---
title: What was the purpose of the scissors that the husband bestowed upon… — Irish Fairy Tales, The Enchanted Bear,… · tree and pragmatics
description: What was the purpose of the scissors that the husband bestowed upon the princess before his departure? Exam question 3 of lesson 1296 «Irish Fairy Tales, The Enchanted Bear, part 21: the princess loses her children one by one, then follows her husband on the last journey» of the books course of Mova
---

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# Exam question 3 · Irish Fairy Tales, The Enchanted Bear, part 21: the prince…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
What was the purpose of the scissors that the husband bestowed upon the princess before his departure?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 4 · **The right answer:** option 4 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** husband · **What happens:** be, bestow, depart · **To what, where:** purpose, scissors

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 3 of lesson 1296 «Irish Fairy Tales, The Enchanted Bear, part 21: the princess loses her children one by one, then follows her husband on the last journey» 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/1296-pg3454-part21/#e3).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1296-pg3454-part21:e3:1
# text = What was the purpose of the scissors that the husband bestowed upon the princess before his departure?
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	4	nsubj	_	_
2	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	purpose	purpose	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
5	of	of	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	scissors	scissors	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nmod	_	_
8	that	that	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	11	nsubj	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	husband	husband	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	nsubj:pass	_	_
11	bestowed	bestow	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	7	acl:relcl	_	_
12	upon	upon	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
13	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	14	det	_	_
14	princess	princess	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	obl	_	_
15	before	before	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	departure	departure	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
18	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | past |  | the purpose |  |  |  | of the scissors | tree rules |
| 2 | **bestow** | participle · passive |  | the scissors |  |  | before husband's departure | upon the princess | tree rules |
| 3 | **depart** |  | husband |  |  |  |  |  | nom departure «act intransitive»: poss=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 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It turned any material it cut into fine silk garments

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1296-pg3454-part21:e3:o1:1
# text = It turned any material it cut into fine silk garments
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	turned	turn	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	any	any	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	4	det	_	_
4	material	material	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
5	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	6	nsubj	_	_
6	cut	cut	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	acl:relcl	_	_
7	into	into	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
8	fine	fine	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	10	amod	_	_
9	silk	silk	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	compound	_	_
10	garments	garment	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **turn** | past | It | any material |  |  |  |  | vn roll-51.3.1 «NP V ADJ.result»: agent=Theme material=Result |
| 2 | **cut** | past | material | any material *not said here* |  | fine silk garments |  |  | vn build-26.1-1 «NP V NP.material PP.product»: agent=Agent material=Material into garment=Product |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Any cloth they snipped would change into costly silk

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1296-pg3454-part21:e3:o2:1
# text = Any cloth they snipped would change into costly silk
1	Any	any	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	2	det	_	_
2	cloth	cloth	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	_
3	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
4	snipped	snip	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	2	acl:relcl	_	_
5	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	6	aux	_	_
6	change	change	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
7	into	into	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	costly	costly	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	amod	_	_
9	silk	silk	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **snip** | past | they | any cloth *not said here* |  |  |  |  | vn cut-21.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent cloth=Patient |
| 2 | **change** | would | any cloth |  |  |  |  | into costly silk *result* | vn turn-26.6.1-1 «NP.patient V PP.result»: agent=Patient into silk=Result |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It was meant to be used to cut the bear's hide so that the skin turned into silk and freed her husband from the spell at last

<!-- fold The tree, 28 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1296-pg3454-part21:e3:o3:1
# text = It was meant to be used to cut the bear's hide so that the skin turned into silk and freed her husband from the spell at last
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj:pass	_	_
2	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux:pass	_	_
3	meant	mean	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
4	to	to	PART	TO	_	6	mark	_	_
5	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	6	aux:pass	_	_
6	used	use	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	3	xcomp	_	_
7	to	to	PART	TO	_	8	mark	_	_
8	cut	cut	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	6	xcomp	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	bear	bear	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	's	's	PART	POS	_	10	case	_	_
12	hide	hide	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obj	_	_
13	so	so	SCONJ	IN	ExtPos=SCONJ	17	mark	_	_
14	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	13	fixed	_	_
15	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	16	det	_	_
16	skin	skin	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	17	nsubj	_	_
17	turned	turn	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	8	advcl	_	_
18	into	into	ADP	IN	_	19	case	_	_
19	silk	silk	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	17	obl	_	_
20	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	21	cc	_	_
21	freed	free	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	conj	_	_
22	her	her	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	23	nmod:poss	_	_
23	husband	husband	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	21	obj	_	_
24	from	from	ADP	IN	_	26	case	_	_
25	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	26	det	_	_
26	spell	spell	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	21	obl	_	_
27	at	at	ADP	IN	_	28	case	_	_
28	last	last	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	21	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **mean** | past · passive |  | It |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **use** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive · passive |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn use-105.1 «NP V NP S\_INF»: clause=Eventuality |
| 3 | **cut** | to-infinitive |  | the bear's hide |  |  |  |  | vn build-26.1-1 «NP.asset V NP»: agent=Asset hide=Product |
| 4 | **turn** | past | the skin |  |  | silk |  |  | vn roll-51.3.1 «NP V PP.trajectory»: agent=Theme into silk=Trajectory |
| 5 | **free** | past |  | skin's husband |  | the spell |  | at last | vn free-10.6.3-1 «NP V NP S\_ING»: agent=Causer husband=Source |

### Option 4 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Whatever cloth was cut with them was transformed into silk

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1296-pg3454-part21:e3:o4:1
# text = Whatever cloth was cut with them was transformed into silk
1	Whatever	whatever	PRON	WP	PronType=Rel	8	nsubj:pass	_	_
2	cloth	cloth	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj:pass	_	_
3	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux:pass	_	_
4	cut	cut	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	1	acl:relcl	_	_
5	with	with	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	obl	_	_
7	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	8	aux:pass	_	_
8	transformed	transform	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
9	into	into	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
10	silk	silk	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **cut** | past · passive |  | cloth |  |  |  | with them *= they* | vn cut-21.1-1 «NP V NP»: subject=Patient with they=Instrument |
| 2 | **transform** | past · passive |  | Whatever |  |  |  | into silk *result* | vn turn-26.6.1 «NP V NP.patient PP.result»: subject=Patient into silk=Result |

<!-- div src -->

**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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- next →: [Irish Fairy Tales, The Enchanted Bear,…, exam 4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/1296-pg3454-part21/e4/)
- ↑ back to [Irish Fairy Tales, The Enchanted Bear, part 21: the princess loses her children one by one, then follows her husband on the last journey](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/1296-pg3454-part21/)