	_
20	sounded	sound	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	18	ccomp	_	_
21	like	like	ADP	IN	_	23	case	_	_
22	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	23	det	_	_
23	quarrel	quarrel	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	20	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
24	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	27	punct	_	_
25	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	27	cc	_	_
26	have	have	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	27	aux	_	_
27	come	come	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	3	parataxis	_	_
28	to	to	PART	TO	_	29	mark	_	_
29	see	see	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	27	advcl	_	_
30	what	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Rel	33	obl	_	_
31	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	33	nsubj	_	_
32	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	33	cop	_	_
33	about	about	ADV	RB	_	29	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
34	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
35	”	"	PUNCT	''	_	3	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **open** | past · passive |  | Meantime |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **come in** | past | crying |  |  |  |  |  | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 3 | **say** *speech: assert* | gerund | crying *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 4 | **hear** *in a quote* | present · perfect | we |  |  |  | time |  | vn see-30.1-1-1 «NP V how S»: agent=Experiencer clause=Stimulus |
| 5 | **sound** *in a quote* | past |  |  |  |  |  | like a quarrel; what *nsubj* | vn stimulus\_subject-30.4 «NP V PP.attribute»: agent=Stimulus |
| 6 | **come** *in a quote* | present · perfect |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 7 | **see** *in a quote* | to-infinitive |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Experiencer |
| 8 | **is** *in a quote* | present | Meantime |  |  |  |  | what *obl*; about *property* | tree rules |

<!-- .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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