---
title: Why didn't they just go back to the palace and say who they were? — Hauff's Tales, The Caliph Stork, part… · tree and pragmatics
description: Why didn't they just go back to the palace and say who they were? Test 9 · ★ of lesson 1872 «Hauff's Tales, The Caliph Stork, part 9: the storks forget the magic word and spend a night in a haunted ruin» of the books course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the que
---

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# Test 9 · ★ · Hauff's Tales, The Caliph Stork, part 9: the storks forget…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Why didn't they just go back to the palace and say who they were?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 2 · **The right answer:** option 4 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** they · **What happens:** not go back, say, be · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 9 · ★ of lesson 1872 «Hauff's Tales, The Caliph Stork, part 9: the storks forget the magic word and spend a night in a haunted ruin» 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/1872-pg7277-part9/#t9).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1872-pg7277-part9:t9:1
# text = Why didn't they just go back to the palace and say who they were?
1	Why	why	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	6	advmod	_	_
2	did	do	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	6	aux	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	n't	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	6	advmod	_	_
4	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	6	nsubj	_	_
5	just	just	ADV	RB	_	6	advmod	_	_
6	go	go	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
7	back	back	ADV	RB	_	6	advmod	_	_
8	to	to	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	palace	palace	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obl	_	_
11	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	12	cc	_	_
12	say	say	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	6	conj	_	_
13	who	who	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	12	ccomp	_	_
14	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	13	nsubj	_	_
15	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	13	cop	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	6	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **go back** | past · do-support | they |  |  |  |  | to the palace *result* | vn convert-26.6.2 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Patient to palace=Result |
| 2 | **say** *speech: assert* | infinitive | they *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **is a** | past | they |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

<!-- .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 -->
Cos nobody would believe a stork saying he's the Caliph, and they'd get chased off

<!-- fold The tree, 17 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1872-pg7277-part9:t9:o1:1
# text = Cos nobody would believe a stork saying he's the Caliph, and they'd get chased off
1	Cos	cos	SCONJ	IN	_	4	mark	_	_
2	nobody	nobody	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Neg	4	nsubj	_	_
3	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
4	believe	believe	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
5	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	stork	stork	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obj	_	_
7	saying	say	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	6	acl	_	_
8	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	11	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	's	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	11	cop	_	_
10	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	Caliph	Caliph	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	7	ccomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	17	punct	_	_
13	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	17	cc	_	_
14	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	17	nsubj:pass	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	'd	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	17	aux	_	_
16	get	get	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	17	aux:pass	_	_
17	chased	chase	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	4	ccomp	_	_
18	off	off	ADP	RP	_	17	compound:prt	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **believe** | would | nobody | a stork |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **say** *speech: assert* | gerund | a stork *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **is a** | present | stork | the Caliph |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 4 | **chase off** | would · passive |  | they |  |  |  |  | vn chase-51.6 «NP V NP»: subject=Theme |

### Option 2 · ← Mova's choice {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Cos nobody would believe a stork saying he's the Caliph, and the guards would just shoot them both with arrows

<!-- fold The tree, 21 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1872-pg7277-part9:t9:o2:1
# text = Cos nobody would believe a stork saying he's the Caliph, and the guards would just shoot them both with arrows
1	Cos	cos	SCONJ	IN	_	2	case	_	_
2	nobody	nobody	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Neg	4	obl	_	_
3	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
4	believe	believe	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	stork	stork	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obj	_	_
7	saying	say	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	6	acl	_	_
8	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	11	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	's	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	11	cop	_	_
10	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	Caliph	Caliph	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	7	ccomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	18	punct	_	_
13	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	18	cc	_	_
14	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	15	det	_	_
15	guards	guard	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	18	nsubj	_	_
16	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	18	aux	_	_
17	just	just	ADV	RB	_	18	advmod	_	_
18	shoot	shoot	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	conj	_	_
19	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	18	obj	_	_
20	both	both	ADV	RB	_	18	advmod	_	_
21	with	with	ADP	IN	_	22	case	_	_
22	arrows	arrow	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	18	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **believe** | would |  | a stork |  |  |  | cos nobody | vn admire-31.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer stork=Stimulus |
| 2 | **say** *speech: assert* | gerund | a stork *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **is a** | present | stork | the Caliph |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 4 | **shoot** | would | the guards | them *= they* |  |  |  | with arrows; both *property* | vn poison-42.2 «NP V NP PP.instrument»: agent=Agent they=Patient with arrow=Instrument |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Cos the guards would chase off any silly stray bird

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1872-pg7277-part9:t9:o3:1
# text = Cos the guards would chase off any silly stray bird
1	Cos	cos	SCONJ	IN	_	5	mark	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	guards	guard	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	nsubj	_	_
4	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	5	aux	_	_
5	chase	chase	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
6	off	off	ADP	RP	_	5	compound:prt	_	_
7	any	any	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	10	det	_	_
8	silly	silly	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	10	amod	_	_
9	stray	stray	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	10	amod	_	_
10	bird	bird	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **chase off** | would | the guards | any silly stray bird |  |  |  |  | vn chase-51.6 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent bird=Theme |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Cos nobody would believe a stork saying he's the Caliph

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1872-pg7277-part9:t9:o4:1
# text = Cos nobody would believe a stork saying he's the Caliph
1	Cos	cos	SCONJ	IN	_	4	mark	_	_
2	nobody	nobody	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Neg	4	nsubj	_	_
3	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
4	believe	believe	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
5	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	stork	stork	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obj	_	_
7	saying	say	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	6	acl	_	_
8	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	11	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	's	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	11	cop	_	_
10	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	Caliph	Caliph	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	7	ccomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **believe** | would | nobody | a stork |  |  |  |  | vn admire-31.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer stork=Stimulus |
| 2 | **say** *speech: assert* | gerund | a stork *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **is a** | present | stork | the Caliph |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

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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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- next →: [Hauff's Tales, The Caliph Stork, part…, test 10](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/1872-pg7277-part9/t10/)
- ↑ back to [Hauff's Tales, The Caliph Stork, part 9: the storks forget the magic word and spend a night in a haunted ruin](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/1872-pg7277-part9/)