---
title: What did the younger brother propose as a means of signalling the st… — Red Fairy Book, The Two Brothers, part… · tree and pragmatics
description: What did the younger brother propose as a means of signalling the state of the brothers? Exam question 2 of lesson 1648 «Red Fairy Book, The Two Brothers, part 37: a bird, a boar, and a seven-headed serpent» of the books course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the
---

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# Exam question 2 · Red Fairy Book, The Two Brothers, part 37: a bird, a boar,…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
What did the younger brother propose as a means of signalling the state of the brothers?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 2 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** younger brother, a · **What happens:** propose, mean, signall · **To what, where:** state · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 2 of lesson 1648 «Red Fairy Book, The Two Brothers, part 37: a bird, a boar, and a seven-headed serpent» 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/1648-pg5615-part37/#e2).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1648-pg5615-part37:e2:1
# text = What did the younger brother propose as a means of signalling the state of the brothers?
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	6	obj	_	_
2	did	do	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	6	aux	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	younger	young	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	5	amod	_	_
5	brother	brother	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	_
6	propose	propose	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
7	as	as	SCONJ	IN	_	9	mark	_	_
8	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	9	nsubj	_	_
9	means	mean	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	ccomp	_	_
10	of	of	SCONJ	IN	_	11	mark	_	_
11	signalling	signall	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	9	ccomp	_	_
12	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
13	state	state	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	obj	_	_
14	of	of	ADP	IN	_	16	case	_	_
15	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	16	det	_	_
16	brothers	brother	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	13	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	6	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **propose** | past · do-support | the younger brother |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **mean** | present | a |  |  |  |  |  | vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 3 | **signall** | gerund |  | the state of the brothers |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

<!-- .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 -->
A red ribbon tied around the tallest tree in the orchard

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1648-pg5615-part37:e2:o1:1
# text = A red ribbon tied around the tallest tree in the orchard
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	red	red	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	ribbon	ribbon	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
4	tied	tie	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	3	acl	_	_
5	around	around	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
7	tallest	tall	ADJ	JJS	Degree=Sup	8	amod	_	_
8	tree	tree	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
9	in	in	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
10	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	orchard	orchard	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **tie** | participle |  | a red ribbon *not said here* |  | the tallest tree |  | in the orchard | vn mix-22.1-2 «NP V ADVP-Middle»: agent=Patient |

### Option 2 · ✓ the right answer {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A slit made in the fig-tree

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1648-pg5615-part37:e2:o2:1
# text = A slit made in the fig-tree
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	slit	slit	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	made	make	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	2	acl	_	_
4	in	in	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
6	fig	fig	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	compound	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	6	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	tree	tree	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **make** | participle |  | a slit *not said here* |  | the fig tree |  |  | vn build-26.1-1 «NP.asset V NP»: agent=Asset |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A messenger sent on horseback to the castle each morning

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1648-pg5615-part37:e2:o3:1
# text = A messenger sent on horseback to the castle each morning
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	messenger	messenger	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	sent	send	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	2	acl	_	_
4	on	on	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	horseback	horseback	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
6	to	to	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	castle	castle	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
9	each	each	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	10	det	_	_
10	morning	morning	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl:unmarked	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **send** | participle |  | a messenger *not said here* |  | horseback | morning | to the castle | vn confine-92-1 «NP V NP PP.destination»: agent=Agent to castle=Destination |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A flag hung from the tree

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1648-pg5615-part37:e2:o4:1
# text = A flag hung from the tree
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	flag	flag	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	hung	hang	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	2	acl	_	_
4	from	from	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	tree	tree	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **hang** | participle |  | a flag *not said here* |  | the tree |  |  | vn assuming\_position-50 «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: [Red Fairy Book, The Two Brothers, part…, exam 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/1648-pg5615-part37/e1/)
- next →: [Red Fairy Book, The Two Brothers, part…, exam 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/1648-pg5615-part37/e3/)
- ↑ back to [Red Fairy Book, The Two Brothers, part 37: a bird, a boar, and a seven-headed serpent](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/1648-pg5615-part37/)