---
title: By what means did the Queen ascertain the route taken by the Princess? — Fairy Tales, The Tinder-Box, part 62:… · tree and pragmatics
description: By what means did the Queen ascertain the route taken by the Princess? Exam question 2 of lesson 1738 «Fairy Tales, The Tinder-Box, part 62: the Soldier sees the Princess, is jailed, and is sentenced to hang» of the books course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of th
---

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# Exam question 2 · Fairy Tales, The Tinder-Box, part 62: the Soldier sees the…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
By what means did the Queen ascertain the route taken by the Princess?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 4 · **The right answer:** option 2 · wrong ✗ · **What happens:** mean, do, ascertain, take · **To what, where:** Queen, route · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 2 of lesson 1738 «Fairy Tales, The Tinder-Box, part 62: the Soldier sees the Princess, is jailed, and is sentenced to hang» 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/1738-pg640-part62/#e2).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1738-pg640-part62:e2:1
# text = By what means did the Queen ascertain the route taken by the Princess?
1	By	by	SCONJ	IN	_	3	mark	_	_
2	what	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	3	nsubj	_	_
3	means	mean	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	7	advcl	_	_
4	did	do	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	ccomp	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	Queen	Queen	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	4	obj	_	_
7	ascertain	ascertain	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	route	route	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obj	_	_
10	taken	take	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	9	acl	_	_
11	by	by	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
12	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
13	Princess	princess	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	7	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 clause=Topic |
| 2 | **do** | past |  | the Queen |  |  |  |  | vn act-114-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent queen=Eventuality |
| 3 | **ascertain** | present |  | the route |  |  |  |  | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent route=Topic |
| 4 | **take** | participle |  | the route *not said here* |  |  |  | by the Princess | vn bring-11.3 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent |

<!-- .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 -->
chalk marks on the doors

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1738-pg640-part62:e2:o1:1
# text = chalk marks on the doors
1	chalk	chalk	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	compound	_	_
2	marks	mark	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	0	root	_	_
3	on	on	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	doors	door	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nmod	_	_
```

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

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
grains of buckwheat strewn from a perforated silken bag

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1738-pg640-part62:e2:o2:1
# text = grains of buckwheat strewn from a perforated silken bag
1	grains	grain	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj	_	_
2	of	of	ADP	IN	_	3	case	_	_
3	buckwheat	buckwheat	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	nmod	_	_
4	strewn	strewn	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
5	from	from	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
6	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
7	perforated	perforate	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	9	amod	_	_
8	silken	silken	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	amod	_	_
9	bag	bag	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **strewn** | participle | grains of buckwheat |  |  | a perforated silken bag |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **perforate** | participle |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn carve-21.2-1 «NP V ADVP-Middle»: agent=Patient |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
a trail of wet sand from a pouch

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1738-pg640-part62:e2:o3:1
# text = a trail of wet sand from a pouch
1	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	trail	trail	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	of	of	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
4	wet	wet	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	sand	sand	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	_
6	from	from	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	pouch	pouch	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	_
```

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

### Option 4 · ← Mova's choice {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
a silver thread tied to the gate

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1738-pg640-part62:e2:o4:1
# text = a silver thread tied to the gate
1	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	silver	silver	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	compound	_	_
3	thread	thread	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
4	tied	tie	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	3	acl	_	_
5	to	to	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	gate	gate	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
```

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

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- ← previous: [Fairy Tales, The Tinder-Box, part 62:…, exam 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/1738-pg640-part62/e1/)
- next →: [Fairy Tales, The Tinder-Box, part 62:…, exam 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/1738-pg640-part62/e3/)
- ↑ back to [Fairy Tales, The Tinder-Box, part 62: the Soldier sees the Princess, is jailed, and is sentenced to hang](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/1738-pg640-part62/)