---
title: In their theatrical plays their imaginations fill in, with the help… — Gleanings from Chinese folklore · tree and pragmatics
description: In their theatrical plays their imaginations fill in, with the help of mere suggestions, all that is needed to make their surroundings very real to them. Who acts: imaginations, heroes. A sentence of «Gleanings from Chinese folklore» by Nellie Naomi Russell, A Chinese Hero, with its dependency tree 
---

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# Gleanings from Chinese folklore, A Chinese Hero, sentence 6

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In their theatrical plays their imaginations fill in, with the help of mere suggestions, all that is needed to make their surroundings very real to them.

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**Who acts:** imaginations, heroes · **What happens:** play, fill in, need, make, imagine, help · **To what, where:** theatrical, that, surroundings, mere suggestions

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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 (imaginations, heroes), 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:pg75089:9:6
# text = In their theatrical plays their imaginations fill in, with the help of mere suggestions, all that is needed to make their surroundings very real to them.
1	In	in	ADP	IN	_	3	case	_	_
2	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	3	nmod:poss	_	_
3	theatrical	theatrical	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
4	plays	play	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	6	nmod:poss	_	_
6	imaginations	imagination	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	nsubj	_	_
7	fill	fill	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	ccomp	_	_
8	in	in	ADP	RP	_	7	compound:prt	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	12	punct	_	_
10	with	with	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
11	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
12	help	help	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obl	_	_
13	of	of	ADP	IN	_	15	case	_	_
14	mere	mere	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	15	amod	_	_
15	suggestions	suggestion	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	12	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	20	punct	_	_
17	all	all	DET	PDT	PronType=Tot	20	det:predet	_	_
18	that	that	PRON	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	20	nsubj:pass	_	_
19	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	20	aux:pass	_	_
20	needed	need	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	4	parataxis	_	_
21	to	to	PART	TO	_	22	mark	_	_
22	make	make	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	20	advcl	_	_
23	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	24	nmod:poss	_	_
24	surroundings	surroundings	NOUN	NNS	Number=Ptan	22	obj	_	_
25	very	very	ADV	RB	_	26	advmod	_	_
26	real	real	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	22	xcomp	_	_
27	to	to	ADP	IN	_	28	case	_	_
28	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	26	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
29	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **play** | present |  |  |  | heroes's theatrical |  |  | vn use-105.1 «NP V NP S\_INF»: agent=Agent clause=Eventuality |
| 2 | **fill in** | present | heroes's imaginations |  |  |  |  | with the help of mere suggestions | vn other\_cos-45.4 «NP V NP PP.instrument»: agent=Agent with help=Instrument |
| 3 | **need** | present · passive |  | that |  |  |  |  | vn want-32.1-1-1 «NP V NP ADV»: subject=Theme |
| 4 | **make** | to-infinitive |  | heroes's surroundings |  |  |  | real *property* | vn build-26.1-1 «NP.asset V NP»: agent=Asset surroundings=Product |
| 5 | **imagine** |  | heroes *= hero* |  |  |  |  |  | nom imagination «cognition transitive»: poss=agent |
| 6 | **help** |  |  | mere suggestions |  |  |  |  | nom help «act transitive»: of=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:** «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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