---
title: While they were yet at some distance from the city, their scouts bro… — Legends of the conquest of Spain · tree and pragmatics
description: While they were yet at some distance from the city, their scouts brought to them a shepherd, whom they had surprised on the banks of the Guadalquivir. Who acts: Christians, scouts. A sentence of «Legends of the conquest of Spain» by Washington Irving, Expedition of Magued Against Cordova.—defence of
---

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# Legends of the conquest of Spain, Expedition of Magued Against Cordova.—defence of the Patriot Pelistes., sentence 17

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While they were yet at some distance from the city, their scouts brought to them a shepherd, whom they had surprised on the banks of the Guadalquivir.

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**Who acts:** Christians, scouts · **What happens:** be, bring, surprise · **To what, where:** city, shepherd, Christians, banks

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This is a sentence of «Legends of the conquest of Spain» by Washington Irving, Expedition of Magued Against Cordova.—defence of the Patriot Pelistes.. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (Christians, scouts), 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:pg77685:24:17
# text = While they were yet at some distance from the city, their scouts brought to them a shepherd, whom they had surprised on the banks of the Guadalquivir.
1	While	while	SCONJ	IN	_	7	mark	_	_
2	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	7	nsubj	_	_
3	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	7	cop	_	_
4	yet	yet	ADV	RB	_	7	advmod	_	_
5	at	at	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	some	some	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	7	det	_	_
7	distance	distance	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
8	from	from	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	city	city	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	13	punct	_	_
12	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	13	nmod:poss	_	_
13	scouts	scout	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	10	appos	_	_
14	brought	bring	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	13	acl	_	_
15	to	to	ADP	IN	_	16	case	_	_
16	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	14	obl	_	_
17	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	18	det	_	_
18	shepherd	shepherd	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
19	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	23	punct	_	_
20	whom	whom	PRON	WP	PronType=Rel	23	obj	_	_
21	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	23	nsubj:pass	_	_
22	had	have	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	23	aux	_	_
23	surprised	surprise	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	18	acl:relcl	_	_
24	on	on	ADP	IN	_	26	case	_	_
25	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	26	det	_	_
26	banks	bank	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	23	obl	_	_
27	of	of	ADP	IN	_	29	case	_	_
28	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	29	det	_	_
29	Guadalquivir	Guadalquivir	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	26	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
30	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	7	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | past | Christians *= christian* |  |  | the city | yet | at some distance | tree rules |
| 2 | **bring** | participle | Christians's scouts *not said here* | a shepherd | Christians *= christian* |  |  |  | vn bring-11.3-1 «NP V NP PP.destination»: agent=Agent shepherd=Theme to they=Destination |
| 3 | **surprise** | past · perfect · passive |  | Christians *= christian* |  | the banks of the Guadalquivir |  | a shepherd *obj* | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V NP ADJ»: subject=Experiencer whom=Result |

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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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