---
title: Which phrase identifies the individual who was instructed to descend… — Celtic Fairy Tales, Ian the Soldier's… · tree and pragmatics
description: Which phrase identifies the individual who was instructed to descend first, and what was the reason for this instruction? Exam question 1 of lesson 1142 «Celtic Fairy Tales, Ian the Soldier's Son, part 8: Ian frees the knight's daughter, kills the giant, and is left behind on the island» of the book
---

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# Exam question 1 · Celtic Fairy Tales, Ian the Soldier's Son, part 8: Ian fre…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Which phrase identifies the individual who was instructed to descend first, and what was the reason for this instruction?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 3 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** phrase · **What happens:** identify, instruct, descend, be · **To what, where:** individual, reason

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 1 of lesson 1142 «Celtic Fairy Tales, Ian the Soldier's Son, part 8: Ian frees the knight's daughter, kills the giant, and is left behind on the island» 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/1142-pg3027-part8/#e1).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1142-pg3027-part8:e1:1
# text = Which phrase identifies the individual who was instructed to descend first, and what was the reason for this instruction?
1	Which	which	DET	WDT	PronType=Int	2	det	_	_
2	phrase	phrase	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	identifies	identify	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	individual	individual	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
6	who	who	PRON	WP	PronType=Rel	8	nsubj:pass	_	_
7	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	8	aux:pass	_	_
8	instructed	instruct	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	5	acl:relcl	_	_
9	to	to	PART	TO	_	10	mark	_	_
10	descend	descend	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	8	xcomp	_	_
11	first	first	ADV	RB	NumForm=Word|NumType=Ord	10	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	17	punct	_	_
13	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	17	cc	_	_
14	what	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	17	nsubj	_	_
15	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	17	cop	_	_
16	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	17	det	_	_
17	reason	reason	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	parataxis	_	_
18	for	for	ADP	IN	_	20	case	_	_
19	this	this	DET	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	20	det	_	_
20	instruction	instruction	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	17	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
21	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **identify** | present | which phrase | the individual |  |  |  |  | vn characterize-29.2-1-1 «NP V NP S\_ING»: agent=Agent individual=Theme |
| 2 | **instruct** *speech: other* | past · passive |  | the individual |  |  |  |  | vn advise-37.9-1 «NP V NP how S\_INF»: subject=Recipient clause=Topic |
| 3 | **descend** | to-infinitive |  |  |  |  |  | first *property* | vn meander-47.7-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 4 | **is a** | past |  | the reason |  |  |  | for this instruction | tree rules |

<!-- .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 -->
The eldest sister, who led them down the stair

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1142-pg3027-part8:e1:o1:1
# text = The eldest sister, who led them down the stair
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	eldest	eld	ADJ	JJS	Degree=Sup	3	amod	_	_
3	sister	sister	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	6	punct	_	_
5	who	who	PRON	WP	PronType=Rel	6	nsubj	_	_
6	led	lead	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
7	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	6	obj	_	_
8	down	down	ADP	RP	_	6	compound:prt	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	stair	stair	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **lead down** | past | the eldest sister | them *= they* |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Ian, who went first to see the way

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1142-pg3027-part8:e1:o2:1
# text = Ian, who went first to see the way
1	Ian	Ian	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	4	punct	_	_
3	who	who	PRON	WP	PronType=Rel	4	nsubj	_	_
4	went	go	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	first	first	ADV	RB	NumForm=Word|NumType=Ord	4	advmod	_	_
6	to	to	PART	TO	_	7	mark	_	_
7	see	see	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	xcomp	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	way	way	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **go** | past | Ian |  |  |  |  | first *property* | vn say-37.7 «NP V S-Quote»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 2 | **see** | to-infinitive | Ian *not said here* | the way |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer way=Stimulus |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Ian, who bade the sisters precede him lest accident occur

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1142-pg3027-part8:e1:o3:1
# text = Ian, who bade the sisters precede him lest accident occur
1	Ian	Ian	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	11	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	4	punct	_	_
3	who	who	PRON	WP	PronType=Rel	4	nsubj	_	_
4	bade	bade	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	1	acl:relcl	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	sisters	sister	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obj	_	_
7	precede	precede	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	xcomp	_	_
8	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	7	obj	_	_
9	lest	lest	SCONJ	IN	_	10	case	_	_
10	accident	accident	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obl	_	_
11	occur	occur	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **bade** | past | Ian | the sisters |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **precede** | infinitive | Ian *not said here* | Ian |  |  |  | lest accident | vn contiguous\_location-47.8 «NP V NP»: agent=Theme he=Co-Theme |
| 3 | **occur** | present | Ian |  |  |  |  |  | vn occur-48.3-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The youngest sister, who went last

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1142-pg3027-part8:e1:o4:1
# text = The youngest sister, who went last
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	youngest	young	ADJ	JJS	Degree=Sup	3	amod	_	_
3	sister	sister	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	6	punct	_	_
5	who	who	PRON	WP	PronType=Rel	6	nsubj	_	_
6	went	go	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
7	last	last	ADV	RB	_	6	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **go** | past | the youngest sister |  |  |  |  | last *property* | vn disappearance-48.2-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

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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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