---
title: What was the principal reason the servants returned to the paternal… — Yellow Fairy Book, The Three Oranges,… · tree and pragmatics
description: What was the principal reason the servants returned to the paternal residence? Exam question 2 of lesson 1563 «Yellow Fairy Book, The Three Oranges, part 60: Désiré oils the gate, pleases the helpers, and reaches a thirsty sandy plain» of the books course of Mova's primary school, with the dependenc
---

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# Exam question 2 · Yellow Fairy Book, The Three Oranges, part 60: Désiré oils…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
What was the principal reason the servants returned to the paternal residence?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 3 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** servants · **What happens:** be, return · **To what, where:** principal reason, paternal residence

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 2 of lesson 1563 «Yellow Fairy Book, The Three Oranges, part 60: Désiré oils the gate, pleases the helpers, and reaches a thirsty sandy plain» 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/1563-pg540-part60/#e2).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1563-pg540-part60:e2:1
# text = What was the principal reason the servants returned to the paternal residence?
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	5	nsubj	_	_
2	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	principal	principal	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	reason	reason	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	servants	servant	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	nsubj	_	_
8	returned	return	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	acl:relcl	_	_
9	to	to	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
10	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
11	paternal	paternal	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	12	amod	_	_
12	residence	residence	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | past |  | the principal reason |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **return** | past | the servants | the principal reason *not said here* |  | the paternal residence |  |  | vn send-11.1 «NP V NP PP.destination»: agent=Agent reason=Theme to residence=Destination |

<!-- .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 -->
They had lost the Prince's trail after the river and gave up searching at dusk

<!-- fold The tree, 16 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1563-pg540-part60:e2:o1:1
# text = They had lost the Prince's trail after the river and gave up searching at dusk
1	They	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	had	have	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux	_	_
3	lost	lose	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	Prince	Prince	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	7	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	's	's	PART	POS	_	5	case	_	_
7	trail	trail	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
8	after	after	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	river	river	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
11	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	12	cc	_	_
12	gave	give	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	conj	_	_
13	up	up	ADP	RP	_	12	compound:prt	_	_
14	searching	search	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	12	advcl	_	_
15	at	at	ADP	IN	_	16	case	_	_
16	dusk	dusk	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **lose** | past · perfect | They | the Prince's trail |  |  | after the river |  | vn succeed-74-3-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent trail=Eventuality |
| 2 | **give up** | past | They *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn resign-10.11-2 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **search** | gerund | They *not said here* |  |  |  | dusk |  | vn search-35.2 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Agent |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
They had followed the wrong trail

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1563-pg540-part60:e2:o2:1
# text = They had followed the wrong trail
1	They	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj:pass	_	_
2	had	have	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux	_	_
3	followed	follow	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
5	wrong	wrong	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	trail	trail	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **follow** | past · perfect · passive |  | They |  |  |  |  | vn assessment-34.1 «NP V NP.attribute»: subject=Theme trail=Attribute |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
They had pursued the Prince along the incorrect route

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1563-pg540-part60:e2:o3:1
# text = They had pursued the Prince along the incorrect route
1	They	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	had	have	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux	_	_
3	pursued	pursue	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	Prince	Prince	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
6	along	along	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
8	incorrect	incorrect	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	amod	_	_
9	route	route	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **pursue** | past · perfect | They | the Prince |  | the incorrect route |  |  | vn chase-51.6 «NP V NP PP.location»: agent=Agent prince=Theme along route=Trajectory |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
They had pursued the Prince along a road that led to the sea, far from his route

<!-- fold The tree, 17 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1563-pg540-part60:e2:o4:1
# text = They had pursued the Prince along a road that led to the sea, far from his route
1	They	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	had	have	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux	_	_
3	pursued	pursue	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	Prince	Prince	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
6	along	along	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	road	road	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
9	that	that	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	10	nsubj	_	_
10	led	lead	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	8	acl:relcl	_	_
11	to	to	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
12	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
13	sea	sea	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	15	punct	_	_
15	far	far	ADV	RB	Degree=Pos	3	advmod	_	_
16	from	from	ADP	IN	_	18	case	_	_
17	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	18	nmod:poss	_	_
18	route	route	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	15	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **pursue** | past · perfect | They | the Prince |  | a road |  | far *property* | vn chase-51.6 «NP V NP PP.location»: agent=Agent prince=Theme along road=Trajectory |
| 2 | **lead** | past | a road |  |  |  |  | to the sea | vn result-27.2 «NP V PP»: agent=Precondition to sea=Patient |

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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 Three Oranges,…, exam 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/1563-pg540-part60/e1/)
- next →: [Yellow Fairy Book, The Three Oranges,…, exam 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/1563-pg540-part60/e3/)
- ↑ back to [Yellow Fairy Book, The Three Oranges, part 60: Désiré oils the gate, pleases the helpers, and reaches a thirsty sandy plain](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/1563-pg540-part60/)