---
title: What did the Caliph enquire of Sindbad concerning the Prince of Sere… — Arabian Nights, Sindbad the Sailor, pa… · tree and pragmatics
description: What did the Caliph enquire of Sindbad concerning the Prince of Serendib? Exam question 4 of lesson 189 «Arabian Nights, Sindbad the Sailor, part 29: Sindbad floats out of a dark underground river and is welcomed in Serendib» of the books course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and
---

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# Exam question 4 · Arabian Nights, Sindbad the Sailor, part 29: Sindbad float…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
What did the Caliph enquire of Sindbad concerning the Prince of Serendib?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 2 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** Caliph enquire · **What happens:** do, concern · **To what, where:** Caliph enquire, Prince

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 4 of lesson 189 «Arabian Nights, Sindbad the Sailor, part 29: Sindbad floats out of a dark underground river and is welcomed in Serendib» 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/189-pg128-part29/#e4).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:189-pg128-part29:e4:1
# text = What did the Caliph enquire of Sindbad concerning the Prince of Serendib?
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	2	nsubj	_	_
2	did	do	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	Caliph	Caliph	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	5	compound	_	_
5	enquire	enquire	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
6	of	of	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	Sindbad	Sindbad	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	5	nmod	_	_
8	concerning	concern	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	5	acl	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	Prince	Prince	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	8	obj	_	_
11	of	of	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
12	Serendib	Serendib	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	10	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **do** | past |  | the Caliph enquire of Sindbad |  |  |  |  | vn act-114-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent enquire=Eventuality |
| 2 | **concern** | gerund | the Caliph enquire of Sindbad *not said here* | the Prince of Serendib |  |  |  |  | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Stimulus prince=Experiencer |

<!-- .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 -->
Whether he was as rich and powerful as claimed, and whether his army was large

<!-- fold The tree, 15 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:189-pg128-part29:e4:o1:1
# text = Whether he was as rich and powerful as claimed, and whether his army was large
1	Whether	whether	SCONJ	IN	_	5	mark	_	_
2	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	5	nsubj	_	_
3	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
4	as	as	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	rich	rich	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
6	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	7	cc	_	_
7	powerful	powerful	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	conj	_	_
8	as	as	SCONJ	IN	_	9	mark	_	_
9	claimed	claim	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	7	advcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	16	punct	_	_
11	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	16	cc	_	_
12	whether	whether	SCONJ	IN	_	16	mark	_	_
13	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	14	nmod:poss	_	_
14	army	army	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	16	nsubj	_	_
15	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	16	cop	_	_
16	large	large	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | past | he |  |  |  |  | rich *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **be** |  | he *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 3 | **claim** *speech: other* | participle | he *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent |
| 4 | **is** | past | his army |  |  |  |  | large *property* | tree rules |

### Option 2 · ✓ the right answer {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Whether he was as rich and powerful as claimed

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:189-pg128-part29:e4:o2:1
# text = Whether he was as rich and powerful as claimed
1	Whether	whether	SCONJ	IN	_	5	mark	_	_
2	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	5	nsubj	_	_
3	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
4	as	as	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	rich	rich	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
6	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	7	cc	_	_
7	powerful	powerful	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	conj	_	_
8	as	as	SCONJ	IN	_	9	mark	_	_
9	claimed	claim	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	5	advcl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | past | he |  |  |  |  | rich *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **be** |  | he *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 3 | **claim** *speech: other* | participle | he *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Whether he was as famous as the rumours said

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:189-pg128-part29:e4:o3:1
# text = Whether he was as famous as the rumours said
1	Whether	whether	SCONJ	IN	_	5	mark	_	_
2	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	5	nsubj	_	_
3	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
4	as	as	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
5	famous	famous	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
6	as	as	SCONJ	IN	_	9	mark	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	rumours	rumour	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	9	nsubj	_	_
9	said	say	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	advcl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | past | he |  |  |  |  | famous *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **say** *speech: assert* | past | the rumours |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Whether he was as rich as rumoured

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:189-pg128-part29:e4:o4:1
# text = Whether he was as rich as rumoured
1	Whether	whether	SCONJ	IN	_	5	mark	_	_
2	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	5	nsubj	_	_
3	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
4	as	as	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
5	rich	rich	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
6	as	as	SCONJ	IN	_	7	mark	_	_
7	rumoured	rumour	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	5	advcl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | past | he |  |  |  |  | rich *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **rumour** | participle | he *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | 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.

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- ← previous: [Arabian Nights, Sindbad the Sailor, pa…, exam 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/189-pg128-part29/e3/)
- next →: [Arabian Nights, The Little Hunchback,…, test 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/191-pg128-part31/t1/)
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