---
title: What sign does the elder brother establish at the crossroads to comm… — Russian Folk-Tales, The Two Princes, p… · tree and pragmatics
description: What sign does the elder brother establish at the crossroads to communicate his peril? Exam question 4 of lesson 1122 «Russian Folk-Tales, The Two Princes, part 28: the elder brother is turned to stone, and the younger brother wins him back from a witch» of the books course of Mova's primary school,
---

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# Exam question 4 · Russian Folk-Tales, The Two Princes, part 28: the elder br…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
What sign does the elder brother establish at the crossroads to communicate his peril?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 3 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** sign, brother · **What happens:** establish, communicate, peril · **To what, where:** crossroads, peril

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 4 of lesson 1122 «Russian Folk-Tales, The Two Princes, part 28: the elder brother is turned to stone, and the younger brother wins him back from a witch» 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/1122-pg29672-part28/#e4).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1122-pg29672-part28:e4:1
# text = What sign does the elder brother establish at the crossroads to communicate his peril?
1	What	what	DET	WDT	PronType=Int	2	det	_	_
2	sign	sign	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nsubj	_	_
3	does	do	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	7	aux	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
5	elder	elder	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	brother	brother	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nsubj	_	_
7	establish	establish	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
8	at	at	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	crossroads	crossroad	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	obl	_	_
11	to	to	PART	TO	_	12	mark	_	_
12	communicate	communicate	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	7	advcl	_	_
13	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	14	nmod:poss	_	_
14	peril	peril	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	7	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **establish** | present · do-support | what sign |  |  | the crossroads |  |  | vn indicate-78-1-1 «NP V NP to be NP»: agent=Pivot |
| 2 | **communicate** | to-infinitive | what sign *not said here* | brother's peril |  |  |  |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent peril=Topic |
| 3 | **peril** |  | brother |  |  |  |  |  | nom peril «state 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 · ← Mova's choice {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A knife driven deep into a maple trunk so the blade stands upright

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1122-pg29672-part28:e4:o1:1
# text = A knife driven deep into a maple trunk so the blade stands upright
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	knife	knife	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	nsubj	_	_
3	driven	drive	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	2	acl	_	_
4	deep	deep	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	_
5	into	into	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
6	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
7	maple	maple	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	compound	_	_
8	trunk	trunk	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
9	so	so	SCONJ	IN	_	11	case	_	_
10	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	blade	blade	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
12	stands	stand	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
13	upright	upright	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	12	xcomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **drive** | participle |  | a knife *not said here* |  | a maple trunk |  | so the blade; deep *property* | vn nonvehicle-51.4.2-1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Agent into trunk=Trajectory |
| 2 | **stand** | present | a knife |  |  |  |  | upright *property* | vn assuming\_position-50 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A knife driven into a maple trunk with blood dripping from the blade

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1122-pg29672-part28:e4:o2:1
# text = A knife driven into a maple trunk with blood dripping from the blade
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	knife	knife	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	driven	drive	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	2	acl	_	_
4	into	into	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
5	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
6	maple	maple	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	compound	_	_
7	trunk	trunk	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
8	with	with	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
9	blood	blood	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	_
10	dripping	drip	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	2	acl	_	_
11	from	from	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
12	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
13	blade	blade	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **drive** | participle |  | a knife with blood *not said here* |  | a maple trunk |  |  | vn nonvehicle-51.4.2-1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Agent into trunk=Trajectory |
| 2 | **drip** | gerund | a knife with blood *not said here* |  |  | the blade |  |  | vn substance\_emission-43.4-1 «NP.theme V PP.source»: agent=Theme from blade=Source |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A knife driven into a maple trunk

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1122-pg29672-part28:e4:o3:1
# text = A knife driven into a maple trunk
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	knife	knife	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	driven	drive	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	2	acl	_	_
4	into	into	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
5	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
6	maple	maple	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	compound	_	_
7	trunk	trunk	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **drive** | participle |  | a knife *not said here* |  | a maple trunk |  |  | vn nonvehicle-51.4.2-1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Agent into trunk=Trajectory |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A cloak hung from an oak branch

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1122-pg29672-part28:e4:o4:1
# text = A cloak hung from an oak branch
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	cloak	cloak	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	hung	hang	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	2	acl	_	_
4	from	from	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
5	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
6	oak	oak	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	compound	_	_
7	branch	branch	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **hang** | participle |  | a cloak *not said here* |  | a oak branch |  |  | vn assuming\_position-50 «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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