---
title: did the prince want to speak in the house, or nah? — fairy tales, The Prince in the Old Man… · tree and pragmatics
description: did the prince want to speak in the house, or nah? Test 11 · ★ of lesson 1764 «fairy tales, The Prince in the Old Man's House, part 15: the prince is set a hay task and tricks a horse and a cow» of the books course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and
---

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# Test 11 · ★ · fairy tales, The Prince in the Old Man's House, part 15: t…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
did the prince want to speak in the house, or nah?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 2 · **The right answer:** option 4 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** prince · **What happens:** want, speak · **To what, where:** house · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 11 · ★ of lesson 1764 «fairy tales, The Prince in the Old Man's House, part 15: the prince is set a hay task and tricks a horse and a cow» of the books course of Mova's primary school. 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/1764-pg641-part15/#t11).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1764-pg641-part15:t11:1
# text = did the prince want to speak in the house, or nah?
1	did	do	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	prince	prince	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
4	want	want	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	to	to	PART	TO	_	6	mark	_	_
6	speak	speak	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	xcomp	_	_
7	in	in	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	house	house	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	12	punct	_	_
11	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	12	cc	_	_
12	nah	nah	INTJ	UH	_	4	discourse	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **want** | present | the prince |  |  |  |  |  | vn want-32.1-1-1 «NP V NP S\_INF»: agent=Pivot clause=Theme |
| 2 | **speak** *speech: other* *not said to happen* | to-infinitive | the prince *not said here* |  |  | the house |  |  | vn talk-37.5 «NP V»: 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 -->
Yeah, he wanted to talk, but the old man told him to hold his tongue at once

<!-- fold The tree, 17 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1764-pg641-part15:t11:o1:1
# text = Yeah, he wanted to talk, but the old man told him to hold his tongue at once
1	Yeah	yeah	INTJ	UH	_	4	discourse	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	4	punct	_	_
3	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
4	wanted	want	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	to	to	PART	TO	_	6	mark	_	_
6	talk	talk	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	xcomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	12	punct	_	_
8	but	but	CCONJ	CC	_	12	cc	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
10	old	old	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	11	amod	_	_
11	man	man	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	nsubj	_	_
12	told	tell	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	conj	_	_
13	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	12	iobj	_	_
14	to	to	PART	TO	_	15	mark	_	_
15	hold	hold	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	12	xcomp	_	_
16	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	17	nmod:poss	_	_
17	tongue	tongue	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	15	obj	_	_
18	at	at	ADP	IN	_	19	case	_	_
19	once	once	ADV	RB	NumForm=Word|NumType=Mult	15	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **want** | past | he |  |  |  |  |  | vn want-32.1-1-1 «NP V NP S\_INF»: agent=Pivot clause=Theme |
| 2 | **talk** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive | he *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn talk-37.5 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **tell** *speech: assert* | past | the old man |  | him *= he* |  |  |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP S\_INF»: agent=Agent he=Recipient clause=Topic |
| 4 | **hold** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive | the old man *not said here* | man's tongue |  |  |  |  | vn keep-15.2 «NP V NP PP.location»: agent=Agent tongue=Theme at once=Location |

### Option 2 · ← Mova's choice {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Yeah, but he was told to stay quiet

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1764-pg641-part15:t11:o2:1
# text = Yeah, but he was told to stay quiet
1	Yeah	yeah	INTJ	UH	_	6	discourse	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	6	punct	_	_
3	but	but	CCONJ	CC	_	6	cc	_	_
4	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	6	nsubj	_	_
5	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	6	aux:pass	_	_
6	told	tell	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
7	to	to	PART	TO	_	8	mark	_	_
8	stay	stay	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	6	xcomp	_	_
9	quiet	quiet	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	xcomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **tell** *speech: assert* | past · passive |  | he |  |  |  |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP S\_INF»: subject=Recipient clause=Topic |
| 2 | **stay** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive | he *not said here* |  |  |  |  | quiet *property* | vn exist-47.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
No, he did not want to speak, but the old man told him to hold his tongue anyway

<!-- fold The tree, 18 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1764-pg641-part15:t11:o3:1
# text = No, he did not want to speak, but the old man told him to hold his tongue anyway
1	No	no	INTJ	UH	Polarity=Neg	6	discourse	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	6	punct	_	_
3	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	6	nsubj	_	_
4	did	do	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	6	aux	_	_
5	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	6	advmod	_	_
6	want	want	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
7	to	to	PART	TO	_	8	mark	_	_
8	speak	speak	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	6	xcomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	14	punct	_	_
10	but	but	CCONJ	CC	_	14	cc	_	_
11	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
12	old	old	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	13	amod	_	_
13	man	man	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	nsubj	_	_
14	told	tell	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	6	conj	_	_
15	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	14	iobj	_	_
16	to	to	PART	TO	_	17	mark	_	_
17	hold	hold	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	14	xcomp	_	_
18	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	19	nmod:poss	_	_
19	tongue	tongue	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	17	obj	_	_
20	anyway	anyway	ADV	RB	_	17	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **want** | past · do-support | he |  |  |  |  |  | vn want-32.1-1-1 «NP V NP S\_INF»: agent=Pivot clause=Theme |
| 2 | **speak** *speech: other* *not said to happen* | to-infinitive | he *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn talk-37.5 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **tell** *speech: assert* | past | the old man |  | him *= he* |  |  |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP S\_INF»: agent=Agent he=Recipient clause=Topic |
| 4 | **hold** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive | the old man *not said here* | man's tongue |  |  |  | anyway *property* | vn keep-15.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent tongue=Theme |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Yeah, but he got told to hold his tongue

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1764-pg641-part15:t11:o4:1
# text = Yeah, but he got told to hold his tongue
1	Yeah	yeah	INTJ	UH	_	6	discourse	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	6	punct	_	_
3	but	but	CCONJ	CC	_	6	cc	_	_
4	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	6	nsubj	_	_
5	got	get	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	6	aux:pass	_	_
6	told	tell	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
7	to	to	PART	TO	_	8	mark	_	_
8	hold	hold	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	6	xcomp	_	_
9	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	10	nmod:poss	_	_
10	tongue	tongue	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **tell** *speech: assert* | past · passive |  | he |  |  |  |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP S\_INF»: subject=Recipient clause=Topic |
| 2 | **hold** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive | he *not said here* | his tongue |  |  |  |  | vn keep-15.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent tongue=Theme |

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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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- next →: [fairy tales, The Prince in the Old Man…, exam 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/1764-pg641-part15/e1/)
- ↑ back to [fairy tales, The Prince in the Old Man's House, part 15: the prince is set a hay task and tricks a horse and a cow](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/1764-pg641-part15/)