---
title: Which object did John employ to slay the chestnut horse? — Grimm's Fairy Tales, Faithful John, Jo… · tree and pragmatics
description: Which object did John employ to slay the chestnut horse? Exam question 4 of lesson 1483 «Grimm's Fairy Tales, Faithful John, John is turned to stone and brought back at a dreadful price» of the books course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each
---

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# Exam question 4 · Grimm's Fairy Tales, Faithful John, John is turned to ston…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Which object did John employ to slay the chestnut horse?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 2 · **The right answer:** option 3 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** object · **What happens:** employ, slay · **To what, where:** chestnut horse

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 4 of lesson 1483 «Grimm's Fairy Tales, Faithful John, John is turned to stone and brought back at a dreadful price» 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/1483-pg503-part70/#e4).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1483-pg503-part70:e4:1
# text = Which object did John employ to slay the chestnut horse?
1	Which	which	DET	WDT	PronType=Int	2	det	_	_
2	object	object	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
3	did	do	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	aux	_	_
4	John	John	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
5	employ	employ	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
6	to	to	PART	TO	_	7	mark	_	_
7	slay	slay	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	xcomp	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
9	chestnut	chestnut	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	compound	_	_
10	horse	horse	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **employ** | past · do-support | which object |  |  |  |  |  | vn hire-13.5.3 «NP V NP to be NP»: agent=Agent clause=Attribute |
| 2 | **slay** | to-infinitive | which object *not said here* | the chestnut horse |  |  |  |  | vn murder-42.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent horse=Patient |

<!-- .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 -->
A long musket that he had carried through the whole campaign in the north

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1483-pg503-part70:e4:o1:1
# text = A long musket that he had carried through the whole campaign in the north
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	long	long	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	musket	musket	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
4	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	7	mark	_	_
5	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	7	nsubj	_	_
6	had	have	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	7	aux	_	_
7	carried	carry	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	3	acl	_	_
8	through	through	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
10	whole	whole	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	11	amod	_	_
11	campaign	campaign	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obl	_	_
12	in	in	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
13	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	14	det	_	_
14	north	north	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **carry** | past · perfect | he | a long musket *not said here* |  | the whole campaign in the north |  |  | vn carry-11.4 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent musket=Theme |

### Option 2 · ← Mova's choice {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A hunting bow with arrows

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1483-pg503-part70:e4:o2:1
# text = A hunting bow with arrows
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	hunting	hunting	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	compound	_	_
3	bow	bow	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
4	with	with	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	arrows	arrow	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .note -->
The frames reader finds no event or fact in this sentence.

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A pistol drawn from its holster

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1483-pg503-part70:e4:o3:1
# text = A pistol drawn from its holster
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	pistol	pistol	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	drawn	draw	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	2	acl	_	_
4	from	from	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	6	nmod:poss	_	_
6	holster	holster	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **draw** | participle |  | a pistol *not said here* |  |  |  | from pistol's holster | vn split-23.2 «NP V PP.co-patient»: agent=Patient from holster=Co-Patient |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A crossbow loaded with bolts

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1483-pg503-part70:e4:o4:1
# text = A crossbow loaded with bolts
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	crossbow	crossbow	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	loaded	load	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	2	acl	_	_
4	with	with	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	bolts	bolt	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **load** | participle |  | a crossbow *not said here* |  |  |  | with bolts | vn spray-9.7-2 «NP V NP.destination PP.theme»: agent=Agent with bolt=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.

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