---
title: Mate, how did the servant suddenly get the ducks' talk? — Grimm, The White Snake, part 1: the se… · tree and pragmatics
description: Mate, how did the servant suddenly get the ducks' talk? Test 1 · ★ of lesson 1932 «Grimm, The White Snake, part 1: the servant gets animal talk and the animals repay his kindness» 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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# Test 1 · ★ · Grimm, The White Snake, part 1: the servant gets animal ta…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Mate, how did the servant suddenly get the ducks' talk?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 2 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** ducks · **What happens:** get, talk · **To what, where:** Mate

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 1 · ★ of lesson 1932 «Grimm, The White Snake, part 1: the servant gets animal talk and the animals repay his kindness» 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/1932-pg7277-part69/#t1).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1932-pg7277-part69:t1:1
# text = Mate, how did the servant suddenly get the ducks' talk?
1	Mate	mate	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	8	punct	_	_
3	how	how	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	8	advmod	_	_
4	did	do	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	8	aux	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	servant	servant	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obj	_	_
7	suddenly	suddenly	ADV	RB	_	8	advmod	_	_
8	get	get	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	ducks	duck	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	12	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	'	's	PART	POS	_	10	case	_	_
12	talk	talk	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	8	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **get** | past · do-support |  | Mate |  |  |  | suddenly *property* | vn comprehend-87.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer talk=Stimulus |
| 2 | **talk** |  | the ducks |  |  |  |  |  | nom talk «communication intransitive»: poss=agent |

<!-- .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 -->
He'd eaten a little bit of the white snake that the cook had cooked for the King.

<!-- fold The tree, 18 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1932-pg7277-part69:t1:o1:1
# text = He'd eaten a little bit of the white snake that the cook had cooked for the King.
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	'd	have	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux	_	_
3	eaten	eat	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
4	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
5	little	little	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	bit	bit	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
7	of	of	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
9	white	white	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	10	amod	_	_
10	snake	snake	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nmod	_	_
11	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	15	mark	_	_
12	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
13	cook	cook	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	15	nsubj:pass	_	_
14	had	have	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	15	aux	_	_
15	cooked	cook	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	10	acl	_	_
16	for	for	ADP	IN	_	18	case	_	_
17	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	18	det	_	_
18	King	King	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	15	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
19	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **eat** | past · perfect | He | a little bit of the white snake |  |  |  |  | vn eat-39.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent bit=Patient |
| 2 | **cook** | past · perfect · passive | the white snake *not said here* | the cook |  |  |  | for the King | vn build-26.1 «NP V NP PP.beneficiary»: subject=Product for king=Beneficiary |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
He'd eaten a bit of the white snake.

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1932-pg7277-part69:t1:o2:1
# text = He'd eaten a bit of the white snake.
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	'd	have	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux	_	_
3	eaten	eat	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
4	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	bit	bit	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
6	of	of	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
8	white	white	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	amod	_	_
9	snake	snake	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **eat** | past · perfect | He | a bit of the white snake |  |  |  |  | vn eat-39.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent bit=Patient |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
He'd tasted a small piece of the white snake from the covered dish at the palace table.

<!-- fold The tree, 18 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1932-pg7277-part69:t1:o3:1
# text = He'd tasted a small piece of the white snake from the covered dish at the palace table.
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	'd	have	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux	_	_
3	tasted	taste	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
4	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
5	small	small	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	piece	piece	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
7	of	of	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
9	white	white	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	10	amod	_	_
10	snake	snake	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nmod	_	_
11	from	from	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
12	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	14	det	_	_
13	covered	cover	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	14	amod	_	_
14	dish	dish	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	nmod	_	_
15	at	at	ADP	IN	_	18	case	_	_
16	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	18	det	_	_
17	palace	palace	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	18	compound	_	_
18	table	table	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
19	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **taste** | past · perfect | He | a small piece of the white snake from the covered dish at the palace table |  |  |  |  | vn seem-109 «NP V ADJ»: agent=Theme piece=Attribute |
| 2 | **cover** | participle |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn fill-9.8-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Theme |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
He'd eaten the black snake.

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1932-pg7277-part69:t1:o4:1
# text = He'd eaten the black snake.
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	'd	have	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux	_	_
3	eaten	eat	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
5	black	black	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	snake	snake	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **eat** | past · perfect | He | the black snake |  |  |  |  | vn eat-39.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent snake=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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