---
title: What reason did the potter give for his alternate laughter and weepi… — Tales of the Punjab, The Brahmani's Ad… · tree and pragmatics
description: What reason did the potter give for his alternate laughter and weeping? Exam question 4 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 4 · Tales of the Punjab, The Brahmani's Advice, part 20: the p…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
What reason did the potter give for his alternate laughter and weeping?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 1 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** potter · **What happens:** give

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 4 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/#e4).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1836-pg7128-part20:e4:1
# text = What reason did the potter give for his alternate laughter and weeping?
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	6	obl	_	_
2	reason	reason	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	nsubj	_	_
3	did	do	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	6	aux	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	potter	potter	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	_
6	give	give	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
7	for	for	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
8	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	10	nmod:poss	_	_
9	alternate	alternate	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	10	amod	_	_
10	laughter	laughter	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obl	_	_
11	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	12	cc	_	_
12	weeping	weeping	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	6	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **give** | past · do-support | the potter |  |  |  |  | for potter's alternate laughter and weeping | vn give-13.1-1 «NP V NP PP.asset»: agent=Agent for laughter=Asset |

<!-- .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 · ✓ the right answer {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The absurdity of a potter's son marrying a princess

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1836-pg7128-part20:e4:o1:1
# text = The absurdity of a potter's son marrying a princess
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	absurdity	absurdity	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	of	of	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
4	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	potter	potter	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	's	's	PART	POS	_	5	case	_	_
7	son	son	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	_
8	marrying	marry	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	2	acl	_	_
9	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	princess	princess	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **marry** | gerund | the absurdity of a potter's son *not said here* | a princess |  |  |  |  | vn amalgamate-22.2-3-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent princess=Patient |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Because his son had to marry a princess whom no man had survived as husband

<!-- fold The tree, 15 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1836-pg7128-part20:e4:o2:1
# text = Because his son had to marry a princess whom no man had survived as husband
1	Because	because	SCONJ	IN	_	4	mark	_	_
2	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	3	nmod:poss	_	_
3	son	son	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
4	had	have	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	to	to	PART	TO	_	6	mark	_	_
6	marry	marry	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	xcomp	_	_
7	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	princess	princess	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obj	_	_
9	whom	whom	PRON	WP	PronType=Rel	13	obl	_	_
10	no	no	DET	DT	PronType=Neg	11	det	_	_
11	man	man	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	nsubj	_	_
12	had	have	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	13	aux	_	_
13	survived	survive	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	8	acl:relcl	_	_
14	as	as	ADP	IN	_	15	case	_	_
15	husband	husband	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **have** | past | his son |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **marry** | to-infinitive | his son *not said here* | a princess |  |  |  |  | vn amalgamate-22.2-3-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent princess=Patient |
| 3 | **survive** | past · perfect | no man | a princess |  |  |  | as husband | vn exist-47.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The shame of his son marrying above his caste

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1836-pg7128-part20:e4:o3:1
# text = The shame of his son marrying above his caste
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	shame	shame	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	of	of	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
4	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	5	nmod:poss	_	_
5	son	son	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	_
6	marrying	marry	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	2	acl	_	_
7	above	above	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	9	nmod:poss	_	_
9	caste	caste	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **marry** | gerund | the shame of his son *not said here* |  |  | his caste |  |  | vn amalgamate-22.2-3-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Patient |
| 2 | **shame** |  |  | his son |  |  |  |  | nom shame «feeling transitive»: of=patient |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The joy of a potter's son winning a princess

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1836-pg7128-part20:e4:o4:1
# text = The joy of a potter's son winning a princess
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	joy	joy	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	of	of	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
4	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	potter	potter	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	's	's	PART	POS	_	5	case	_	_
7	son	son	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	_
8	winning	win	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	2	acl	_	_
9	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	princess	princess	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **win** | gerund | the joy of a potter's son *not said here* | a princess |  |  |  |  | vn succeed-74-2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent princess=Eventuality |
| 2 | **joy** |  |  | a potter's son |  |  |  |  | nom joy «feeling transitive»: of=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: [Tales of the Punjab, The Brahmani's Ad…, exam 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/1836-pg7128-part20/e3/)
- next →: [Indian Fairy Tales, The Son of Seven Q…, test 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/1837-pg7128-part21/t1/)
- ↑ 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/)