---
title: What is the reason that Mongan repeatedly defers his promise to his… — Gods and Fighting Men, Mongan's Frenzy… · tree and pragmatics
description: What is the reason that Mongan repeatedly defers his promise to his wife? Exam question 4 of lesson 1067 «Gods and Fighting Men, Mongan's Frenzy, part 35: the storyteller Cairide tells his tale to the abbot, while the Flame Lady grows jealous of Duv Laca» of the books course of Mova's primary school
---

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# Exam question 4 · Gods and Fighting Men, Mongan's Frenzy, part 35: the story…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
What is the reason that Mongan repeatedly defers his promise to his wife?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 2 · **The right answer:** option 2 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** reason, Mongan · **What happens:** be, defer, promise · **To what, where:** reason

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 4 of lesson 1067 «Gods and Fighting Men, Mongan's Frenzy, part 35: the storyteller Cairide tells his tale to the abbot, while the Flame Lady grows jealous of Duv Laca» 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/1067-pg2892-part35/#e4).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1067-pg2892-part35:e4:1
# text = What is the reason that Mongan repeatedly defers his promise to his wife?
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	0	root	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	1	cop	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	reason	reason	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	nsubj	_	_
5	that	that	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	8	obj	_	_
6	Mongan	Mongan	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	8	nsubj	_	_
7	repeatedly	repeatedly	ADV	RB	_	8	advmod	_	_
8	defers	defer	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	acl:relcl	_	_
9	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	10	nmod:poss	_	_
10	promise	promise	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obj	_	_
11	to	to	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
12	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	13	nmod:poss	_	_
13	wife	wife	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | the reason |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **defer** | present | Mongan | the reason |  |  |  | to Mongan's wife; repeatedly *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **promise** |  | Mongan |  |  |  |  |  | nom promise «communication transitive»: poss=agent |

<!-- .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 is afraid the tale is bad

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1067-pg2892-part35:e4:o1:1
# text = he is afraid the tale is bad
1	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	cop	_	_
3	afraid	afraid	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	tale	tale	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nsubj	_	_
6	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	7	cop	_	_
7	bad	bad	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	ccomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | he |  |  |  |  | afraid *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **is** | present | the tale |  |  |  |  | bad *property* | tree rules |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
he is confused and says he will tell it some other time

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1067-pg2892-part35:e4:o2:1
# text = he is confused and says he will tell it some other time
1	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	cop	_	_
3	confused	confused	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
4	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	5	cc	_	_
5	says	say	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	conj	_	_
6	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	8	nsubj	_	_
7	will	will	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	8	aux	_	_
8	tell	tell	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	ccomp	_	_
9	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	8	obj	_	_
10	some	some	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	12	det	_	_
11	other	other	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	12	amod	_	_
12	time	time	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obl:unmarked	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | he |  |  |  |  | confused *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **say** *speech: assert* | present | he *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 3 | **tell** *speech: assert* | future | he |  | it |  | time |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP.recipient»: agent=Agent it=Recipient |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
he wants to keep the story secret from his wife and the monks

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1067-pg2892-part35:e4:o3:1
# text = he wants to keep the story secret from his wife and the monks
1	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	wants	want	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	to	to	PART	TO	_	4	mark	_	_
4	keep	keep	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	2	xcomp	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
6	story	story	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	compound	_	_
7	secret	secret	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obj	_	_
8	from	from	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	10	nmod:poss	_	_
10	wife	wife	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
11	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	13	cc	_	_
12	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
13	monks	monk	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	10	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **want** | present | he |  |  |  |  |  | vn want-32.1-1-1 «NP V NP S\_INF»: agent=Pivot clause=Theme |
| 2 | **keep** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive | he *not said here* | the story secret |  |  |  | from his wife and the monks | vn forbid-64.4 «NP V NP PP.theme»: agent=Causer secret=Beneficiary from wife=Eventuality |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
he fears that the story will shame his household at Tara

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1067-pg2892-part35:e4:o4:1
# text = he fears that the story will shame his household at Tara
1	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	fears	fear	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	7	mark	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	story	story	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nsubj	_	_
6	will	will	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	7	aux	_	_
7	shame	shame	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	2	advcl	_	_
8	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	9	nmod:poss	_	_
9	household	household	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obj	_	_
10	at	at	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
11	Tara	Tara	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	7	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **fear** | present | he |  |  |  |  |  | vn marvel-31.3 «NP V»: agent=Experiencer |
| 2 | **shame** | future | the story | story's household |  | Tara |  |  | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Stimulus household=Experiencer |

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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.

<!-- /div -->

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- ← previous: [Gods and Fighting Men, Mongan's Frenzy…, exam 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/1067-pg2892-part35/e3/)
- next →: [Gods and Fighting Men, The Story of Mo…, test 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/1068-pg2892-part36/t1/)
- ↑ back to [Gods and Fighting Men, Mongan's Frenzy, part 35: the storyteller Cairide tells his tale to the abbot, while the Flame Lady grows jealous of Duv Laca](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/1067-pg2892-part35/)