---
title: By what means did the father ultimately ascertain the true nature of… — Japanese Fairy Tales, The Mirror of Ma… · tree and pragmatics
description: By what means did the father ultimately ascertain the true nature of the reflection? Exam question 2 of lesson 1362 «Japanese Fairy Tales, The Mirror of Matsuyama, part 22: the father finds the mirror, and the stepmother begs pardon» of the books course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency 
---

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# Exam question 2 · Japanese Fairy Tales, The Mirror of Matsuyama, part 22: th…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
By what means did the father ultimately ascertain the true nature of the reflection?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 2 · **The right answer:** option 4 · wrong ✗ · **What happens:** mean, do, ascertain · **To what, where:** father, true nature · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 2 of lesson 1362 «Japanese Fairy Tales, The Mirror of Matsuyama, part 22: the father finds the mirror, and the stepmother begs pardon» 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/1362-pg4018-part22/#e2).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1362-pg4018-part22:e2:1
# text = By what means did the father ultimately ascertain the true nature of the reflection?
1	By	by	SCONJ	IN	_	3	mark	_	_
2	what	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	3	nsubj	_	_
3	means	mean	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	did	do	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	ccomp	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	father	father	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obj	_	_
7	ultimately	ultimately	ADV	RB	_	8	advmod	_	_
8	ascertain	ascertain	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=2|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	advcl	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
10	true	true	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	11	amod	_	_
11	nature	nature	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obj	_	_
12	of	of	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
13	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	14	det	_	_
14	reflection	reflection	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **mean** | present |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 2 | **do** | past |  | the father |  |  |  |  | vn act-114-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent father=Eventuality |
| 3 | **ascertain** | present |  | the true nature of the reflection |  |  |  | ultimately *property* | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent nature=Topic |

<!-- .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 -->
By reading an old family letter

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1362-pg4018-part22:e2:o1:1
# text = By reading an old family letter
1	By	by	SCONJ	IN	_	2	mark	_	_
2	reading	read	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
3	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
4	old	old	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
5	family	family	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	compound	_	_
6	letter	letter	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **read** | gerund |  | a old family letter |  |  |  |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent letter=Topic |

### Option 2 · ← Mova's choice {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
By listening to his wife's words

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1362-pg4018-part22:e2:o2:1
# text = By listening to his wife's words
1	By	by	SCONJ	IN	_	2	mark	_	_
2	listening	listen	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
3	to	to	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
4	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	5	nmod:poss	_	_
5	wife	wife	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	's	's	PART	POS	_	5	case	_	_
7	words	word	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **listen** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  | to his wife's words | vn peer-30.3 «NP V PP.theme»: agent=Agent to word=Theme |
| 2 | **word** |  | his wife |  |  |  |  |  | nom word «communication transitive»: poss=agent |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
By checking every room in the house for signs of curses and finally seeing the girl's reflection

<!-- fold The tree, 18 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1362-pg4018-part22:e2:o3:1
# text = By checking every room in the house for signs of curses and finally seeing the girl's reflection
1	By	by	SCONJ	IN	_	2	mark	_	_
2	checking	check	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
3	every	every	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	4	det	_	_
4	room	room	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
5	in	in	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	house	house	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nmod	_	_
8	for	for	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
9	signs	sign	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obl	_	_
10	of	of	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
11	curses	curse	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	9	nmod	_	_
12	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	14	cc	_	_
13	finally	finally	ADV	RB	_	14	advmod	_	_
14	seeing	see	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	2	conj	_	_
15	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	16	det	_	_
16	girl	girl	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	18	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	's	's	PART	POS	_	16	case	_	_
18	reflection	reflection	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **check** | gerund |  | every room |  | the house |  | for signs of curses | vn assessment-34.1 «NP V NP PP.attribute»: agent=Agent room=Theme for sign=Attribute |
| 2 | **see** | gerund |  | the girl's reflection |  |  |  | finally *property* | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer reflection=Stimulus |
| 3 | **sign** |  |  | curses |  |  |  |  | nom sign «communication transitive»: of=patient |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
By examining the mirror himself and perceiving the face

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1362-pg4018-part22:e2:o4:1
# text = By examining the mirror himself and perceiving the face
1	By	by	SCONJ	IN	_	2	mark	_	_
2	examining	examine	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	mirror	mirror	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
5	himself	himself	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs|Reflex=Yes	2	obl:unmarked	_	_
6	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	7	cc	_	_
7	perceiving	perceive	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	2	conj	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	face	face	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **examine** | gerund |  | the mirror |  |  |  | himself *= he* *obl:unmarked* | vn assessment-34.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent mirror=Theme |
| 2 | **perceive** | gerund |  | the face |  |  |  |  | vn see-30.1-1 «NP V S»: agent=Experiencer face=Stimulus |

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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: [Japanese Fairy Tales, The Mirror of Ma…, exam 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/1362-pg4018-part22/e1/)
- next →: [Japanese Fairy Tales, The Mirror of Ma…, exam 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/1362-pg4018-part22/e3/)
- ↑ back to [Japanese Fairy Tales, The Mirror of Matsuyama, part 22: the father finds the mirror, and the stepmother begs pardon](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/1362-pg4018-part22/)