---
title: Which promise did the king make to the mermaid in return for the rel… — Andrew Lang's fairy book, The Prince a… · tree and pragmatics
description: Which promise did the king make to the mermaid in return for the release of his vessel from the rock? Exam question 2 of lesson 1228 «Andrew Lang's fairy book, The Prince and the Mermaid, part 29: the prince runs from the mermaid and becomes a lion and a bear» of the books course of Mova's primary s
---

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# Exam question 2 · Andrew Lang's fairy book, The Prince and the Mermaid, part…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Which promise did the king make to the mermaid in return for the release of his vessel from the rock?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 2 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** promise, king · **What happens:** do, make

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 2 of lesson 1228 «Andrew Lang's fairy book, The Prince and the Mermaid, part 29: the prince runs from the mermaid and becomes a lion and a bear» 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/1228-pg3282-part29/#e2).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1228-pg3282-part29:e2:1
# text = Which promise did the king make to the mermaid in return for the release of his vessel from the rock?
1	Which	which	DET	WDT	PronType=Int	2	det	_	_
2	promise	promise	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	did	do	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	king	king	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	_
6	make	make	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	ccomp	_	_
7	to	to	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	mermaid	mermaid	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obl	_	_
10	in	in	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
11	return	return	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	nmod	_	_
12	for	for	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
13	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	14	det	_	_
14	release	release	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	nmod	_	_
15	of	of	ADP	IN	_	17	case	_	_
16	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	17	nmod:poss	_	_
17	vessel	vessel	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	nmod	_	_
18	from	from	ADP	IN	_	20	case	_	_
19	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	20	det	_	_
20	rock	rock	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 | **do** | past | which promise |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **make** | present | the king |  |  |  |  | to the mermaid in return for the release of king's vessel from the rock | vn build-26.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent |

<!-- .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 -->
To give up his eldest son

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1228-pg3282-part29:e2:o1:1
# text = To give up his eldest son
1	To	to	PART	TO	_	2	mark	_	_
2	give	give	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	up	up	ADP	RP	_	2	compound:prt	_	_
4	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	6	nmod:poss	_	_
5	eldest	eld	ADJ	JJS	Degree=Sup	6	amod	_	_
6	son	son	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **give up** | to-infinitive |  | his eldest son |  |  |  |  | vn resign-10.11-2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent son=Source |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
To deliver his first child

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1228-pg3282-part29:e2:o2:1
# text = To deliver his first child
1	To	to	PART	TO	_	2	mark	_	_
2	deliver	deliver	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	5	nmod:poss	_	_
4	first	first	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos|NumForm=Word|NumType=Ord	5	amod	_	_
5	child	child	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **deliver** | to-infinitive |  | his first child |  |  |  |  | vn birth-28.2-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent child=Patient |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
To surrender his kingdom's wealth of gold and silver to the mermaid

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1228-pg3282-part29:e2:o3:1
# text = To surrender his kingdom's wealth of gold and silver to the mermaid
1	To	to	PART	TO	_	2	mark	_	_
2	surrender	surrender	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|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	kingdom	kingdom	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	's	's	PART	POS	_	4	case	_	_
6	wealth	wealth	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
7	of	of	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
8	gold	gold	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nmod	_	_
9	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	10	cc	_	_
10	silver	silver	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	conj	_	_
11	to	to	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
12	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
13	mermaid	mermaid	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **surrender** | to-infinitive |  | his kingdom's wealth of gold and silver | the mermaid |  |  |  | vn contribute-13.2-1-1 «NP V NP PP.recipient»: agent=Agent wealth=Theme to mermaid=Recipient |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
To deliver his first child to her once he came of age and was grown

<!-- fold The tree, 15 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1228-pg3282-part29:e2:o4:1
# text = To deliver his first child to her once he came of age and was grown
1	To	to	PART	TO	_	2	mark	_	_
2	deliver	deliver	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	5	nmod:poss	_	_
4	first	first	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos|NumForm=Word|NumType=Ord	5	amod	_	_
5	child	child	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
6	to	to	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	her	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	obl	_	_
8	once	once	SCONJ	IN	_	10	mark	_	_
9	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	10	nsubj	_	_
10	came	come	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	2	advcl	_	_
11	of	of	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
12	age	age	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	obl	_	_
13	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	15	cc	_	_
14	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	15	aux:pass	_	_
15	grown	grow	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	10	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **deliver** | to-infinitive |  | his first child | child |  |  |  | vn send-11.1 «NP V NP PP.destination»: agent=Agent child=Theme to she=Destination |
| 2 | **come** | past | he |  |  |  | of age |  | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V PP.initial\_location»: agent=Theme of age=Initial\_Location |
| 3 | **grow** | past · passive | he *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn appear-48.1.1 «NP V» |

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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: [Andrew Lang's fairy book, The Prince a…, exam 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/1228-pg3282-part29/e1/)
- next →: [Andrew Lang's fairy book, The Prince a…, exam 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/1228-pg3282-part29/e3/)
- ↑ back to [Andrew Lang's fairy book, The Prince and the Mermaid, part 29: the prince runs from the mermaid and becomes a lion and a bear](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/1228-pg3282-part29/)