---
title: At first I tried to frighten her out of the habit; but finding that… — In Ghostly Japan · tree and pragmatics
description: At first I tried to frighten her out of the habit; but finding that she refused to take me seriously, I concluded to let her howl. Who acts: I, she, her. A sentence of «In Ghostly Japan» by Lafcadio Hearn, Names of Incense Used., part 7, with its dependency tree and the pragmatics of every clause.
---

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# In Ghostly Japan, Names of Incense Used., part 7, sentence 3

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At first I tried to frighten her out of the habit; but finding that she refused to take me seriously, I concluded to let her howl.

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**Who acts:** I, she, her · **What happens:** try, frighten, find, refuse, not take, conclude · **To what, where:** her, habit, me

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This is a sentence of «In Ghostly Japan» by Lafcadio Hearn, Names of Incense Used., part 7. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (I, she, her), 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:pg8128:9:3
# text = At first I tried to frighten her out of the habit; but finding that she refused to take me seriously, I concluded to let her howl.
1	At	at	ADP	IN	_	2	case	_	_
2	first	first	ADV	RB	NumForm=Word|NumType=Ord	4	obl	_	_
3	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
4	tried	try	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	to	to	PART	TO	_	6	mark	_	_
6	frighten	frighten	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	xcomp	_	_
7	her	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	6	obj	_	_
8	out	out	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
9	of	of	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
10	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	habit	habit	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	;	;	PUNCT	:	_	14	punct	_	_
13	but	but	CCONJ	CC	_	14	cc	_	_
14	finding	find	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	4	advcl	_	_
15	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	17	mark	_	_
16	she	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	17	nsubj	_	_
17	refused	refuse	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	14	advcl	_	_
18	to	to	PART	TO	_	19	mark	_	_
19	take	take	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	17	xcomp	_	_
20	me	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	19	obj	_	_
21	seriously	seriously	ADV	RB	_	19	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
22	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	24	punct	_	_
23	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	24	nsubj	_	_
24	concluded	conclude	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	conj	_	_
25	to	to	PART	TO	_	26	mark	_	_
26	let	let	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	24	ccomp	_	_
27	her	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	26	obj	_	_
28	howl	howl	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	26	xcomp	_	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 | **try** | past | I |  |  |  |  |  | vn try-61.1 «NP V S\_INF»: agent=Agent clause=Eventuality |
| 2 | **frighten** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive | I *not said here* | her *= she* |  | the habit |  |  | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Stimulus she=Experiencer |
| 3 | **find** | gerund | I *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn declare-29.4-1-1 «NP V what S\_INF»: agent=Agent |
| 4 | **refuse** | past | she |  |  |  |  |  | vn reject-77.2 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Agent clause=Theme |
| 5 | **not** **take** | to-infinitive | she *not said here* |  | me |  |  | seriously *property* | vn bring-11.3 «NP V NP ADVP»: agent=Instrument i=Destination |
| 6 | **conclude** | past | I |  |  |  |  |  | vn deduce-97.2 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Theme |
| 7 | **let** | to-infinitive | I *not said here* | her *= she* |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 8 | **howl** | infinitive | her *= she* *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn animal\_sounds-38 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

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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:** «In Ghostly Japan» by Lafcadio Hearn, Project Gutenberg book 8128 (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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