---
title: Explain why the admiral praised the black horses in the stable. — Andersen's Tales, Waldemar Daa and His… · tree and pragmatics
description: Explain why the admiral praised the black horses in the stable. Exam question 2 of lesson 1028 «Andersen's Tales, Waldemar Daa and His Daughters, part 239: the forest is felled, the ship is never sold, and the gold-making ends in smoke» of the books course of Mova's primary school, with the dependen
---

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# Exam question 2 · Andersen's Tales, Waldemar Daa and His Daughters, part 239…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Explain why the admiral praised the black horses in the stable.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 2 · **The right answer:** option 2 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** you, admiral · **What happens:** explain, praise · **To what, where:** black horses, stable · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 2 of lesson 1028 «Andersen's Tales, Waldemar Daa and His Daughters, part 239: the forest is felled, the ship is never sold, and the gold-making ends in smoke» 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/1028-pg27200-part239/#e2).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1028-pg27200-part239:e2:1
# text = Explain why the admiral praised the black horses in the stable.
1	Explain	explain	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	why	why	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	5	advmod	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	admiral	admiral	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
5	praised	praise	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	1	ccomp	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
7	black	black	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	amod	_	_
8	horses	horse	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	obj	_	_
9	in	in	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
10	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	stable	stable	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	.	.	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 | **praise** | past | the admiral | the black horses |  | the stable |  |  | vn judgment-33.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent horse=Theme |

<!-- .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 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
He was hinting at a deal.

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1028-pg27200-part239:e2:o1:1
# text = He was hinting at a deal.
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux	_	_
3	hinting	hint	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
4	at	at	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	deal	deal	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **hint** *speech: other* | past · progressive | He |  |  | a deal |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-2 «NP V how S»: agent=Agent |

### Option 2 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
He was hinting that he wished to purchase them, since Waldemar Daa desired gold in return

<!-- fold The tree, 16 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1028-pg27200-part239:e2:o2:1
# text = He was hinting that he wished to purchase them, since Waldemar Daa desired gold in return
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux	_	_
3	hinting	hint	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
4	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	6	mark	_	_
5	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	6	nsubj	_	_
6	wished	wish	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	advcl	_	_
7	to	to	PART	TO	_	8	mark	_	_
8	purchase	purchase	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	6	xcomp	_	_
9	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	8	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	14	punct	_	_
11	since	since	SCONJ	IN	_	14	mark	_	_
12	Waldemar	Waldemar	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	14	nsubj	_	_
13	Daa	Daa	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	12	flat	_	_
14	desired	desire	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	conj	_	_
15	gold	gold	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	obj	_	_
16	in	in	ADP	IN	_	17	case	_	_
17	return	return	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **hint** *speech: other* | past · progressive | He |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-2 «NP V how S»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **wish** | past | he |  |  |  |  |  | vn wish-62 «NP V for NP S\_INF»: agent=Pivot clause=Theme |
| 3 | **purchase** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive | he *not said here* | them *= they* |  |  |  |  | vn obtain-13.5.2-1 «NP.asset V NP»: agent=Asset they=Theme |
| 4 | **desire** | past | Waldemar | gold |  | return |  |  | vn want-32.1-1-1 «NP V NP ADV»: agent=Pivot gold=Theme |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
He hoped Waldemar would give them to him free, since the horses were fine ones and his own were old and weak.

<!-- fold The tree, 22 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1028-pg27200-part239:e2:o3:1
# text = He hoped Waldemar would give them to him free, since the horses were fine ones and his own were old and weak.
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	hoped	hope	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	Waldemar	Waldemar	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
4	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	5	aux	_	_
5	give	give	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	2	ccomp	_	_
6	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	5	iobj	_	_
7	to	to	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
8	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	5	obl	_	_
9	free	free	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	xcomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	16	punct	_	_
11	since	since	SCONJ	IN	_	16	mark	_	_
12	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
13	horses	horse	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	16	nsubj	_	_
14	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	16	cop	_	_
15	fine	fine	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	16	amod	_	_
16	ones	one	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	21	nsubj	_	_
17	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	19	cc	_	_
18	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	19	nmod:poss	_	_
19	own	own	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	16	conj	_	_
20	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	21	cop	_	_
21	old	old	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	ccomp	_	_
22	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	23	cc	_	_
23	weak	weak	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	21	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
24	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **hope** | past | He |  |  |  |  |  | vn long-32.2 «NP V S\_INF»: agent=Pivot clause=Theme |
| 2 | **give** | would | Waldemar |  | them *= they* |  |  | to him *= he*; free *property* | vn give-13.1-1 «NP V NP PP.recipient»: agent=Agent they=Theme to he=Recipient |
| 3 | **is a** | past | the horses | fine ones |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 4 | **be** |  | the horses *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 5 | **is** | past | fine ones |  |  |  |  | old *property* | tree rules |
| 6 | **be** |  | fine ones *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
He wanted to buy them.

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1028-pg27200-part239:e2:o4:1
# text = He wanted to buy them.
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	wanted	want	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	to	to	PART	TO	_	4	mark	_	_
4	buy	buy	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	2	xcomp	_	_
5	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **want** | past | He |  |  |  |  |  | vn want-32.1-1-1 «NP V NP S\_INF»: agent=Pivot clause=Theme |
| 2 | **buy** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive | He *not said here* | them *= they* |  |  |  |  | vn accept-77.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent they=Theme |

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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, Waldemar Daa and His…, exam 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/1028-pg27200-part239/e1/)
- next →: [Andersen's Tales, Waldemar Daa and His…, exam 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/1028-pg27200-part239/e3/)
- ↑ back to [Andersen's Tales, Waldemar Daa and His Daughters, part 239: the forest is felled, the ship is never sold, and the gold-making ends in smoke](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/1028-pg27200-part239/)