---
title: By what means did the prince dispatch the two serpents of the prince… — Tales of the Punjab, The Brahmani's Ad… · tree and pragmatics
description: By what means did the prince dispatch the two serpents of the princess? Exam question 3 of lesson 1836 «Tales of the Punjab, The Brahmani's Advice, part 20: the prince buys wisdom, outwits a host, and wins a throne» of the books course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatic
---

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# Exam question 3 · Tales of the Punjab, The Brahmani's Advice, part 20: the p…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
By what means did the prince dispatch the two serpents of the princess?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 3 · **The right answer:** option 3 · right ✓ · **What happens:** mean, do, dispatch · **To what, where:** prince, two serpents · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 3 of lesson 1836 «Tales of the Punjab, The Brahmani's Advice, part 20: the prince buys wisdom, outwits a host, and wins a throne» 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/1836-pg7128-part20/#e3).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1836-pg7128-part20:e3:1
# text = By what means did the prince dispatch the two serpents of 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	prince	prince	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obj	_	_
7	dispatch	dispatch	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
9	two	two	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	10	nummod	_	_
10	serpents	serpent	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	obj	_	_
11	of	of	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
12	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
13	princess	princess	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	nmod	_	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 prince |  |  |  |  | vn act-114-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent prince=Eventuality |
| 3 | **dispatch** | present |  | the two serpents of the princess |  |  |  |  | vn murder-42.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent serpent=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 -->
By cutting them down with his bow and arrows

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1836-pg7128-part20:e3:o1:1
# text = By cutting them down with his bow and arrows
1	By	by	SCONJ	IN	_	2	mark	_	_
2	cutting	cut	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
3	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	obj	_	_
4	down	down	ADP	RP	_	2	compound:prt	_	_
5	with	with	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	7	nmod:poss	_	_
7	bow	bow	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
8	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	9	cc	_	_
9	arrows	arrow	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **cut down** | gerund |  | them *= they* |  |  |  | with his bow and arrows | vn cut-21.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent they=Patient with bow=Instrument |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
By striking them with his sword as they came near

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1836-pg7128-part20:e3:o2:1
# text = By striking them with his sword as they came near
1	By	by	SCONJ	IN	_	2	mark	_	_
2	striking	strike	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	9	advcl	_	_
3	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	obj	_	_
4	with	with	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	sword	sword	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
7	as	as	SCONJ	IN	_	9	mark	_	_
8	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	9	nsubj	_	_
9	came	come	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
10	near	near	ADV	RB	_	9	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **strike** | gerund | they *not said here* | them *= they* |  |  |  | with his sword | vn hit-18.1-1 «NP V NP PP.instrument»: agent=Agent they=Patient with sword=Instrument |
| 2 | **come** | past | they |  |  |  |  | near *property* | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

### Option 3 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
By striking them with his sword upon their approach

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1836-pg7128-part20:e3:o3:1
# text = By striking them with his sword upon their approach
1	By	by	SCONJ	IN	_	2	mark	_	_
2	striking	strike	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
3	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	obj	_	_
4	with	with	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	sword	sword	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
7	upon	upon	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	9	nmod:poss	_	_
9	approach	approach	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **strike** | gerund |  | them *= they* |  |  |  | with his sword upon their approach | vn hit-18.1-1 «NP V NP PP.instrument»: agent=Agent they=Patient with sword=Instrument |
| 2 | **approach** |  | their *= they* |  |  |  |  |  | nom approach «act intransitive»: poss=agent |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
By striking them with his sword the moment they rose out of the princess's nostrils

<!-- fold The tree, 16 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1836-pg7128-part20:e3:o4:1
# text = By striking them with his sword the moment they rose out of the princess's nostrils
1	By	by	SCONJ	IN	_	2	mark	_	_
2	striking	strike	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	10	advcl	_	_
3	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	obj	_	_
4	with	with	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	sword	sword	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	moment	moment	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	nsubj	_	_
9	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	10	nsubj	_	_
10	rose	rise	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
11	out	out	ADP	IN	_	16	case	_	_
12	of	of	ADP	IN	_	16	case	_	_
13	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	14	det	_	_
14	princess	princess	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	16	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	's	's	PART	POS	_	14	case	_	_
16	nostrils	nostril	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	10	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **strike** | gerund | the moment *not said here* | them *= they* |  |  |  | with his sword | vn hit-18.1-1 «NP V NP PP.instrument»: agent=Agent they=Patient with sword=Instrument |
| 2 | **rise** | past | the moment |  |  | the princess's nostrils |  |  | vn assuming\_position-50 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Agent out nostril=Location |

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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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- ← previous: [Tales of the Punjab, The Brahmani's Ad…, exam 2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/1836-pg7128-part20/e2/)
- next →: [Tales of the Punjab, The Brahmani's Ad…, exam 4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/1836-pg7128-part20/e4/)
- ↑ back to [Tales of the Punjab, The Brahmani's Advice, part 20: the prince buys wisdom, outwits a host, and wins a throne](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/1836-pg7128-part20/)