---
title: Which object did the prince employ to sever the thick tree-trunk? — Indian Fairy Tales, The Princess Labam… · tree and pragmatics
description: Which object did the prince employ to sever the thick tree-trunk? Exam question 2 of lesson 1820 «Indian Fairy Tales, The Princess Labam: the prince wins her with ants, tigers, a flying bed and a hair» of the books course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the quest
---

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# Exam question 2 · Indian Fairy Tales, The Princess Labam: the prince wins he…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Which object did the prince employ to sever the thick tree-trunk?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 4 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** object · **What happens:** do, sever · **To what, where:** prince employ, thick tree trunk

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This is exam question 2 of lesson 1820 «Indian Fairy Tales, The Princess Labam: the prince wins her with ants, tigers, a flying bed and a hair» 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/1820-pg7128-part4/#e2).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1820-pg7128-part4:e2:1
# text = Which object did the prince employ to sever the thick tree-trunk?
1	Which	which	DET	WDT	PronType=Int	2	det	_	_
2	object	object	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	did	do	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
5	prince	prince	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	compound	_	_
6	employ	employ	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
7	to	to	PART	TO	_	8	mark	_	_
8	sever	sever	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	6	acl	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
10	thick	thick	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	13	amod	_	_
11	tree	tree	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	compound	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	11	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	trunk	trunk	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **do** | past | which object | the prince employ |  |  |  |  | vn act-114-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent employ=Eventuality |
| 2 | **sever** | to-infinitive | which object *not said here* | the thick tree trunk |  |  |  |  | vn remove-10.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent trunk=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 -->
a golden sword

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1820-pg7128-part4:e2:o1:1
# text = a golden sword
1	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	golden	golden	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	sword	sword	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
```

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

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
a wooden spoon

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1820-pg7128-part4:e2:o2:1
# text = a wooden spoon
1	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	wooden	wooden	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	spoon	spoon	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
```

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

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
a sharp iron hatchet from the forge

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1820-pg7128-part4:e2:o3:1
# text = a sharp iron hatchet from the forge
1	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
2	sharp	sharp	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	amod	_	_
3	iron	iron	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	compound	_	_
4	hatchet	hatchet	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
5	from	from	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	forge	forge	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nmod	_	_
```

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

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
a wax hatchet

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1820-pg7128-part4:e2:o4:1
# text = a wax hatchet
1	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	wax	wax	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	compound	_	_
3	hatchet	hatchet	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
```

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

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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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