---
title: By what means did the lady's sibling accomplish the slaying of the m… — Fairy Tales, The Three Snake-Leaves, p… · tree and pragmatics
description: By what means did the lady's sibling accomplish the slaying of the magician? Exam question 3 of lesson 1927 «Fairy Tales, The Three Snake-Leaves, part 64: a tailor frees his bride's castle, then a young king is trapped in a royal vault» of the books course of Mova's primary school, with the dependen
---

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# Exam question 3 · Fairy Tales, The Three Snake-Leaves, part 64: a tailor fre…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
By what means did the lady's sibling accomplish the slaying of the magician?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 3 · **The right answer:** option 3 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** sibling · **What happens:** mean, do, accomplish, slay · **To what, where:** slaying, magician

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 3 of lesson 1927 «Fairy Tales, The Three Snake-Leaves, part 64: a tailor frees his bride's castle, then a young king is trapped in a royal vault» 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/1927-pg7277-part64/#e3).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1927-pg7277-part64:e3:1
# text = By what means did the lady's sibling accomplish the slaying of the magician?
1	By	by	ADP	IN	_	2	case	_	_
2	what	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	4	obj	_	_
3	means	mean	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	2	acl:relcl	_	_
4	did	do	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	lady	lady	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	's	's	PART	POS	_	6	case	_	_
8	sibling	sibling	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	nsubj	_	_
9	accomplish	accomplish	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	parataxis	_	_
10	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	slaying	slaying	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obj	_	_
12	of	of	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
13	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	14	det	_	_
14	magician	magician	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	4	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 | **do** | past |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn act-114-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent what=Eventuality |
| 3 | **accomplish** | present | the lady's sibling | the slaying of the magician |  |  |  |  | vn complete-55.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent slaying=Eventuality |
| 4 | **slay** |  |  | the magician |  |  |  |  | nom slaying «act transitive»: of=patient |

<!-- .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 -->
By striking him with an axe.

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1927-pg7277-part64:e3:o1:1
# text = By striking him with an axe.
1	By	by	SCONJ	IN	_	2	mark	_	_
2	striking	strike	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
3	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	obj	_	_
4	with	with	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	axe	axe	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **strike** | gerund |  | him *= he* |  |  |  | with a axe | vn hit-18.1-1 «NP V NP PP.instrument»: agent=Agent he=Patient with axe=Instrument |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
With a sword.

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1927-pg7277-part64:e3:o2:1
# text = With a sword.
1	With	with	ADP	IN	_	3	case	_	_
2	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	sword	sword	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

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

### Option 3 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
By killing him in the form of a bull.

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1927-pg7277-part64:e3:o3:1
# text = By killing him in the form of a bull.
1	By	by	SCONJ	IN	_	2	mark	_	_
2	killing	kill	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
3	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	obj	_	_
4	in	in	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	form	form	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
7	of	of	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	bull	bull	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **kill** | gerund |  | him *= he* |  | the form of a bull |  |  | vn remove-10.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent he=Theme |
| 2 | **form** |  |  | a bull |  |  |  |  | nom form «communication transitive»: of=patient |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
By drowning him in the lake.

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1927-pg7277-part64:e3:o4:1
# text = By drowning him in the lake.
1	By	by	SCONJ	IN	_	2	mark	_	_
2	drowning	drown	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
3	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	obj	_	_
4	in	in	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	lake	lake	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **drown** | gerund |  | him *= he* |  | the lake |  |  | vn poison-42.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent he=Patient |

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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: [Fairy Tales, The Three Snake-Leaves, p…, exam 2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/1927-pg7277-part64/e2/)
- next →: [Fairy Tales, The Three Snake-Leaves, p…, exam 4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/1927-pg7277-part64/e4/)
- ↑ back to [Fairy Tales, The Three Snake-Leaves, part 64: a tailor frees his bride's castle, then a young king is trapped in a royal vault](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/1927-pg7277-part64/)