---
title: The dad broke the sticks one by one, was that the trick? — Aesop's Fables, The Dog and the Cook,… · tree and pragmatics
description: The dad broke the sticks one by one, was that the trick? Test 9 · ★ of lesson 138 «Aesop's Fables, The Dog and the Cook, part 8: a dog is thrown out of a feast, a vain Monkey is trapped, and more short fables» of the books course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of t
---

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# Test 9 · ★ · Aesop's Fables, The Dog and the Cook, part 8: a dog is thr…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The dad broke the sticks one by one, was that the trick?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 3 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** dad · **What happens:** break, be · **To what, where:** sticks, trick

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 9 · ★ of lesson 138 «Aesop's Fables, The Dog and the Cook, part 8: a dog is thrown out of a feast, a vain Monkey is trapped, and more short fables» 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/138-pg11339-part8/#t9).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:138-pg11339-part8:t9:1
# text = The dad broke the sticks one by one, was that the trick?
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	dad	dad	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	broke	break	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	sticks	stick	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obj	_	_
6	one	one	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	5	flat	_	_
7	by	by	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
8	one	one	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	6	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	13	punct	_	_
10	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	13	cop	_	_
11	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	13	mark	_	_
12	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
13	trick	trick	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **break** | past | the dad | the sticks |  |  |  |  | vn hurt-40.8.3-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer stick=Patient |
| 2 | **is a** | past |  | the trick |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

<!-- .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 -->
Yeah, the bundle was too strong to break whole so he untied it and broke them one at a time

<!-- fold The tree, 20 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:138-pg11339-part8:t9:o1:1
# text = Yeah, the bundle was too strong to break whole so he untied it and broke them one at a time
1	Yeah	yeah	INTJ	UH	_	7	discourse	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	1	punct	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	bundle	bundle	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nsubj	_	_
5	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	7	cop	_	_
6	too	too	ADV	RB	_	7	advmod	_	_
7	strong	strong	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
8	to	to	PART	TO	_	9	mark	_	_
9	break	break	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	7	advcl	_	_
10	whole	whole	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	xcomp	_	_
11	so	so	ADV	RB	_	13	advmod	_	_
12	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	13	nsubj	_	_
13	untied	untie	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	7	advcl	_	_
14	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	13	obj	_	_
15	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	16	cc	_	_
16	broke	break	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	13	conj	_	_
17	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	16	obj	_	_
18	one	one	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	16	obj	_	_
19	at	at	ADP	IN	_	21	case	_	_
20	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	21	det	_	_
21	time	time	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	16	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | past | the bundle |  |  |  |  | strong *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **break** | to-infinitive | the bundle *not said here* |  |  |  |  | whole *property* | vn hurt-40.8.3-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Patient |
| 3 | **untie** | past | he | bundle |  |  |  |  | vn disassemble-23.3 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent it=Patient |
| 4 | **break** | past | he *not said here* | them *= they* |  |  | time |  | vn break-45.1 «NP V NP ADJ»: agent=Agent they=Patient one=Result |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Nah, he gave each son a single stick and they all snapped them easily without any trouble

<!-- fold The tree, 17 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:138-pg11339-part8:t9:o2:1
# text = Nah, he gave each son a single stick and they all snapped them easily without any trouble
1	Nah	nah	INTJ	UH	_	4	discourse	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	1	punct	_	_
3	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
4	gave	give	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	each	each	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	6	det	_	_
6	son	son	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	iobj	_	_
7	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
8	single	single	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	amod	_	_
9	stick	stick	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obj	_	_
10	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	13	cc	_	_
11	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	13	nsubj	_	_
12	all	all	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	13	advmod	_	_
13	snapped	snap	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	conj	_	_
14	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	13	obj	_	_
15	easily	easily	ADV	RB	_	13	advmod	_	_
16	without	without	ADP	IN	_	18	case	_	_
17	any	any	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	18	det	_	_
18	trouble	trouble	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **give** | past | he | a single stick | each son |  |  |  | vn give-13.1-1 «NP V NP-Dative NP»: agent=Agent son=Recipient stick=Theme |
| 2 | **snap** | past | they | them *= they* |  |  |  | without any trouble; easily *property* | vn sound\_emission-43.2 «PP.location V NP»: agent=Location they=Theme |

### Option 3 · ✓ the right answer {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Yeah, the bundle was too strong to break whole

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:138-pg11339-part8:t9:o3:1
# text = Yeah, the bundle was too strong to break whole
1	Yeah	yeah	INTJ	UH	_	7	discourse	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	1	punct	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	bundle	bundle	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nsubj	_	_
5	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	7	cop	_	_
6	too	too	ADV	RB	_	7	advmod	_	_
7	strong	strong	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
8	to	to	PART	TO	_	9	mark	_	_
9	break	break	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	7	advcl	_	_
10	whole	whole	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	xcomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | past | the bundle |  |  |  |  | strong *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **break** | to-infinitive | the bundle *not said here* |  |  |  |  | whole *property* | vn hurt-40.8.3-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Patient |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Yeah, the sticks were too hard

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:138-pg11339-part8:t9:o4:1
# text = Yeah, the sticks were too hard
1	Yeah	yeah	INTJ	UH	_	7	discourse	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	1	punct	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	sticks	stick	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	nsubj	_	_
5	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	7	cop	_	_
6	too	too	ADV	RB	_	7	advmod	_	_
7	hard	hard	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | past | the sticks |  |  |  |  | hard *property* | tree rules |

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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: [Aesop's Fables, The Dog and the Cook,…, test 8](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/138-pg11339-part8/t8/)
- next →: [Aesop's Fables, The Dog and the Cook,…, test 10](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/138-pg11339-part8/t10/)
- ↑ back to [Aesop's Fables, The Dog and the Cook, part 8: a dog is thrown out of a feast, a vain Monkey is trapped, and more short fables](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/138-pg11339-part8/)