---
title: Which event immediately preceded the preparations for the marriage o… — Blue Fairy Book, The Blue Bird: the Fr… · tree and pragmatics
description: Which event immediately preceded the preparations for the marriage of Saphir and Serpentine? Exam question 4 of lesson 1691 «Blue Fairy Book, The Blue Bird: the Frog is Serpentine, and the bird cures the King» of the books course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of t
---

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# Exam question 4 · Blue Fairy Book, The Blue Bird: the Frog is Serpentine, an…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Which event immediately preceded the preparations for the marriage of Saphir and Serpentine?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 3 · **The right answer:** option 4 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** event · **What happens:** proceed, marry · **To what, where:** preparations, Saphir

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 4 of lesson 1691 «Blue Fairy Book, The Blue Bird: the Frog is Serpentine, and the bird cures the King» 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/1691-pg640-part15/#e4).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1691-pg640-part15:e4:1
# text = Which event immediately preceded the preparations for the marriage of Saphir and Serpentine?
1	Which	which	DET	WDT	PronType=Int	2	det	_	_
2	event	event	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
3	immediately	immediately	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
4	preceded	proceed	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	preparations	preparation	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obj	_	_
7	for	for	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	marriage	marriage	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nmod	_	_
10	of	of	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
11	Saphir	Saphir	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	9	nmod	_	_
12	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	13	cc	_	_
13	Serpentine	Serpentine	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	11	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **proceed** | past | which event | the preparations |  |  |  | for the marriage of Saphir and Serpentine; immediately *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **marry** |  |  | Saphir and Serpentine |  |  |  |  | nom marriage «state transitive»: of=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 -->
Serpentine learned her birth and the fairies blessed her match

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1691-pg640-part15:e4:o1:1
# text = Serpentine learned her birth and the fairies blessed her match
1	Serpentine	Serpentine	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	2	nsubj	_	_
2	learned	learn	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	her	her	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	4	nmod:poss	_	_
4	birth	birth	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
5	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	8	cc	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	fairies	fairy	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	nsubj	_	_
8	blessed	bless	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	2	conj	_	_
9	her	her	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	10	nmod:poss	_	_
10	match	match	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **learn** | past | Serpentine | Serpentine's birth |  |  |  |  | vn learn-14-2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent birth=Topic |
| 2 | **bless** | past | the fairies | Serpentine's match |  |  |  |  | vn judgment-33.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent match=Theme |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The fairy sent a message to the attendants to travel slowly

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1691-pg640-part15:e4:o2:1
# text = The fairy sent a message to the attendants to travel slowly
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	fairy	fairy	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	sent	send	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	message	message	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
6	to	to	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	attendants	attendant	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obl	_	_
9	to	to	PART	TO	_	10	mark	_	_
10	travel	travel	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	advcl	_	_
11	slowly	slowly	ADV	RB	_	10	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **send** | past | the fairy | a message |  | the attendants |  |  | vn confine-92-1 «NP V NP PP.destination»: agent=Agent message=Theme to attendant=Destination |
| 2 | **travel** | to-infinitive | the fairy *not said here* |  |  |  |  | slowly *property* | vn run-51.3.2-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

### Option 3 · ← Mova's choice {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The bird cured King Peridor, and the Prince and his bride were married at once in the great hall before the whole court

<!-- fold The tree, 23 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1691-pg640-part15:e4:o3:1
# text = The bird cured King Peridor, and the Prince and his bride were married at once in the great hall before the whole court
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	bird	bird	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	cured	cure	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	King	King	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	5	compound	_	_
5	Peridor	Peridor	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	14	punct	_	_
7	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	14	cc	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	Prince	Prince	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	14	nsubj:pass	_	_
10	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	12	cc	_	_
11	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	12	nmod:poss	_	_
12	bride	bride	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	conj	_	_
13	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	14	aux:pass	_	_
14	married	marry	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	3	conj	_	_
15	at	at	ADP	IN	_	16	case	_	_
16	once	once	ADV	RB	NumForm=Word|NumType=Mult	14	obl	_	_
17	in	in	ADP	IN	_	20	case	_	_
18	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	20	det	_	_
19	great	great	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	20	amod	_	_
20	hall	hall	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	obl	_	_
21	before	before	ADP	IN	_	24	case	_	_
22	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	24	det	_	_
23	whole	whole	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	24	amod	_	_
24	court	court	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **cure** | past | the bird | King Peridor |  |  |  |  | vn free-10.6.3-1-1 «NP V NP PP.theme»: agent=Causer peridor=Source |
| 2 | **marry** | past · passive |  | the Prince and bird's bride |  | the great hall | before the whole court |  | vn amalgamate-22.2-3-1-1 «NP V NP»: subject=Patient |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The bird cured King Peridor and he was reunited with his family

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1691-pg640-part15:e4:o4:1
# text = The bird cured King Peridor and he was reunited with his family
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	bird	bird	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	cured	cure	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	King	King	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	5	compound	_	_
5	Peridor	Peridor	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
6	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	9	cc	_	_
7	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	9	nsubj	_	_
8	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	9	aux:pass	_	_
9	reunited	reunite	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	3	conj	_	_
10	with	with	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
11	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	12	nmod:poss	_	_
12	family	family	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **cure** | past | the bird | King Peridor |  |  |  |  | vn free-10.6.3-1-1 «NP V NP PP.theme»: agent=Causer peridor=Source |
| 2 | **reunite** | past · passive |  | bird |  |  |  | with bird's family | vn meet-36.3-1 «NP V NP»: subject=Co-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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