---
title: We have been taken by surprise, overpowered by numbers, and obliged… — Legends of the conquest of Spain · tree and pragmatics
description: We have been taken by surprise, overpowered by numbers, and obliged to retreat; and they have fortified themselves in our territory. Who acts: surprise, legions. A sentence of «Legends of the conquest of Spain» by Washington Irving, Letter of Muza to the Caliph.—second Expedition of Taric El Tuerto.
---

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# Legends of the conquest of Spain, Letter of Muza to the Caliph.—second Expedition of Taric El Tuerto., sentence 51

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We have been taken by surprise, overpowered by numbers, and obliged to retreat; and they have fortified themselves in our territory.

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**Who acts:** surprise, legions · **What happens:** take, overpower, oblige, retreat, fortify · **To what, where:** We, legions, territory

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This is a sentence of «Legends of the conquest of Spain» by Washington Irving, Letter of Muza to the Caliph.—second Expedition of Taric El Tuerto.. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (surprise, legions), 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:pg77685:11:51
# text = We have been taken by surprise, overpowered by numbers, and obliged to retreat; and they have fortified themselves in our territory.
1	We	we	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=1|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
2	have	have	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=1|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
3	been	be	AUX	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	4	aux:pass	_	_
4	taken	take	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
5	by	by	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	surprise	surprise	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	8	punct	_	_
8	overpowered	overpower	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	4	conj	_	_
9	by	by	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
10	numbers	number	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	13	punct	_	_
12	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	13	cc	_	_
13	obliged	oblige	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	parataxis	_	_
14	to	to	PART	TO	_	15	mark	_	_
15	retreat	retreat	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	13	xcomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	;	;	PUNCT	,	_	20	punct	_	_
17	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	20	cc	_	_
18	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	20	nsubj	_	_
19	have	have	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	20	aux	_	_
20	fortified	fortify	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	13	conj	_	_
21	themselves	themselves	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs|Reflex=Yes	20	obj	_	_
22	in	in	ADP	IN	_	24	case	_	_
23	our	our	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=1|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	24	nmod:poss	_	_
24	territory	territory	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	20	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
25	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **take** | present · perfect · passive | surprise | We |  |  |  |  | vn bring-11.3 «NP V NP ADVP»: agent=Instrument subject=Destination |
| 2 | **overpower** | participle | surprise *not said here* |  |  |  |  | by numbers | tree rules |
| 3 | **oblige** | past |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn compel-59.1-1 «NP V NP S\_INF»: agent=Agent clause=Result |
| 4 | **retreat** | to-infinitive |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn calibratable\_cos-45.6.1-1 «NP.attribute V»: agent=Attribute |
| 5 | **fortify** | present · perfect | legions *= legion* | legions *= legion* |  | our territory |  |  | vn equip-13.4.2-1-1 «NP.theme V NP»: agent=Theme themselves=Recipient |

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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:** «Legends of the conquest of Spain» by Washington Irving, Project Gutenberg book 77685 (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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