---
title: So did the king nearly cut his head off, then? — Persian Tales, Prince Almas and the Si… · tree and pragmatics
description: So did the king nearly cut his head off, then? Test 13 · ★ of lesson 1206 «Persian Tales, Prince Almas and the Simurgh, part 7: Almas slays the dragon, the Simurgh spares him and the prince wins the king's trust» of the books course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics o
---

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# Test 13 · ★ · Persian Tales, Prince Almas and the Simurgh, part 7: Almas…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
So did the king nearly cut his head off, then?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 3 · **The right answer:** option 2 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** king · **What happens:** do, cut off · **To what, where:** head

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 13 · ★ of lesson 1206 «Persian Tales, Prince Almas and the Simurgh, part 7: Almas slays the dragon, the Simurgh spares him and the prince wins the king's trust» 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/1206-pg3282-part7/#t13).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1206-pg3282-part7:t13:1
# text = So did the king nearly cut his head off, then?
1	So	so	ADV	RB	_	2	advmod	_	_
2	did	do	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	king	king	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	_
5	nearly	nearly	ADV	RB	_	6	advmod	_	_
6	cut	cut	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	2	parataxis	_	_
7	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	8	nmod:poss	_	_
8	head	head	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obj	_	_
9	off	off	ADP	RP	_	6	compound:prt	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	2	punct	_	_
11	then	then	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	2	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **do** | past |  |  |  |  | then |  | vn act-114-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **cut off** | past | the king | king's head |  |  |  | nearly *property* | vn stop-55.4-1 «NP V NP.eventuality»: agent=Affector head=Eventuality |

<!-- .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 -->
Nah, the king had already let him go, and the prince just laughed, mate, and left the palace

<!-- fold The tree, 18 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1206-pg3282-part7:t13:o1:1
# text = Nah, the king had already let him go, and the prince just laughed, mate, and left the palace
1	Nah	nah	INTJ	UH	_	5	discourse	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	1	punct	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	king	king	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
5	had	have	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
6	already	already	ADV	RB	_	7	advmod	_	_
7	let	let	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	xcomp	_	_
8	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	7	obj	_	_
9	go	go	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	7	xcomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	15	punct	_	_
11	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	15	cc	_	_
12	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
13	prince	prince	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	15	nsubj	_	_
14	just	just	ADV	RB	_	15	advmod	_	_
15	laughed	laugh	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	17	punct	_	_
17	mate	mate	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	15	vocative	_	SpaceAfter=No
18	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	20	punct	_	_
19	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	20	cc	_	_
20	left	leave	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	conj	_	_
21	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	22	det	_	_
22	palace	palace	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	20	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **have** | past | the king |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **let** | infinitive | the king *not said here* | king |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 3 | **go** | infinitive | king *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn disappearance-48.2-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 4 | **laugh** | past | the prince |  |  |  |  | mate *vocative* | vn nonverbal\_expression-40.2 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 5 | **leave** | past | the king *not said here* | the palace |  |  |  |  | vn keep-15.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent palace=Theme |

### Option 2 · ✓ the right answer {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Yeah, but the prince talked him round, proper smooth

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1206-pg3282-part7:t13:o2:1
# text = Yeah, but the prince talked him round, proper smooth
1	Yeah	yeah	INTJ	UH	_	6	discourse	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	6	punct	_	_
3	but	but	CCONJ	CC	_	6	cc	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	prince	prince	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	_
6	talked	talk	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
7	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	6	obj	_	_
8	round	round	ADV	RB	_	6	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	11	punct	_	_
10	proper	proper	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	11	amod	_	_
11	smooth	smooth	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	advcl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **talk** | past | the prince | him *= he* |  |  |  | round *property* | vn compel-59.1 «NP V NP S\_ING»: agent=Agent he=Patient |

### Option 3 · ← Mova's choice {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Yeah, he was about to but the prince talked him round with a clever story, proper smooth

<!-- fold The tree, 17 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1206-pg3282-part7:t13:o3:1
# text = Yeah, he was about to but the prince talked him round with a clever story, proper smooth
1	Yeah	yeah	INTJ	UH	_	5	discourse	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	1	punct	_	_
3	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	5	nsubj	_	_
4	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
5	about	about	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
6	to	to	PART	TO	_	5	xcomp	_	_
7	but	but	CCONJ	CC	_	10	cc	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	prince	prince	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	nsubj	_	_
10	talked	talk	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	conj	_	_
11	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	10	obj	_	_
12	round	round	ADV	RB	_	10	advmod	_	_
13	with	with	ADP	IN	_	16	case	_	_
14	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	16	det	_	_
15	clever	clever	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	16	amod	_	_
16	story	story	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	19	punct	_	_
18	proper	proper	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	19	amod	_	_
19	smooth	smooth	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | past | he |  |  |  |  | about *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **talk** | past | the prince | him *= he* |  |  |  | with a clever story; round *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **be** |  | he *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Nah, but the merchant talked him round, proper smooth

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1206-pg3282-part7:t13:o4:1
# text = Nah, but the merchant talked him round, proper smooth
1	Nah	nah	INTJ	UH	_	6	discourse	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	6	punct	_	_
3	but	but	CCONJ	CC	_	6	cc	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	merchant	merchant	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	_
6	talked	talk	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
7	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	6	obj	_	_
8	round	round	ADV	RB	_	6	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	11	punct	_	_
10	proper	proper	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	11	amod	_	_
11	smooth	smooth	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	advcl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **talk** | past | the merchant | him *= he* |  |  |  | round *property* | vn compel-59.1 «NP V NP S\_ING»: agent=Agent he=Patient |

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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: [Persian Tales, Prince Almas and the Si…, test 12](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/1206-pg3282-part7/t12/)
- next →: [Persian Tales, Prince Almas and the Si…, exam 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/1206-pg3282-part7/e1/)
- ↑ back to [Persian Tales, Prince Almas and the Simurgh, part 7: Almas slays the dragon, the Simurgh spares him and the prince wins the king's trust](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/1206-pg3282-part7/)