---
title: What reason does the narrator give for the Prince's failure to remem… — Blue Fairy Book, The White Cat, part 3… · tree and pragmatics
description: What reason does the narrator give for the Prince's failure to remember his errand? Exam question 2 of lesson 1451 «Blue Fairy Book, The White Cat, part 38: the Prince dines with the White Cat and goes home with a tiny dog» of the books course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and p
---

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# Exam question 2 · Blue Fairy Book, The White Cat, part 38: the Prince dines…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
What reason does the narrator give for the Prince's failure to remember his errand?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 3 · **The right answer:** option 4 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** reason, Prince · **What happens:** give, remember, fail · **To what, where:** errand

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 2 of lesson 1451 «Blue Fairy Book, The White Cat, part 38: the Prince dines with the White Cat and goes home with a tiny dog» 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/1451-pg503-part38/#e2).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1451-pg503-part38:e2:1
# text = What reason does the narrator give for the Prince's failure to remember his errand?
1	What	what	DET	WDT	PronType=Int	2	det	_	_
2	reason	reason	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nsubj:outer	_	_
3	does	do	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	aux	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	narrator	narrator	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	_
6	give	give	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
7	for	for	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	Prince	Prince	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	11	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	's	's	PART	POS	_	9	case	_	_
11	failure	failure	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obl	_	_
12	to	to	PART	TO	_	13	mark	_	_
13	remember	remember	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	6	advcl	_	_
14	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	15	nmod:poss	_	_
15	errand	errand	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	6	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **give** | present · do-support | what reason |  |  |  |  | for the Prince's failure | vn give-13.1-1 «NP V NP PP.asset»: agent=Agent for failure=Asset |
| 2 | **remember** | to-infinitive | what reason *not said here* | narrator's errand |  |  |  |  | vn characterize-29.2-1-1 «NP V NP S\_ING»: agent=Agent errand=Theme |
| 3 | **fail** |  | the Prince |  |  |  |  |  | nom failure «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 -->
He drinks a crystal goblet that contains a magic draught brewed by the White Cat's own maids in secret

<!-- fold The tree, 20 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1451-pg503-part38:e2:o1:1
# text = He drinks a crystal goblet that contains a magic draught brewed by the White Cat's own maids in secret
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	drinks	drink	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	crystal	crystal	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	goblet	goblet	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
6	that	that	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	7	nsubj	_	_
7	contains	contain	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	acl:relcl	_	_
8	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
9	magic	magic	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	10	amod	_	_
10	draught	draught	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obj	_	_
11	brewed	brew	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	10	acl	_	_
12	by	by	ADP	IN	_	18	case	_	_
13	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	15	det	_	_
14	White	White	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	15	compound	_	_
15	Cat	Cat	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	18	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	's	's	PART	POS	_	15	case	_	_
17	own	own	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	18	amod	_	_
18	maids	maid	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	11	obl	_	_
19	in	in	ADP	IN	_	20	case	_	_
20	secret	secret	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	18	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **drink** | present | He | a crystal goblet |  |  |  |  | vn eat-39.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent goblet=Patient |
| 2 | **contain** | present | a crystal goblet | a magic draught |  |  |  |  | vn comprise-107.2-2 «NP V NP»: agent=Pivot draught=Theme |
| 3 | **brew** | participle |  | a magic draught *not said here* |  |  |  | by the White Cat's own maids in secret | vn preparing-26.3-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
He drinks a crystal goblet that contains a magic draught, and then he forgets the errand entirely

<!-- fold The tree, 17 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1451-pg503-part38:e2:o2:1
# text = He drinks a crystal goblet that contains a magic draught, and then he forgets the errand entirely
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	drinks	drink	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	crystal	crystal	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	goblet	goblet	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
6	that	that	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	7	nsubj	_	_
7	contains	contain	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	acl:relcl	_	_
8	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
9	magic	magic	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	10	amod	_	_
10	draught	draught	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	15	punct	_	_
12	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	15	cc	_	_
13	then	then	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	15	advmod	_	_
14	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	15	nsubj	_	_
15	forgets	forget	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	2	conj	_	_
16	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	17	det	_	_
17	errand	errand	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	15	obj	_	_
18	entirely	entirely	ADV	RB	_	15	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **drink** | present | He | a crystal goblet |  |  |  |  | vn eat-39.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent goblet=Patient |
| 2 | **contain** | present | a crystal goblet | a magic draught |  |  |  |  | vn comprise-107.2-2 «NP V NP»: agent=Pivot draught=Theme |
| 3 | **forget** | present | he | the errand |  |  | then | entirely *property* | tree rules |

### Option 3 · ← Mova's choice {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
He drank too much wine at the feast

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1451-pg503-part38:e2:o3:1
# text = He drank too much wine at the feast
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	drank	drink	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	too	too	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
4	much	much	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	wine	wine	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
6	at	at	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	feast	feast	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **drink** | past | He | much wine |  | the feast |  |  | vn eat-39.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent wine=Patient |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
He drinks a crystal goblet that contains a magic draught

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1451-pg503-part38:e2:o4:1
# text = He drinks a crystal goblet that contains a magic draught
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	drinks	drink	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	crystal	crystal	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	goblet	goblet	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
6	that	that	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	7	nsubj	_	_
7	contains	contain	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	acl:relcl	_	_
8	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
9	magic	magic	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	10	amod	_	_
10	draught	draught	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **drink** | present | He | a crystal goblet |  |  |  |  | vn eat-39.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent goblet=Patient |
| 2 | **contain** | present | a crystal goblet | a magic draught |  |  |  |  | vn comprise-107.2-2 «NP V NP»: agent=Pivot draught=Theme |

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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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- next →: [Blue Fairy Book, The White Cat, part 3…, exam 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/1451-pg503-part38/e3/)
- ↑ back to [Blue Fairy Book, The White Cat, part 38: the Prince dines with the White Cat and goes home with a tiny dog](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/1451-pg503-part38/)