---
title: What was the principal reason the lovers gave for their misfortune? — Fairy Book, Sylvain and Jocosa, part 1… · tree and pragmatics
description: What was the principal reason the lovers gave for their misfortune? Exam question 2 of lesson 1877 «Fairy Book, Sylvain and Jocosa, part 14: parted by a flood, saved by the Fairy» of the books course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each option
---

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# Exam question 2 · Fairy Book, Sylvain and Jocosa, part 14: parted by a flood…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
What was the principal reason the lovers gave for their misfortune?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 3 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** lovers · **What happens:** be, give · **To what, where:** principal reason

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This is exam question 2 of lesson 1877 «Fairy Book, Sylvain and Jocosa, part 14: parted by a flood, saved by the Fairy» 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/1877-pg7277-part14/#e2).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1877-pg7277-part14:e2:1
# text = What was the principal reason the lovers gave for their misfortune?
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	5	nsubj	_	_
2	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	principal	principal	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	reason	reason	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	lovers	lover	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	nsubj	_	_
8	gave	give	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	acl:relcl	_	_
9	for	for	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
10	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	11	nmod:poss	_	_
11	misfortune	misfortune	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | past |  | the principal reason |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **give** | past | the lovers | the principal reason *not said here* |  |  |  | for lovers's misfortune | vn give-13.1-1 «NP V NP PP.asset»: agent=Agent reason=Theme for misfortune=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 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
carelessness in their own actions

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1877-pg7277-part14:e2:o1:1
# text = carelessness in their own actions
1	carelessness	carelessness	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
2	in	in	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
3	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	5	nmod:poss	_	_
4	own	own	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	actions	action	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	1	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **act** |  | their *= they* |  |  |  |  |  | nom action «act intransitive»: poss=agent |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
the cruelty of the Fairy and the spite of their families

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1877-pg7277-part14:e2:o2:1
# text = the cruelty of the Fairy and the spite of their families
1	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	cruelty	cruelty	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	of	of	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	Fairy	fairy	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	_
6	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	8	cc	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	spite	spite	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	conj	_	_
9	of	of	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
10	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	11	nmod:poss	_	_
11	families	family	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **spite** |  |  | cruelty's families |  |  |  |  | nom spite «feeling transitive»: of=patient |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
negligence in their own conduct

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1877-pg7277-part14:e2:o3:1
# text = negligence in their own conduct
1	negligence	negligence	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
2	in	in	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
3	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	5	nmod:poss	_	_
4	own	own	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	conduct	conduct	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **conduct** |  | their *= they* |  |  |  |  |  | nom conduct «act transitive»: poss=agent |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
foolishness in their own behaviour

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1877-pg7277-part14:e2:o4:1
# text = foolishness in their own behaviour
1	foolishness	foolishness	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
2	in	in	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
3	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	5	nmod:poss	_	_
4	own	own	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	behaviour	behaviour	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .note -->
The frames reader finds no event or fact in this sentence.

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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: [Fairy Book, Sylvain and Jocosa, part 1…, exam 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/1877-pg7277-part14/e1/)
- next →: [Fairy Book, Sylvain and Jocosa, part 1…, exam 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/1877-pg7277-part14/e3/)
- ↑ back to [Fairy Book, Sylvain and Jocosa, part 14: parted by a flood, saved by the Fairy](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/1877-pg7277-part14/)