---
title: It is said that he knew every soldier, and could tell at a glance ho… — Gleanings from Chinese folklore · tree and pragmatics
description: It is said that he knew every soldier, and could tell at a glance how many there were in a company passing before him and who were absent from the ranks. Who acts: Han, many, company. A sentence of «Gleanings from Chinese folklore» by Nellie Naomi Russell, A Chinese Hero, with its dependency tree an
---

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# Gleanings from Chinese folklore, A Chinese Hero, sentence 55

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It is said that he knew every soldier, and could tell at a glance how many there were in a company passing before him and who were absent from the ranks.

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**Who acts:** Han, many, company · **What happens:** say, know, tell, be, pass · **To what, where:** country, soldier, glance, company, ranks · **Speech:** someone speaks here

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This is a sentence of «Gleanings from Chinese folklore» by Nellie Naomi Russell, A Chinese Hero. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (Han, many, company), 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:pg75089:9:55
# text = It is said that he knew every soldier, and could tell at a glance how many there were in a company passing before him and who were absent from the ranks.
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux:pass	_	_
3	said	say	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
4	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	6	mark	_	_
5	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	6	nsubj	_	_
6	knew	know	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	ccomp	_	_
7	every	every	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	8	det	_	_
8	soldier	soldier	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	12	punct	_	_
10	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	12	cc	_	_
11	could	could	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	12	aux	_	_
12	tell	tell	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	3	parataxis	_	_
13	at	at	ADP	IN	_	15	case	_	_
14	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	15	det	_	_
15	glance	glance	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	obl	_	_
16	how	how	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	17	advmod	_	_
17	many	many	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	19	nsubj	_	_
18	there	there	PRON	EX	PronType=Dem	19	expl	_	_
19	were	be	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	12	ccomp	_	_
20	in	in	ADP	IN	_	22	case	_	_
21	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	22	det	_	_
22	company	company	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	19	obl	_	_
23	passing	pass	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	22	acl	_	_
24	before	before	ADP	IN	_	25	case	_	_
25	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	23	obl	_	_
26	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	29	cc	_	_
27	who	who	PRON	WP	PronType=Rel	29	nsubj	_	_
28	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	29	cop	_	_
29	absent	absent	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	23	conj	_	_
30	from	from	ADP	IN	_	32	case	_	_
31	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	32	det	_	_
32	ranks	rank	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	29	obl	_	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 · passive |  | country |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **know** | past | Han | every soldier |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1-1 «NP V NP PP.attribute»: agent=Experiencer soldier=Stimulus |
| 3 | **tell** *speech: assert* | could |  |  |  | a glance |  |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V how S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 4 | **be** | past | many |  |  | a company; there |  |  | vn exist-47.1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme in company=Location |
| 5 | **pass** | gerund | a company *not said here* |  |  |  | before Han |  | vn occur-48.3-1 «NP V PP»: agent=Theme before he=Location |
| 6 | **is** | past |  |  |  | the ranks |  | who *nsubj*; absent *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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