---
title: Why didn't the old man just let the casket go? — Russian Fairy Tales, The Old Man Who W… · tree and pragmatics
description: Why didn't the old man just let the casket go? Test 9 · ★ of lesson 1124 «Russian Fairy Tales, The Old Man Who Went to School: an old man is sent to school, a nobleman gives him a purse, and his sons are tricked» of the books course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics o
---

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# Test 9 · ★ · Russian Fairy Tales, The Old Man Who Went to School: an ol…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Why didn't the old man just let the casket go?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 4 · **The right answer:** option 3 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** old man, casket · **What happens:** not let, go · **To what, where:** casket

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This is test 9 · ★ of lesson 1124 «Russian Fairy Tales, The Old Man Who Went to School: an old man is sent to school, a nobleman gives him a purse, and his sons are tricked» of the books course of Mova's primary school. 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/1124-pg29672-part30/#t9).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1124-pg29672-part30:t9:1
# text = Why didn't the old man just let the casket go?
1	Why	why	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	8	advmod	_	_
2	did	do	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	8	aux	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	n't	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	8	advmod	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
5	old	old	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	man	man	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nsubj	_	_
7	just	just	ADV	RB	_	8	advmod	_	_
8	let	let	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	casket	casket	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obj	_	_
11	go	go	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	8	xcomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	8	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **let** | past · do-support | the old man | the casket |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **go** | infinitive | the casket *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn disappearance-48.2-1 «NP V»: agent=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 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
He was too weak

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1124-pg29672-part30:t9:o1:1
# text = He was too weak
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
2	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
3	too	too	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
4	weak	weak	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | past | He |  |  |  |  | weak *property* | tree rules |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
He was too kind

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1124-pg29672-part30:t9:o2:1
# text = He was too kind
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
2	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
3	too	too	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
4	kind	kind	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | past | He |  |  |  |  | kind *property* | tree rules |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
He knew his sons were greedy

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1124-pg29672-part30:t9:o3:1
# text = He knew his sons were greedy
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	knew	know	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	4	nmod:poss	_	_
4	sons	son	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	nsubj	_	_
5	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	6	cop	_	_
6	greedy	greedy	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	ccomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **know** | past | He |  |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Experiencer |
| 2 | **is** | past | his sons |  |  |  |  | greedy *property* | tree rules |

### Option 4 · ← Mova's choice {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
He wanted them to suffer

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1124-pg29672-part30:t9:o4:1
# text = He wanted them to suffer
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	wanted	want	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	obj	_	_
4	to	to	PART	TO	_	5	mark	_	_
5	suffer	suffer	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	2	xcomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **want** | past | He | them *= they* |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **suffer** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive | them *= they* *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn marvel-31.3 «NP V»: agent=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.

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