---
title: Why'd the witch fly off on a broomstick? — d'Aulnoy's Fairy Tales, The Bird of Tr… · tree and pragmatics
description: Why'd the witch fly off on a broomstick? Test 9 · ★ of lesson 1189 «d'Aulnoy's Fairy Tales, The Bird of Truth, part 55: the boy takes the white bird from the aviary, the enchanted water frees the captives, and the courtiers plot against the bird» of the books course of Mova's primary school, with th
---

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# Test 9 · ★ · d'Aulnoy's Fairy Tales, The Bird of Truth, part 55: the bo…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Why'd the witch fly off on a broomstick?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 2 · **The right answer:** option 1 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** witch · **What happens:** fly off · **To what, where:** broomstick

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 9 · ★ of lesson 1189 «d'Aulnoy's Fairy Tales, The Bird of Truth, part 55: the boy takes the white bird from the aviary, the enchanted water frees the captives, and the courtiers plot against the bird» 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/1189-pg3027-part55/#t9).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1189-pg3027-part55:t9:1
# text = Why'd the witch fly off on a broomstick?
1	Why	why	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	5	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	'd	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	5	aux	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	witch	witch	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
5	fly	fly	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
6	off	off	ADP	RP	_	5	compound:prt	_	_
7	on	on	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	broomstick	broomstick	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **fly off** | would | the witch |  |  | a broomstick |  |  | vn spatial\_configuration-47.6-1 «NP V NP.theme PP»: agent=Agent on broomstick=Location |

<!-- .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 · ✓ the right answer {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Cos the captives went back to being people

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1189-pg3027-part55:t9:o1:1
# text = Cos the captives went back to being people
1	Cos	cos	SCONJ	IN	_	4	mark	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	captives	captive	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj	_	_
4	went	go	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	back	back	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
6	to	to	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	being	be	AUX	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	8	cop	_	_
8	people	people	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **go back** | past | the captives |  |  |  |  |  | vn convert-26.6.2 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Patient |
| 2 | **is** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  | to people | tree rules |

### Option 2 · ← Mova's choice {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Cos the captives all went back to being people, so she fled the tower in a hurry on her broomstick

<!-- fold The tree, 20 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1189-pg3027-part55:t9:o2:1
# text = Cos the captives all went back to being people, so she fled the tower in a hurry on her broomstick
1	Cos	cos	SCONJ	IN	_	3	case	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	captives	captive	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	obl	_	_
4	all	all	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
5	went	go	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
6	back	back	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
7	to	to	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	being	be	AUX	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	9	cop	_	_
9	people	people	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	13	punct	_	_
11	so	so	ADV	RB	_	13	advmod	_	_
12	she	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	13	nsubj	_	_
13	fled	flee	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	conj	_	_
14	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	15	det	_	_
15	tower	tower	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	obj	_	_
16	in	in	ADP	IN	_	18	case	_	_
17	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	18	det	_	_
18	hurry	hurry	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	obl	_	_
19	on	on	ADP	IN	_	21	case	_	_
20	her	her	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	21	nmod:poss	_	_
21	broomstick	broomstick	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	18	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **go back** | past |  |  |  |  |  | cos the captives; all *property* | vn convert-26.6.2 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Patient |
| 2 | **is** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  | to people | tree rules |
| 3 | **flee** | past | she | the tower |  | a hurry on her broomstick |  |  | vn escape-51.1-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Theme tower=Initial\_Location |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Because the boy broke her spell at last

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1189-pg3027-part55:t9:o3:1
# text = Because the boy broke her spell at last
1	Because	because	SCONJ	IN	_	4	mark	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	boy	boy	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
4	broke	break	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	her	her	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	6	nmod:poss	_	_
6	spell	spell	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obj	_	_
7	at	at	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
8	last	last	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **break** | past | the boy | her spell |  | last |  |  | vn hurt-40.8.3-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer spell=Patient |
| 2 | **spell** |  | her *= she* |  |  |  |  |  | nom spell «state transitive»: poss=agent |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Cos the captives went back to being people and she lost her power

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1189-pg3027-part55:t9:o4:1
# text = Cos the captives went back to being people and she lost her power
1	Cos	cos	SCONJ	IN	_	4	mark	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	captives	captive	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj	_	_
4	went	go	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	back	back	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
6	to	to	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	being	be	AUX	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	8	cop	_	_
8	people	people	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obl	_	_
9	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	11	cc	_	_
10	she	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	11	nsubj	_	_
11	lost	lose	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	conj	_	_
12	her	her	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	13	nmod:poss	_	_
13	power	power	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **go back** | past | the captives |  |  |  |  |  | vn convert-26.6.2 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Patient |
| 2 | **is** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  | to people | tree rules |
| 3 | **lose** | past | she | her power |  |  |  |  | vn succeed-74-3-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent power=Eventuality |

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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: [d'Aulnoy's Fairy Tales, The Bird of Tr…, test 8](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/1189-pg3027-part55/t8/)
- next →: [d'Aulnoy's Fairy Tales, The Bird of Tr…, test 10](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/1189-pg3027-part55/t10/)
- ↑ back to [d'Aulnoy's Fairy Tales, The Bird of Truth, part 55: the boy takes the white bird from the aviary, the enchanted water frees the captives, and the courtiers plot against the bird](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/1189-pg3027-part55/)