---
title: Explain the means by which a Will-o'-the-Wisp may cease to burn clea… — Andersen's Tales, The Will-o'-the-Wisp… · tree and pragmatics
description: Explain the means by which a Will-o'-the-Wisp may cease to burn clear before the year is up. Exam question 4 of lesson 1026 «Andersen's Tales, The Will-o'-the-Wisp in the Town, part 237: the Moor-woman shows the man her cupboard of poetry and tells him about the new Will-o'-the-Wisps born in the mar
---

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# Exam question 4 · Andersen's Tales, The Will-o'-the-Wisp in the Town, part 2…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Explain the means by which a Will-o'-the-Wisp may cease to burn clear before the year is up.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 1 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** you, the, Wisp · **What happens:** explain, mean, cease, burn, be · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 4 of lesson 1026 «Andersen's Tales, The Will-o'-the-Wisp in the Town, part 237: the Moor-woman shows the man her cupboard of poetry and tells him about the new Will-o'-the-Wisps born in the marsh» of the books course of Mova's primary school, asked in stiff, formal language. The page gives the question's syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause, then the 4 options as the student saw them, each with its tree and pragmatics. Every text is parsed by Mova itself. How the student answered it, with the score of every option and why: [the test at school](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/school-run/books/1026-pg27200-part237/#e4).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1026-pg27200-part237:e4:1
# text = Explain the means by which a Will-o'-the-Wisp may cease to burn clear before the year is up.
1	Explain	explain	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	nsubj	_	_
3	means	mean	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	1	ccomp	_	_
4	by	by	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	16	obl	_	_
6	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	14	det	_	_
7	Will	will	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	14	aux	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	14	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	o	of	ADP	IN	Abbr=Yes	14	case	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	'	'	PUNCT	''	_	14	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	14	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	14	det	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	12	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	Wisp	wisp	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	16	nsubj	_	_
15	may	may	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	16	aux	_	_
16	cease	cease	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	ccomp	_	_
17	to	to	PART	TO	_	18	mark	_	_
18	burn	burn	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	16	xcomp	_	_
19	clear	clear	ADV	RB	_	18	advmod	_	_
20	before	before	SCONJ	IN	_	24	mark	_	_
21	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	22	det	_	_
22	year	year	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	24	obl:unmarked	_	_
23	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	24	cop	_	_
24	up	up	ADV	RB	_	18	advcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
25	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **explain** *speech: assert* | imperative | you *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1 «NP V how S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 2 | **mean** | present | the |  |  |  |  |  | vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 3 | **cease** | may | a Wisp |  |  |  |  |  | vn stop-55.4-1-1 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Affector clause=Eventuality |
| 4 | **burn** | to-infinitive | a Wisp *not said here* |  |  |  |  | clear *property* | vn light\_emission-43.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 5 | **is** | present | a Wisp *not said here* |  |  |  | year | up *property* | tree rules |

<!-- .note -->
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.

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Returning to its family and giving the matter up

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1026-pg27200-part237:e4:o1:1
# text = Returning to its family and giving the matter up
1	Returning	return	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
2	to	to	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
3	its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	4	nmod:poss	_	_
4	family	family	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obl	_	_
5	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	6	cc	_	_
6	giving	give	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	1	conj	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	matter	matter	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obj	_	_
9	up	up	ADP	RP	_	6	compound:prt	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **return** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  | to its family *result* | vn convert-26.6.2-1 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Patient to family=Result |
| 2 | **give up** | gerund |  | the matter |  |  |  |  | vn resign-10.11-2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent matter=Source |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Leaving the moor and returning to the marsh alone

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1026-pg27200-part237:e4:o2:1
# text = Leaving the moor and returning to the marsh alone
1	Leaving	leave	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	moor	moor	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
4	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	5	cc	_	_
5	returning	return	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	1	conj	_	_
6	to	to	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	marsh	marsh	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	_
9	alone	alone	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **leave** | gerund |  | the moor |  |  |  |  | vn keep-15.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent moor=Theme |
| 2 | **return** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  | to the marsh *result*; alone *property* | vn convert-26.6.2-1 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Patient to marsh=Result |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Going home

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1026-pg27200-part237:e4:o3:1
# text = Going home
1	Going	go	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
2	home	home	ADV	RB	_	1	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **go** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  | home *property* | vn disappearance-48.2-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Being blown out by a storm in the open fields

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1026-pg27200-part237:e4:o4:1
# text = Being blown out by a storm in the open fields
1	Being	be	AUX	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	2	aux:pass	_	_
2	blown	blow	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
3	out	out	ADP	RP	_	2	compound:prt	_	_
4	by	by	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	storm	storm	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
7	in	in	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
9	open	open	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	10	amod	_	_
10	fields	field	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **blow out** | gerund · passive | a storm |  |  | the open fields |  |  | vn split-23.2 «NP V apart»: agent=Patient |

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**Text:** the tests of Mova's primary school, written for Mova (`world/data/school/`), as the course runner gave them to the student. **Trees:** Mova's own parse — the `en` model on the CPU, when the site is built — not checked by a teacher; they may be wrong. **Frames:** Mova's frames reader (`prag`), each text read on its own. Elamur Cosmic License.

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- ← previous: [Andersen's Tales, The Will-o'-the-Wisp…, exam 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/1026-pg27200-part237/e3/)
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