---
title: By what means were the serpent's remains destroyed? — Russian Folk-Tales, The Little Tsar No… · tree and pragmatics
description: By what means were the serpent's remains destroyed? Exam question 3 of lesson 1105 «Russian Folk-Tales, The Little Tsar Novishny, part 11: the starling's warnings and the boiling water» of the books course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each 
---

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# Exam question 3 · Russian Folk-Tales, The Little Tsar Novishny, part 11: the…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
By what means were the serpent's remains destroyed?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 2 · wrong ✗ · **What happens:** mean, be, destroy · **To what, where:** remains

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 3 of lesson 1105 «Russian Folk-Tales, The Little Tsar Novishny, part 11: the starling's warnings and the boiling water» 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/1105-pg29672-part11/#e3).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1105-pg29672-part11:e3:1
# text = By what means were the serpent's remains destroyed?
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	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	8	cop	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	serpent	serpent	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	's	's	PART	POS	_	6	case	_	_
8	remains	remains	NOUN	NNS	Number=Ptan	3	obj	_	_
9	destroyed	destroy	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	8	acl	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	?	?	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 |
| 2 | **is a** | past |  | the serpent's remains |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 3 | **destroy** | participle |  | the serpent's remains *not said here* |  |  |  |  | vn destroy-44 «NP V NP»: agent=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 · ← Mova's choice {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
by the hunters who cut it with swords

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1105-pg29672-part11:e3:o1:1
# text = by the hunters who cut it with swords
1	by	by	ADP	IN	_	3	case	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	hunters	hunter	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	0	root	_	_
4	who	who	PRON	WP	PronType=Rel	5	nsubj	_	_
5	cut	cut	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	acl:relcl	_	_
6	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	5	obj	_	_
7	with	with	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
8	swords	sword	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **cut** | past | the hunters | it |  |  |  | with swords | vn cut-21.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent it=Patient with sword=Instrument |

### Option 2 · ✓ the right answer {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
by the dogs and beasts tearing it to pieces on command

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1105-pg29672-part11:e3:o2:1
# text = by the dogs and beasts tearing it to pieces on command
1	by	by	ADP	IN	_	3	case	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	dogs	dog	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	0	root	_	_
4	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	5	cc	_	_
5	beasts	beast	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	conj	_	_
6	tearing	tear	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	3	acl	_	_
7	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	6	obj	_	_
8	to	to	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
9	pieces	piece	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	obl	_	_
10	on	on	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
11	command	command	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **tear** | gerund | the dogs and beasts *not said here* | it |  |  |  | to pieces on command *result* | vn break-45.1 «NP V NP PP.result»: agent=Agent it=Patient to piece=Result |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
by the dogs and beasts that crushed its bones at dawn

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1105-pg29672-part11:e3:o3:1
# text = by the dogs and beasts that crushed its bones at dawn
1	by	by	ADP	IN	_	3	case	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	dogs	dog	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	0	root	_	_
4	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	5	cc	_	_
5	beasts	beast	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	conj	_	_
6	that	that	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	7	nsubj	_	_
7	crushed	crush	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	acl:relcl	_	_
8	its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	9	nmod:poss	_	_
9	bones	bone	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	obj	_	_
10	at	at	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
11	dawn	dawn	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **crush** | past | the dogs and beasts | its bones |  |  | dawn |  | vn carve-21.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent bone=Patient |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
by the dogs and beasts tearing it to pieces on command, after the flute had lulled it to sleep

<!-- fold The tree, 19 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1105-pg29672-part11:e3:o4:1
# text = by the dogs and beasts tearing it to pieces on command, after the flute had lulled it to sleep
1	by	by	ADP	IN	_	3	case	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	dogs	dog	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	0	root	_	_
4	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	5	cc	_	_
5	beasts	beast	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	conj	_	_
6	tearing	tear	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	5	acl	_	_
7	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	6	obj	_	_
8	to	to	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
9	pieces	piece	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	obl	_	_
10	on	on	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
11	command	command	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	17	punct	_	_
13	after	after	SCONJ	IN	_	17	mark	_	_
14	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	15	det	_	_
15	flute	flute	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	17	nsubj:pass	_	_
16	had	have	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	17	aux	_	_
17	lulled	lull	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	3	acl	_	_
18	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	17	obj	_	_
19	to	to	PART	TO	_	20	mark	_	_
20	sleep	sleep	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	17	advcl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **tear** | gerund | beasts *not said here* | it |  | command |  | to pieces *result* | vn break-45.1 «NP V NP PP.result»: agent=Agent it=Patient to piece=Result |
| 2 | **lull** | past · perfect · passive | the dogs and beasts *not said here* | the flute |  |  |  |  | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V NP ADJ»: subject=Experiencer it=Result |
| 3 | **sleep** | to-infinitive | the dogs and beasts *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn snooze-40.4-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

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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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