---
title: Upon whose instruction did the old man set out to fetch the stepmoth… — Russian Folk-Tales, King Frost: the st… · tree and pragmatics
description: Upon whose instruction did the old man set out to fetch the stepmother's daughter? Exam question 4 of lesson 1725 «Russian Folk-Tales, King Frost: the stepmother's daughter is frozen while the girl is saved» of the books course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the
---

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# Exam question 4 · Russian Folk-Tales, King Frost: the stepmother's daughter…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Upon whose instruction did the old man set out to fetch the stepmother's daughter?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 4 · wrong ✗ · **What happens:** do, set out, fetch · **To what, where:** old man, daughter

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 4 of lesson 1725 «Russian Folk-Tales, King Frost: the stepmother's daughter is frozen while the girl is saved» 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/1725-pg640-part49/#e4).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1725-pg640-part49:e4:1
# text = Upon whose instruction did the old man set out to fetch the stepmother's daughter?
1	Upon	upon	ADP	IN	_	3	case	_	_
2	whose	whose	PRON	WP$	Poss=Yes|PronType=Rel	3	nmod:poss	_	_
3	instruction	instruction	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
4	did	do	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
6	old	old	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
7	man	man	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obj	_	_
8	set	set	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	7	acl	_	_
9	out	out	ADP	RP	_	8	compound:prt	_	_
10	to	to	PART	TO	_	11	mark	_	_
11	fetch	fetch	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	8	advcl	_	_
12	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
13	stepmother	stepmother	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	15	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	's	's	PART	POS	_	13	case	_	_
15	daughter	daughter	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **do** | past |  | the old man |  |  |  | upon instruction | vn act-114-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent man=Eventuality |
| 2 | **set out** | participle |  | the old man *not said here* |  |  |  |  | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 3 | **fetch** | to-infinitive |  | the stepmother's daughter |  |  |  |  | vn get-13.5.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent daughter=Theme |

<!-- .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 -->
At the request of the neighbour's son

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1725-pg640-part49:e4:o1:1
# text = At the request of the neighbour's son
1	At	at	ADP	IN	_	3	case	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	request	request	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
4	of	of	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	neighbour	neighbour	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	's	's	PART	POS	_	6	case	_	_
8	son	son	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **request** |  |  | the neighbour's son |  |  |  |  | nom request «communication transitive»: of=patient |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Upon the stern instruction of the village elders and his wife, the stepmother, at dawn

<!-- fold The tree, 15 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1725-pg640-part49:e4:o2:1
# text = Upon the stern instruction of the village elders and his wife, the stepmother, at dawn
1	Upon	upon	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
3	stern	stern	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	amod	_	_
4	instruction	instruction	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
5	of	of	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
7	village	village	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	compound	_	_
8	elders	elder	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nmod	_	_
9	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	11	cc	_	_
10	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	11	nmod:poss	_	_
11	wife	wife	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	14	punct	_	_
13	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	14	det	_	_
14	stepmother	stepmother	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	17	punct	_	_
16	at	at	ADP	IN	_	17	case	_	_
17	dawn	dawn	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **instruct** |  |  | the village elders and his wife |  |  |  |  | nom instruction «communication transitive»: of=patient |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
On the advice of the village priest

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1725-pg640-part49:e4:o3:1
# text = On the advice of the village priest
1	On	on	ADP	IN	_	3	case	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	advice	advice	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
4	of	of	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
6	village	village	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	compound	_	_
7	priest	priest	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nmod	_	_
```

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

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Upon the instruction of his wife, the stepmother

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1725-pg640-part49:e4:o4:1
# text = Upon the instruction of his wife, the stepmother
1	Upon	upon	ADP	IN	_	3	case	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	instruction	instruction	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
4	of	of	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	6	nmod:poss	_	_
6	wife	wife	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	9	punct	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	stepmother	stepmother	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **instruct** |  |  | his wife |  |  |  |  | nom instruction «communication transitive»: of=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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