---
title: yo what did the laughing fish supposedly mean — Indian Fairy Tales, The Demon with the… · tree and pragmatics
description: yo what did the laughing fish supposedly mean Test 8 · ★ 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 question and of each option; Mov
---

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# Test 8 · ★ · Indian Fairy Tales, The Demon with the Matted Hair, part 1…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
yo what did the laughing fish supposedly mean

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 3 · wrong ✗ · **What happens:** do, laugh, mean · **To what, where:** laughing fish · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 8 · ★ 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. 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/#t8).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1850-pg7128-part34:t8:1
# text = yo what did the laughing fish supposedly mean
1	yo	yo	INTJ	UH	_	3	discourse	_	_
2	what	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	3	nsubj	_	_
3	did	do	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	8	csubj	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
5	laughing	laugh	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	6	amod	_	_
6	fish	fish	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obj	_	_
7	supposedly	supposedly	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	_
8	mean	mean	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **do** | past |  | the laughing fish |  |  |  | supposedly *property* | vn act-114-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent fish=Eventuality |
| 2 | **laugh** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn nonverbal\_expression-40.2 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **mean** | present |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V S»: 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 -->
it meant the king's own brother was hiring spies to watch the gates and kill the vizier's family

<!-- fold The tree, 20 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1850-pg7128-part34:t8:o1:1
# text = it meant the king's own brother was hiring spies to watch the gates and kill the vizier's family
1	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	meant	mean	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	king	king	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	's	's	PART	POS	_	4	case	_	_
6	own	own	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
7	brother	brother	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	nsubj	_	_
8	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	9	aux	_	_
9	hiring	hire	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	2	ccomp	_	_
10	spies	spy	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	9	obj	_	_
11	to	to	PART	TO	_	12	mark	_	_
12	watch	watch	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	9	advcl	_	_
13	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	14	det	_	_
14	gates	gate	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	12	obj	_	_
15	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	16	cc	_	_
16	kill	kill	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	12	conj	_	_
17	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	18	det	_	_
18	vizier	vizier	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	20	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
19	's	's	PART	POS	_	18	case	_	_
20	family	family	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	16	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **mean** | past | it |  |  |  |  |  | vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 2 | **hire** | past · progressive | the king's own brother | spies |  |  |  |  | vn get-13.5.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent spy=Theme |
| 3 | **watch** | to-infinitive | the king's own brother *not said here* | the gates |  |  |  |  | vn assessment-34.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent gate=Theme |
| 4 | **kill** | infinitive | the king's own brother *not said here* | the vizier's family |  |  |  |  | vn remove-10.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent family=Theme |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
a courtier in the palace had secretly vowed to poison the king at the next royal feast

<!-- fold The tree, 17 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1850-pg7128-part34:t8:o2:1
# text = a courtier in the palace had secretly vowed to poison the king at the next royal feast
1	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	courtier	courtier	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nsubj:pass	_	_
3	in	in	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	palace	palace	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	_
6	had	have	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	8	aux	_	_
7	secretly	secretly	ADV	RB	_	8	advmod	_	_
8	vowed	vow	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
9	to	to	PART	TO	_	10	mark	_	_
10	poison	poison	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	8	xcomp	_	_
11	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
12	king	king	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	obj	_	_
13	at	at	ADP	IN	_	17	case	_	_
14	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	17	det	_	_
15	next	next	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	17	amod	_	_
16	royal	royal	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	17	amod	_	_
17	feast	feast	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **vow** | past · perfect · passive |  | a courtier in the palace |  |  |  | secretly *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **poison** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive |  | the king |  | the next royal feast |  |  | vn poison-42.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent king=Patient |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
someone in the palace was plotting the king

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1850-pg7128-part34:t8:o3:1
# text = someone in the palace was plotting the king
1	someone	someone	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Ind	6	nsubj	_	_
2	in	in	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	palace	palace	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	nmod	_	_
5	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	6	aux	_	_
6	plotting	plot	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	king	king	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **plot** | past · progressive | someone | the king |  |  |  |  | vn scribble-25.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent king=Theme |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
someone in court plotted the king's death

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1850-pg7128-part34:t8:o4:1
# text = someone in court plotted the king's death
1	someone	someone	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Ind	4	nsubj	_	_
2	in	in	ADP	IN	_	3	case	_	_
3	court	court	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	nmod	_	_
4	plotted	plot	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	king	king	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	's	's	PART	POS	_	6	case	_	_
8	death	death	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **plot** | past | someone | the king's death |  |  |  |  | vn scribble-25.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent death=Theme |
| 2 | **die** |  | the king |  |  |  |  |  | nom death «event intransitive»: poss=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.

<!-- /div -->

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- ← previous: [Indian Fairy Tales, The Demon with the…, test 7](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/1850-pg7128-part34/t7/)
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