---
title: Which object did Sindbad employ to sustain himself upon the water af… — Arabian Nights, Sindbad the Sailor, pa… · tree and pragmatics
description: Which object did Sindbad employ to sustain himself upon the water after the whale submerged? Exam question 3 of lesson 181 «Arabian Nights, Sindbad the Sailor, part 21: Hindbad the porter is summoned to Sindbad's feast and hears how the voyages began» of the books course of Mova's primary school, wi
---

<!-- md -->
[Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/181-pg128-part21/e3/)

<!-- crumbs -->
[home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/) / [questions](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/) / [Books](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/) / [Arabian Nights, Sindbad the Sailor, pa…](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/181-pg128-part21/) / e3

# Exam question 3 · Arabian Nights, Sindbad the Sailor, part 21: Hindbad the p…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Which object did Sindbad employ to sustain himself upon the water after the whale submerged?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 4 · **The right answer:** option 3 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** object · **What happens:** employ, sustain, submerge · **To what, where:** Sindbad, whale

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 3 of lesson 181 «Arabian Nights, Sindbad the Sailor, part 21: Hindbad the porter is summoned to Sindbad's feast and hears how the voyages began» 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/181-pg128-part21/#e3).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:181-pg128-part21:e3:1
# text = Which object did Sindbad employ to sustain himself upon the water after the whale submerged?
1	Which	which	DET	WDT	PronType=Int	2	det	_	_
2	object	object	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
3	did	do	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	aux	_	_
4	Sindbad	Sindbad	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
5	employ	employ	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
6	to	to	PART	TO	_	7	mark	_	_
7	sustain	sustain	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	xcomp	_	_
8	himself	himself	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs|Reflex=Yes	7	obj	_	_
9	upon	upon	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
10	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	water	water	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obl	_	_
12	after	after	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
13	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	14	det	_	_
14	whale	whale	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obl	_	_
15	submerged	submerge	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	14	acl	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **employ** | past · do-support | which object |  |  |  |  |  | vn hire-13.5.3 «NP V NP to be NP»: agent=Agent clause=Attribute |
| 2 | **sustain** | to-infinitive | which object *not said here* | Sindbad |  |  | after the whale | upon the water | vn sustain-55.6 «NP V NP PP.instrument»: agent=Agent himself=Theme |
| 3 | **submerge** | participle |  | the whale *not said here* |  |  |  |  | vn other\_cos-45.4 «NP.patient V»: agent=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 -->
a plank from the broken ship

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:181-pg128-part21:e3:o1:1
# text = a plank from the broken ship
1	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	plank	plank	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	from	from	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
5	broken	break	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	6	amod	_	_
6	ship	ship	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **break** | participle |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn hurt-40.8.3-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Patient |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
a heavy beam of timber, with its sail and rigging still tangled about it, drifting near him

<!-- fold The tree, 17 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:181-pg128-part21:e3:o2:1
# text = a heavy beam of timber, with its sail and rigging still tangled about it, drifting near him
1	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	heavy	heavy	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	beam	beam	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
4	of	of	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	timber	timber	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	9	punct	_	_
7	with	with	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	9	nmod:poss	_	_
9	sail	sail	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	conj	_	_
10	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	11	cc	_	_
11	rigging	rig	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	9	conj	_	_
12	still	still	ADV	RB	_	13	advmod	_	_
13	tangled	tangle	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	11	advcl	_	_
14	about	about	ADP	IN	_	15	case	_	_
15	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	13	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	17	punct	_	_
17	drifting	drift	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	11	conj	_	_
18	near	near	ADP	IN	_	19	case	_	_
19	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	17	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **rig** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **tangle** | participle |  |  |  |  | still | about sail | tree rules |
| 3 | **drift** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  | near him *= he* | vn run-51.3.2-2 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme near he=Trajectory |
| 4 | **beam** |  |  | timber |  |  |  |  | nom beam «communication transitive»: of=patient |

### Option 3 · ✓ the right answer {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
a piece of wood from the fire

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:181-pg128-part21:e3:o3:1
# text = a piece of wood from the fire
1	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	piece	piece	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	of	of	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
4	wood	wood	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	_
5	from	from	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	fire	fire	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 large wooden chest that the sailors had filled with their food and their drinking water

<!-- fold The tree, 16 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:181-pg128-part21:e3:o4:1
# text = a large wooden chest that the sailors had filled with their food and their drinking water
1	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
2	large	large	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	amod	_	_
3	wooden	wooden	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	amod	_	_
4	chest	chest	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
5	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	9	mark	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	sailors	sailor	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	9	nsubj	_	_
8	had	have	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	9	aux	_	_
9	filled	fill	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	4	acl	_	_
10	with	with	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
11	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	12	nmod:poss	_	_
12	food	food	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obl	_	_
13	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	16	cc	_	_
14	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	16	nmod:poss	_	_
15	drinking	drinking	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	16	compound	_	_
16	water	water	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **fill** | past · perfect | the sailors | a large wooden chest *not said here* |  |  |  | with sailors's food and sailors's drinking water | vn other\_cos-45.4 «NP V NP PP.instrument»: agent=Agent chest=Patient with food=Instrument |

<!-- div src -->

**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 -->

<!-- pn -->
- ← previous: [Arabian Nights, Sindbad the Sailor, pa…, exam 2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/181-pg128-part21/e2/)
- next →: [Arabian Nights, Sindbad the Sailor, pa…, exam 4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/181-pg128-part21/e4/)
- ↑ back to [Arabian Nights, Sindbad the Sailor, part 21: Hindbad the porter is summoned to Sindbad's feast and hears how the voyages began](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/181-pg128-part21/)