---
title: By what means did the King attempt to identify the owner of the emer… — Old French Fairy Tales, Donkey-skin, p… · tree and pragmatics
description: By what means did the King attempt to identify the owner of the emerald ring? Exam question 3 of lesson 1093 «Old French Fairy Tales, Donkey-skin, part 18: the ring is tried on every finger» of the books course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of 
---

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# Exam question 3 · Old French Fairy Tales, Donkey-skin, part 18: the ring is…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
By what means did the King attempt to identify the owner of the emerald ring?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 3 · wrong ✗ · **What happens:** mean, do, identify · **To what, where:** King attempt, owner · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 3 of lesson 1093 «Old French Fairy Tales, Donkey-skin, part 18: the ring is tried on every finger» 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/1093-pg29021-part18/#e3).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1093-pg29021-part18:e3:1
# text = By what means did the King attempt to identify the owner of the emerald ring?
1	By	by	SCONJ	IN	_	3	mark	_	_
2	what	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	3	nsubj	_	_
3	means	mean	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	did	do	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	ccomp	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
6	King	King	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	7	compound	_	_
7	attempt	attempt	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obj	_	_
8	to	to	PART	TO	_	9	mark	_	_
9	identify	identify	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	7	acl	_	_
10	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	owner	owner	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obj	_	_
12	of	of	ADP	IN	_	15	case	_	_
13	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	15	det	_	_
14	emerald	emerald	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	15	compound	_	_
15	ring	ring	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **mean** | present |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 2 | **do** | past |  | the King attempt |  |  |  |  | vn act-114-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent attempt=Eventuality |
| 3 | **identify** | to-infinitive |  | the owner of the emerald ring |  |  |  |  | vn characterize-29.2-1-1 «NP V NP S\_ING»: agent=Agent owner=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 · ← Mova's choice {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
by sending a message to every noble house

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1093-pg29021-part18:e3:o1:1
# text = by sending a message to every noble house
1	by	by	SCONJ	IN	_	2	mark	_	_
2	sending	send	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
3	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	message	message	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
5	to	to	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
6	every	every	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	8	det	_	_
7	noble	noble	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	amod	_	_
8	house	house	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **send** | gerund |  | a message |  | every noble house |  |  | vn confine-92-1 «NP V NP PP.destination»: agent=Agent message=Theme to house=Destination |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
by sending heralds to every village and making each woman try the ring on her hand

<!-- fold The tree, 16 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1093-pg29021-part18:e3:o2:1
# text = by sending heralds to every village and making each woman try the ring on her hand
1	by	by	SCONJ	IN	_	2	mark	_	_
2	sending	send	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	11	advcl	_	_
3	heralds	herald	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obj	_	_
4	to	to	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	every	every	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	6	det	_	_
6	village	village	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
7	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	8	cc	_	_
8	making	make	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	2	conj	_	_
9	each	each	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	10	det	_	_
10	woman	woman	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obj	_	_
11	try	try	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
12	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
13	ring	ring	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	obj	_	_
14	on	on	ADP	IN	_	16	case	_	_
15	her	her	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	16	nmod:poss	_	_
16	hand	hand	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **send** | gerund | you *not said here* | heralds |  | every village |  |  | vn confine-92-1 «NP V NP PP.destination»: agent=Agent herald=Theme to village=Destination |
| 2 | **make** | gerund | you *not said here* | each woman |  |  |  |  | vn build-26.1-1 «NP.asset V NP»: agent=Asset woman=Product |
| 3 | **try** | imperative | you *not said here* | the ring |  | woman's hand |  |  | vn try-61.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent ring=Eventuality |

### Option 3 · ✓ the right answer {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
by proclaiming a trial upon every finger

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1093-pg29021-part18:e3:o3:1
# text = by proclaiming a trial upon every finger
1	by	by	SCONJ	IN	_	2	mark	_	_
2	proclaiming	proclaim	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
3	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	trial	trial	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
5	upon	upon	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	every	every	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	7	det	_	_
7	finger	finger	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **proclaim** | gerund |  | a trial |  |  |  | upon every finger | vn appoint-29.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent trial=Theme |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
by ordering all his servants to search the castle rooms for the lady who lost it

<!-- fold The tree, 16 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1093-pg29021-part18:e3:o4:1
# text = by ordering all his servants to search the castle rooms for the lady who lost it
1	by	by	SCONJ	IN	_	2	mark	_	_
2	ordering	order	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
3	all	all	DET	PDT	PronType=Tot	5	det:predet	_	_
4	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	5	nmod:poss	_	_
5	servants	servant	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obj	_	_
6	to	to	PART	TO	_	7	mark	_	_
7	search	search	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	2	advcl	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
9	castle	castle	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	compound	_	_
10	rooms	room	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	obj	_	_
11	for	for	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
12	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
13	lady	lady	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obl	_	_
14	who	who	PRON	WP	PronType=Rel	15	nsubj	_	_
15	lost	lose	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	13	acl:relcl	_	_
16	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	15	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **order** | gerund |  | his servants |  |  |  |  | vn get-13.5.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent servant=Theme |
| 2 | **search** | to-infinitive |  | the castle rooms |  |  |  | for the lady | vn search-35.2 «NP V NP PP.theme»: agent=Agent room=Location for lady=Theme |
| 3 | **lose** | past | the lady | it |  |  |  |  | vn succeed-74-3-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent it=Eventuality |

<!-- div src -->

**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: [Old French Fairy Tales, Donkey-skin, p…, exam 2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/1093-pg29021-part18/e2/)
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