---
title: By what means did Jack obtain the hen that laid golden eggs from the… — Jack the Giant-Killer, Jack and the Be… · tree and pragmatics
description: By what means did Jack obtain the hen that laid golden eggs from the castle? Exam question 3 of lesson 1536 «Jack the Giant-Killer, Jack and the Beanstalk, part 33: Jack is hidden in the Giant's wardrobe and steals the golden-egg hen» of the books course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency
---

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# Exam question 3 · Jack the Giant-Killer, Jack and the Beanstalk, part 33: Ja…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
By what means did Jack obtain the hen that laid golden eggs from the castle?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 4 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** Jack, hen · **What happens:** mean, obtain, lay · **To what, where:** hen, golden eggs, castle

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 3 of lesson 1536 «Jack the Giant-Killer, Jack and the Beanstalk, part 33: Jack is hidden in the Giant's wardrobe and steals the golden-egg hen» 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/1536-pg540-part33/#e3).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1536-pg540-part33:e3:1
# text = By what means did Jack obtain the hen that laid golden eggs from the castle?
1	By	by	ADP	IN	_	2	case	_	_
2	what	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Rel	6	obl	_	_
3	means	mean	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	2	acl:relcl	_	_
4	did	do	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	6	aux	_	_
5	Jack	Jack	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	_
6	obtain	obtain	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	hen	hen	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obj	_	_
9	that	that	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	10	nsubj	_	_
10	laid	lay	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	8	acl:relcl	_	_
11	golden	golden	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	12	amod	_	_
12	eggs	egg	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	10	obj	_	_
13	from	from	ADP	IN	_	15	case	_	_
14	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	15	det	_	_
15	castle	castle	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	6	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 |
| 2 | **obtain** | past · do-support | Jack | the hen |  |  |  |  | vn obtain-13.5.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent hen=Theme |
| 3 | **lay** | past | the hen | golden eggs |  | the castle |  |  | vn create-26.4 «NP V NP PP.material»: agent=Agent egg=Result from castle=Material |

<!-- .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 -->
by trading his mother's cow for it

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1536-pg540-part33:e3:o1:1
# text = by trading his mother's cow for it
1	by	by	SCONJ	IN	_	2	mark	_	_
2	trading	trade	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
3	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	4	nmod:poss	_	_
4	mother	mother	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	's	's	PART	POS	_	4	case	_	_
6	cow	cow	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
7	for	for	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
8	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **trade** | gerund |  | his mother's cow |  |  |  | for it | vn exchange-13.6.1 «NP V NP PP.co-theme»: agent=Agent cow=Theme for it=Co-Theme |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
by creeping out of the wardrobe while the Giant was asleep and snoring

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1536-pg540-part33:e3:o2:1
# text = by creeping out of the wardrobe while the Giant was asleep and snoring
1	by	by	SCONJ	IN	_	2	mark	_	_
2	creeping	creep	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
3	out	out	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
4	of	of	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	wardrobe	wardrobe	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
7	while	while	SCONJ	IN	_	11	mark	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	Giant	giant	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	11	nsubj	_	_
10	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	11	cop	_	_
11	asleep	asleep	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	advcl	_	_
12	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	13	cc	_	_
13	snoring	snore	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	2	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **creep out** | gerund |  | the wardrobe |  |  |  |  | vn run-51.3.2 «PP.location V NP»: agent=Initial\_Location wardrobe=Theme |
| 2 | **is** | past | the Giant |  |  |  |  | asleep *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **snore** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn nonverbal\_expression-40.2 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
by stealing it from the Giant's table while he dozed off in his chair

<!-- fold The tree, 15 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1536-pg540-part33:e3:o3:1
# text = by stealing it from the Giant's table while he dozed off in his chair
1	by	by	SCONJ	IN	_	2	mark	_	_
2	stealing	steal	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	11	advcl	_	_
3	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	obj	_	_
4	from	from	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
6	Giant	giant	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	amod	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	's	's	PART	POS	_	6	case	_	_
8	table	table	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
9	while	while	SCONJ	IN	_	11	mark	_	_
10	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	11	nsubj	_	_
11	dozed	doze	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
12	off	off	ADP	RP	_	11	compound:prt	_	_
13	in	in	ADP	IN	_	15	case	_	_
14	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	15	nmod:poss	_	_
15	chair	chair	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **steal** | gerund | he *not said here* | it |  | the Giant table |  |  | vn steal-10.5-1 «NP V NP PP.source»: agent=Agent it=Theme from table=Source |
| 2 | **doze off** | past | he |  |  | his chair |  |  | vn change\_bodily\_state-40.8.4 «NP V»: agent=Experiencer |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
by creeping out while the Giant slept

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1536-pg540-part33:e3:o4:1
# text = by creeping out while the Giant slept
1	by	by	SCONJ	IN	_	2	mark	_	_
2	creeping	creep	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	7	advcl	_	_
3	out	out	ADP	RP	_	2	compound:prt	_	_
4	while	while	SCONJ	IN	_	6	mark	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	Giant	giant	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	xcomp	_	_
7	slept	sleep	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **creep out** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  | giant *property* | vn run-51.3.2 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 2 | **sleep** | past |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn snooze-40.4-1 «NP V»: 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: [Jack the Giant-Killer, Jack and the Be…, exam 2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/1536-pg540-part33/e2/)
- next →: [Jack the Giant-Killer, Jack and the Be…, exam 4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/1536-pg540-part33/e4/)
- ↑ back to [Jack the Giant-Killer, Jack and the Beanstalk, part 33: Jack is hidden in the Giant's wardrobe and steals the golden-egg hen](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/1536-pg540-part33/)