---
title: Ascertain the reply of the stove when interrogated by the serpent co… — Russian Folk-Tales, Little Tsar Novish… · tree and pragmatics
description: Ascertain the reply of the stove when interrogated by the serpent concerning the children. Exam question 3 of lesson 1102 «Russian Folk-Tales, Little Tsar Novishny, part 8: the Tsar promises Satan what awaits him at home, and the children are hidden in a ditch» of the books course of Mova's primary 
---

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# Exam question 3 · Russian Folk-Tales, Little Tsar Novishny, part 8: the Tsar…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Ascertain the reply of the stove when interrogated by the serpent concerning the children.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 2 · **The right answer:** option 3 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** you, serpent · **What happens:** ascertain, interrogate, concern, reply · **To what, where:** reply, children, stove

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 3 of lesson 1102 «Russian Folk-Tales, Little Tsar Novishny, part 8: the Tsar promises Satan what awaits him at home, and the children are hidden in a ditch» 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/1102-pg29672-part8/#e3).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1102-pg29672-part8:e3:1
# text = Ascertain the reply of the stove when interrogated by the serpent concerning the children.
1	Ascertain	ascertain	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	reply	reply	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
4	of	of	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	stove	stove	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nmod	_	_
7	when	when	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	8	advmod	_	_
8	interrogated	interrogate	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	1	advcl	_	_
9	by	by	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
10	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	serpent	serpent	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obl	_	_
12	concerning	concern	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	11	acl	_	_
13	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	14	det	_	_
14	children	child	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	12	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **ascertain** | imperative | you *not said here* | the reply of the stove |  |  |  |  | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent reply=Topic |
| 2 | **interrogate** *speech: other* | participle | you *not said here* |  |  |  |  | by the serpent | vn interrogate-37.1.3 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **concern** | gerund | the serpent *not said here* | the children |  |  |  |  | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Stimulus child=Experiencer |
| 4 | **reply** |  |  | the stove |  |  |  |  | nom reply «communication transitive»: of=patient |

<!-- .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 -->
It swore loyalty to the king

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1102-pg29672-part8:e3:o1:1
# text = It swore loyalty to the king
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	swore	swear	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	loyalty	loyalty	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
4	to	to	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	king	king	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **swear** | past | It | loyalty |  |  |  | to the king | vn conjecture-29.5 «NP V NP to be NP»: agent=Agent loyalty=Eventuality |

### Option 2 · ← Mova's choice {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It declared complete loyalty to the Tsar and told the serpent a lie

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1102-pg29672-part8:e3:o2:1
# text = It declared complete loyalty to the Tsar and told the serpent a lie
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	declared	declare	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	complete	complete	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	amod	_	_
4	loyalty	loyalty	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
5	to	to	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	Tsar	Tsar	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
8	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	9	cc	_	_
9	told	tell	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	2	conj	_	_
10	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	serpent	serpent	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obj	_	_
12	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
13	lie	lie	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **declare** *speech: other* | past | It | complete loyalty | the Tsar |  |  |  | vn reflexive\_appearance-48.1.2 «NP V NP PP.recipient»: agent=Agent loyalty=Theme to tsar=Recipient |
| 2 | **tell** *speech: assert* | past |  | the serpent |  |  |  |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP-Dative NP»: agent=Agent serpent=Recipient lie=Topic |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It declared loyalty to the Tsar

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1102-pg29672-part8:e3:o3:1
# text = It declared loyalty to the Tsar
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	declared	declare	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	loyalty	loyalty	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
4	to	to	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	Tsar	Tsar	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **declare** *speech: other* | past | It | loyalty | the Tsar |  |  |  | vn reflexive\_appearance-48.1.2 «NP V NP PP.recipient»: agent=Agent loyalty=Theme to tsar=Recipient |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It declared loyalty to the Tsar and refused to reveal the children

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1102-pg29672-part8:e3:o4:1
# text = It declared loyalty to the Tsar and refused to reveal the children
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	declared	declare	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	loyalty	loyalty	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
4	to	to	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	Tsar	Tsar	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
7	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	8	cc	_	_
8	refused	refuse	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	2	conj	_	_
9	to	to	PART	TO	_	10	mark	_	_
10	reveal	reveal	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	8	xcomp	_	_
11	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
12	children	child	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	10	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **declare** *speech: other* | past | It | loyalty | the Tsar |  |  |  | vn reflexive\_appearance-48.1.2 «NP V NP PP.recipient»: agent=Agent loyalty=Theme to tsar=Recipient |
| 2 | **refuse** | past |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn reject-77.2 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Agent clause=Theme |
| 3 | **not** **reveal** | to-infinitive |  | the children |  |  |  |  | vn confess-37.10 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent child=Topic |

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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: [Russian Folk-Tales, Little Tsar Novish…, exam 2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/1102-pg29672-part8/e2/)
- next →: [Russian Folk-Tales, Little Tsar Novish…, exam 4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/1102-pg29672-part8/e4/)
- ↑ back to [Russian Folk-Tales, Little Tsar Novishny, part 8: the Tsar promises Satan what awaits him at home, and the children are hidden in a ditch](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/1102-pg29672-part8/)