---
title: Why does the fox ask the wolf to descend the well first? — Reynard the Fox, The Wolf and the Fox… · tree and pragmatics
description: Why does the fox ask the wolf to descend the well first? Exam question 3 of lesson 1144 «Reynard the Fox, The Wolf and the Fox at the Well, part 10: the hungry wolf and the cunning fox plan a feast of cheese, and the fox tricks the wolf into the bucket» of the books course of Mova's primary school, 
---

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# Exam question 3 · Reynard the Fox, The Wolf and the Fox at the Well, part 10…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Why does the fox ask the wolf to descend the well first?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 2 · **The right answer:** option 4 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** fox, wolf · **What happens:** ask, descend · **To what, where:** wolf, well

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This is exam question 3 of lesson 1144 «Reynard the Fox, The Wolf and the Fox at the Well, part 10: the hungry wolf and the cunning fox plan a feast of cheese, and the fox tricks the wolf into the bucket» 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/1144-pg3027-part10/#e3).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1144-pg3027-part10:e3:1
# text = Why does the fox ask the wolf to descend the well first?
1	Why	why	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	5	advmod	_	_
2	does	do	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	aux	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	fox	fox	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
5	ask	ask	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	wolf	wolf	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obj	_	_
8	to	to	PART	TO	_	9	mark	_	_
9	descend	descend	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	xcomp	_	_
10	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	well	well	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obj	_	_
12	first	first	ADV	RB	NumForm=Word|NumType=Ord	9	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **ask** *speech: ask* | present · do-support | the fox | the wolf |  |  |  |  | vn inquire-37.1.2 «NP V NP whether S\_INF»: agent=Agent wolf=Recipient clause=Topic |
| 2 | **descend** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive | the wolf *not said here* | the well |  |  |  | first *property* | vn meander-47.7-1 «PP.location V NP»: agent=Location well=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 -->
So the wolf can check the depth of the water before she goes

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1144-pg3027-part10:e3:o1:1
# text = So the wolf can check the depth of the water before she goes
1	So	so	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	wolf	wolf	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
4	can	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	5	aux	_	_
5	check	check	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	depth	depth	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obj	_	_
8	of	of	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	water	water	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nmod	_	_
11	before	before	SCONJ	IN	_	13	mark	_	_
12	she	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	13	nsubj	_	_
13	goes	go	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	advcl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **check** | can | the wolf | the depth of the water |  |  |  |  | vn assessment-34.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent depth=Theme |
| 2 | **go** | present | wolf |  |  |  |  |  | vn disappearance-48.2-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

### Option 2 · ← Mova's choice {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
To show her courage

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1144-pg3027-part10:e3:o2:1
# text = To show her courage
1	To	to	PART	TO	_	2	mark	_	_
2	show	show	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	her	her	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	4	nmod:poss	_	_
4	courage	courage	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **show** | to-infinitive |  | her courage |  |  |  |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP.recipient»: agent=Agent courage=Recipient |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
To let the wolf go first and show her the way down

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1144-pg3027-part10:e3:o3:1
# text = To let the wolf go first and show her the way down
1	To	to	PART	TO	_	2	mark	_	_
2	let	let	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	wolf	wolf	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
5	go	go	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	2	xcomp	_	_
6	first	first	ADV	RB	NumForm=Word|NumType=Ord	5	advmod	_	_
7	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	8	cc	_	_
8	show	show	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	2	conj	_	_
9	her	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	8	iobj	_	_
10	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	way	way	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obj	_	_
12	down	down	ADV	RB	_	8	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **let** | to-infinitive |  | the wolf |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **go** | infinitive | the wolf *not said here* |  |  |  |  | first *property* | vn disappearance-48.2-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 3 | **show** | infinitive |  | the way | her *= she* |  |  | down *property* | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP-Dative NP»: agent=Agent she=Recipient way=Topic |

### Option 4 · ✓ the right answer {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
To secure the wolf's entrapment while she escapes

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1144-pg3027-part10:e3:o4:1
# text = To secure the wolf's entrapment while she escapes
1	To	to	PART	TO	_	2	mark	_	_
2	secure	secure	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	wolf	wolf	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	's	's	PART	POS	_	4	case	_	_
6	entrapment	entrapment	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
7	while	while	SCONJ	IN	_	9	mark	_	_
8	she	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	9	nsubj	_	_
9	escapes	escape	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	2	advcl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **secure** | to-infinitive |  | the wolf's entrapment |  |  |  |  | vn ensure-99 «NP V NP»: agent=Precondition entrapment=Theme |
| 2 | **escape** | present | she |  |  |  |  |  | vn escape-51.1-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 3 | **entrap** |  | the wolf |  |  |  |  |  | nom entrapment «act transitive»: poss=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.

<!-- /div -->

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- ← previous: [Reynard the Fox, The Wolf and the Fox…, exam 2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/1144-pg3027-part10/e2/)
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