---
title: By what means was the theft of food discovered within the household? — Indian Fairy Tales, The Demon with the… · tree and pragmatics
description: By what means was the theft of food discovered within the household? Exam question 3 of lesson 1850 «Indian Fairy Tales, The Demon with the Matted Hair, part 1: the prince meets the Demon in the forest» of the books course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the ques
---

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# Exam question 3 · Indian Fairy Tales, The Demon with the Matted Hair, part 1…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
By what means was the theft of food discovered within the household?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 3 · wrong ✗ · **What happens:** mean, be, discover · **To what, where:** theft, food

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 3 of lesson 1850 «Indian Fairy Tales, The Demon with the Matted Hair, part 1: the prince meets the Demon in the forest» 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/1850-pg7128-part34/#e3).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1850-pg7128-part34:e3:1
# text = By what means was the theft of food discovered within the household?
1	By	by	ADP	IN	_	2	case	_	_
2	what	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	6	nsubj	_	_
3	means	mean	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	2	acl:relcl	_	_
4	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	6	cop	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	theft	theft	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
7	of	of	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
8	food	food	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nmod	_	_
9	discovered	discover	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	8	acl	_	_
10	within	within	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
11	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
12	household	household	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obl:agent	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	6	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 |
| 2 | **is a** | past |  | the theft |  |  |  | of food | tree rules |
| 3 | **discover** | participle |  | food *not said here* |  |  |  |  | vn discover-84-1 «NP V PP.topic S\_ING»: 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 · ← Mova's choice {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
By the servant's careless repetition of the message word for word, which exposed him before the whole household

<!-- fold The tree, 19 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1850-pg7128-part34:e3:o1:1
# text = By the servant's careless repetition of the message word for word, which exposed him before the whole household
1	By	by	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	servant	servant	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	's	's	PART	POS	_	3	case	_	_
5	careless	careless	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	repetition	repetition	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
7	of	of	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
9	message	message	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	compound	_	_
10	word	word	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nmod	_	_
11	for	for	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
12	word	word	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	15	punct	_	_
14	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	15	nsubj	_	_
15	exposed	expose	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	10	conj	_	_
16	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	15	obj	_	_
17	before	before	ADP	IN	_	20	case	_	_
18	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	20	det	_	_
19	whole	whole	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	20	amod	_	_
20	household	household	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	15	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **expose** | past | the message word for word | him *= he* |  |  | before the whole household |  | vn indicate-78 «NP V NP»: agent=Pivot he=Topic |
| 2 | **repeat** |  | the message word for word |  |  |  |  |  | nom repetition «event intransitive»: of=agent |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
By the maids repeating the stolen message aloud

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1850-pg7128-part34:e3:o2:1
# text = By the maids repeating the stolen message aloud
1	By	by	ADP	IN	_	3	case	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	maids	maid	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	0	root	_	_
4	repeating	repeat	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	3	acl	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
6	stolen	steal	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	7	amod	_	_
7	message	message	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obj	_	_
8	aloud	aloud	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **repeat** | gerund | the maids *not said here* | the stolen message |  |  |  | aloud *property* | vn begin-55.1-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent message=Eventuality |
| 2 | **steal** | participle |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn appear-48.1.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
By the servant's repetition of the message word for word

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1850-pg7128-part34:e3:o3:1
# text = By the servant's repetition of the message word for word
1	By	by	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	servant	servant	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	's	's	PART	POS	_	3	case	_	_
5	repetition	repetition	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
6	of	of	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
8	message	message	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	compound	_	_
9	word	word	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nmod	_	_
10	for	for	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
11	word	word	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **repeat** |  | the message word for word |  |  |  |  |  | nom repetition «event intransitive»: of=agent |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Through the servant's repetition of the girl's message exactly as it was given, which led the master to suspect him at once

<!-- fold The tree, 24 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1850-pg7128-part34:e3:o4:1
# text = Through the servant's repetition of the girl's message exactly as it was given, which led the master to suspect him at once
1	Through	through	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	servant	servant	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	's	's	PART	POS	_	3	case	_	_
5	repetition	repetition	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	18	obl	_	_
6	of	of	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	girl	girl	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	's	's	PART	POS	_	8	case	_	_
10	message	message	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nmod	_	_
11	exactly	exactly	ADV	RB	_	15	advmod	_	_
12	as	as	SCONJ	IN	_	15	mark	_	_
13	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	15	nsubj:pass	_	_
14	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	15	aux:pass	_	_
15	given	give	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	10	acl:relcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	18	punct	_	_
17	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	18	nsubj	_	_
18	led	lead	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
19	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	20	det	_	_
20	master	master	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	18	obj	_	_
21	to	to	PART	TO	_	22	mark	_	_
22	suspect	suspect	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	18	xcomp	_	_
23	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	22	obj	_	_
24	at	at	ADP	IN	_	25	case	_	_
25	once	once	ADV	RB	NumForm=Word|NumType=Mult	22	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **give** | past · passive | the girl's message *not said here* | message |  |  |  | exactly *property* | vn give-13.1-1 «NP V NP»: subject=Theme |
| 2 | **lead** | past |  | the master |  | the servant's repetition of the girl's message |  |  | vn compel-59.1-1 «NP V NP S\_INF»: agent=Agent master=Patient clause=Result |
| 3 | **suspect** | to-infinitive | the master *not said here* | him *= he* |  |  |  |  | vn consider-29.9-2 «NP V NP ADJ»: agent=Agent he=Attribute |
| 4 | **repeat** |  | the girl's message |  |  |  |  |  | nom repetition «event intransitive»: of=agent |

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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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