---
title: By what means did the usher prevent the execution? — Arabian Nights, The Hunchback, part 33… · tree and pragmatics
description: By what means did the usher prevent the execution? Exam question 3 of lesson 193 «Arabian Nights, The Hunchback, part 33: the tailor confesses, the Sultan summons everyone, and Alnaschar dreams of riches» of the books course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the qu
---

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# Exam question 3 · Arabian Nights, The Hunchback, part 33: the tailor confess…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
By what means did the usher prevent the execution?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 3 · **The right answer:** option 3 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** usher · **What happens:** mean, prevent · **To what, where:** execution

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This is exam question 3 of lesson 193 «Arabian Nights, The Hunchback, part 33: the tailor confesses, the Sultan summons everyone, and Alnaschar dreams of riches» 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/193-pg128-part33/#e3).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:193-pg128-part33:e3:1
# text = By what means did the usher prevent the execution?
1	By	by	ADP	IN	_	2	case	_	_
2	what	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Rel	7	obl	_	_
3	means	mean	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	2	acl:relcl	_	_
4	did	do	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	7	aux	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	usher	usher	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nsubj	_	_
7	prevent	prevent	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	execution	execution	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	7	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 | **prevent** | past · do-support | the usher | the execution |  |  |  |  | vn forbid-64.4-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Causer execution=Theme |

<!-- .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 force

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:193-pg128-part33:e3:o1:1
# text = By force
1	By	by	ADP	IN	_	2	case	_	_
2	force	force	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
```

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

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
By shouting

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:193-pg128-part33:e3:o2:1
# text = By shouting
1	By	by	SCONJ	IN	_	2	mark	_	_
2	shouting	shout	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **shout** *speech: express* | gerund |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn manner\_speaking-37.3 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
By delivering the Sultan's command

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:193-pg128-part33:e3:o3:1
# text = By delivering the Sultan's command
1	By	by	SCONJ	IN	_	2	mark	_	_
2	delivering	deliver	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	Sultan	Sultan	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	6	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	's	's	PART	POS	_	4	case	_	_
6	command	command	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **deliver** | gerund |  | the Sultan's command |  |  |  |  | vn birth-28.2-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent command=Patient |
| 2 | **command** |  | the Sultan |  |  |  |  |  | nom command «communication transitive»: poss=agent |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
By reading the royal decree aloud

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:193-pg128-part33:e3:o4:1
# text = By reading the royal decree aloud
1	By	by	SCONJ	IN	_	2	mark	_	_
2	reading	read	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	royal	royal	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	decree	decree	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
6	aloud	aloud	ADV	RB	_	2	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **read** | gerund |  | the royal decree |  |  |  | aloud *property* | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent decree=Topic |

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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, The Hunchback, part 33…, exam 2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/193-pg128-part33/e2/)
- next →: [Arabian Nights, The Hunchback, part 33…, exam 4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/193-pg128-part33/e4/)
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