---
title: Upon what grounds did the King hesitate before accepting the Mermaid… — Yellow Fairy Book, The Yellow Dwarf, p… · tree and pragmatics
description: Upon what grounds did the King hesitate before accepting the Mermaid's proposal? Exam question 4 of lesson 1425 «Yellow Fairy Book, The Yellow Dwarf, part 12: the Mermaid's trick, the diamond sword, and the King's fight to reach Bellissima» of the books course of Mova's primary school, with the depe
---

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# Exam question 4 · Yellow Fairy Book, The Yellow Dwarf, part 12: the Mermaid'…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Upon what grounds did the King hesitate before accepting the Mermaid's proposal?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 1 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** Mermaid · **What happens:** ground, do, accept, propose · **To what, where:** King hesitate, proposal

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 4 of lesson 1425 «Yellow Fairy Book, The Yellow Dwarf, part 12: the Mermaid's trick, the diamond sword, and the King's fight to reach Bellissima» 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/1425-pg503-part12/#e4).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1425-pg503-part12:e4:1
# text = Upon what grounds did the King hesitate before accepting the Mermaid's proposal?
1	Upon	upon	SCONJ	IN	_	3	mark	_	_
2	what	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	3	nsubj	_	_
3	grounds	ground	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	7	det	_	_
6	King	King	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	7	compound	_	_
7	hesitate	hesitate	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obj	_	_
8	before	before	SCONJ	IN	_	9	mark	_	_
9	accepting	accept	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	4	advcl	_	_
10	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	Mermaid	Mermaid	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	13	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	's	's	PART	POS	_	11	case	_	_
13	proposal	proposal	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **ground** | present |  |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **do** | past |  | the King hesitate |  |  |  |  | vn act-114-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent hesitate=Eventuality |
| 3 | **accept** | gerund |  | the Mermaid's proposal |  |  |  |  | vn obtain-13.5.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent proposal=Theme |
| 4 | **propose** |  | the Mermaid |  |  |  |  |  | nom proposal «communication 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 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
He suspected it was a deception contrived by the Fairy

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1425-pg503-part12:e4:o1:1
# text = He suspected it was a deception contrived by the Fairy
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	suspected	suspect	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	6	nsubj	_	_
4	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	6	cop	_	_
5	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	deception	deception	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	ccomp	_	_
7	contrived	contrive	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	6	acl	_	_
8	by	by	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	Fairy	fairy	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **suspect** | past | He |  |  |  |  |  | vn consider-29.9-2 «NP V how S»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **is a** | past | it | a deception |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 3 | **contrive** | participle |  | a deception *not said here* |  |  |  | by the Fairy | vn create-26.4 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
He doubted the Queen's word here

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1425-pg503-part12:e4:o2:1
# text = He doubted the Queen's word here
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	doubted	doubt	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	Queen	Queen	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	6	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	's	's	PART	POS	_	4	case	_	_
6	word	word	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
7	here	here	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	2	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **doubt** | past | He | the Queen's word |  | here |  |  | vn judgment-33.1-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent word=Theme |
| 2 | **word** |  | the Queen |  |  |  |  |  | nom word «communication transitive»: poss=agent |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
He suspected it was a deception contrived by the wicked Fairy and her sisters

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1425-pg503-part12:e4:o3:1
# text = He suspected it was a deception contrived by the wicked Fairy and her sisters
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	suspected	suspect	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	6	nsubj	_	_
4	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	6	cop	_	_
5	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	deception	deception	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	ccomp	_	_
7	contrived	contrive	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	6	acl	_	_
8	by	by	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
10	wicked	wicked	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	11	amod	_	_
11	Fairy	fairy	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obl	_	_
12	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	14	cc	_	_
13	her	her	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	14	nmod:poss	_	_
14	sisters	sister	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	11	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **suspect** | past | He |  |  |  |  |  | vn consider-29.9-2 «NP V how S»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **is a** | past | it | a deception |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 3 | **contrive** | participle |  | a deception *not said here* |  |  |  | by the wicked Fairy and her sisters | vn create-26.4 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
He suspected it was a cruel deception contrived by the Fairy at the castle

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1425-pg503-part12:e4:o4:1
# text = He suspected it was a cruel deception contrived by the Fairy at the castle
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	suspected	suspect	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	7	nsubj	_	_
4	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	7	cop	_	_
5	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
6	cruel	cruel	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
7	deception	deception	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	ccomp	_	_
8	contrived	contrive	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	7	acl	_	_
9	by	by	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
10	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	Fairy	fairy	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obl	_	_
12	at	at	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
13	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	14	det	_	_
14	castle	castle	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **suspect** | past | He |  |  | the castle |  |  | vn consider-29.9-2 «NP V how S»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **is a** | past | it | a cruel deception |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 3 | **contrive** | participle |  | a cruel deception *not said here* |  |  |  | by the Fairy | vn create-26.4 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent |

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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: [Yellow Fairy Book, The Yellow Dwarf, p…, exam 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/1425-pg503-part12/e3/)
- next →: [Blue Fairy Book, Little Red Riding-Hoo…, test 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/1426-pg503-part13/t1/)
- ↑ back to [Yellow Fairy Book, The Yellow Dwarf, part 12: the Mermaid's trick, the diamond sword, and the King's fight to reach Bellissima](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/1425-pg503-part12/)