---
title: It were better that I should not meddle with them any more, seeing t… — Stories of Charlemagne and the twelve Peers of F… · tree and pragmatics
description: It were better that I should not meddle with them any more, seeing that they are my kinsmen." Who acts: I, men. A sentence of «Stories of Charlemagne and the twelve Peers of France» by Alfred John Church, Of the Treachery of King John, with its dependency tree and the pragmatics of every clause.
---

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# Stories of Charlemagne and the twelve Peers of France, Of the Treachery of King John, sentence 88

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It were better that I should not meddle with them any more, seeing that they are my kinsmen."

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**Who acts:** I, men · **What happens:** be, not meddle, see · **To what, where:** kinsmen

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This is a sentence of «Stories of Charlemagne and the twelve Peers of France» by Alfred John Church, Of the Treachery of King John. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (I, men), 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:pg75339:7:88
# text = It were better that I should not meddle with them any more, seeing that they are my kinsmen."
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	expl	_	_
2	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	cop	_	_
3	better	good	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	0	root	_	_
4	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	8	mark	_	_
5	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	8	nsubj	_	_
6	should	should	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	8	aux	_	_
7	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	8	advmod	_	_
8	meddle	meddle	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	csubj	_	_
9	with	with	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
10	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	8	obl	_	_
11	any	any	ADV	RB	_	12	advmod	_	_
12	more	more	ADV	RBR	Degree=Cmp	8	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	14	punct	_	_
14	seeing	see	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	8	advcl	_	_
15	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	19	mark	_	_
16	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	19	nsubj	_	_
17	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	19	cop	_	_
18	my	my	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Sing|Person=1|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	19	nmod:poss	_	_
19	kinsmen	kinsman	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	14	advcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
20	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
21	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	3	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | past |  |  |  |  |  | good *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **not** **meddle** | should | I |  |  |  |  | with men *= man* | tree rules |
| 3 | **see** | gerund | I *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Experiencer |
| 4 | **is a** | present | men *= man* | my kinsmen |  |  |  | my *nmod:poss* | tree rules |

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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:** «Stories of Charlemagne and the twelve Peers of France» by Alfred John Church, Project Gutenberg book 75339 (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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