---
title: Did they think he was dead, or did they know he was alive? — Arabian Nights, Alnaschar, part 34: th… · tree and pragmatics
description: Did they think he was dead, or did they know he was alive? Test 6 · ★ of lesson 194 «Arabian Nights, Alnaschar, part 34: the broken glass, the gold, and the trap below the house» 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 6 · ★ · Arabian Nights, Alnaschar, part 34: the broken glass, the…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Did they think he was dead, or did they know he was alive?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 4 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** they, he · **What happens:** think, be, know · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 6 · ★ of lesson 194 «Arabian Nights, Alnaschar, part 34: the broken glass, the gold, and the trap below the house» 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/194-pg128-part34/#t6).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:194-pg128-part34:t6:1
# text = Did they think he was dead, or did they know he was alive?
1	Did	do	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux	_	_
2	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
3	think	think	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
4	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	6	nsubj	_	_
5	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	6	cop	_	_
6	dead	dead	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	ccomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	11	punct	_	_
8	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	11	cc	_	_
9	did	do	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	11	aux	_	_
10	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	11	nsubj	_	_
11	know	know	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	parataxis	_	_
12	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	14	nsubj	_	_
13	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	14	cop	_	_
14	alive	alive	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	11	ccomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **think** *speech: other* | past · do-support | they |  |  |  |  |  | vn focus-87.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **is** | past | he |  |  |  |  | dead *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **know** | past · do-support | they |  |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Experiencer |
| 4 | **is** | past | he |  |  |  |  | alive *property* | tree rules |

<!-- .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 -->
They were certain he was alive and so they tied his hands and dragged him below

<!-- fold The tree, 16 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:194-pg128-part34:t6:o1:1
# text = They were certain he was alive and so they tied his hands and dragged him below
1	They	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	cop	_	_
3	certain	certain	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
4	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	6	nsubj	_	_
5	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	6	cop	_	_
6	alive	alive	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	ccomp	_	_
7	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	10	cc	_	_
8	so	so	ADV	RB	_	10	advmod	_	_
9	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	10	nsubj	_	_
10	tied	tie	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	conj	_	_
11	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	12	nmod:poss	_	_
12	hands	hand	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	10	obj	_	_
13	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	14	cc	_	_
14	dragged	drag	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	10	conj	_	_
15	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	14	obj	_	_
16	below	below	ADV	RB	_	14	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | past | They |  |  |  |  | certain *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **is** | past | he |  |  |  |  | alive *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **tie** | past | they | his hands |  |  |  |  | vn mix-22.1-2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent hand=Patient |
| 4 | **drag** | past | they *not said here* | him *= he* |  |  |  | below *property* | vn carry-11.4 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent he=Theme |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
They knew he was alive but ignored him

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:194-pg128-part34:t6:o2:1
# text = They knew he was alive but ignored him
1	They	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	knew	know	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	5	nsubj	_	_
4	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
5	alive	alive	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	ccomp	_	_
6	but	but	CCONJ	CC	_	7	cc	_	_
7	ignored	ignore	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	2	conj	_	_
8	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	7	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **know** | past | They |  |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Experiencer |
| 2 | **is** | past | he |  |  |  |  | alive *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **ignore** | past | They *not said here* | him *= he* |  |  |  |  | vn neglect-75.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent he=Theme |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
They thought he was dead, so they threw him in the sea and left him there

<!-- fold The tree, 16 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:194-pg128-part34:t6:o3:1
# text = They thought he was dead, so they threw him in the sea and left him there
1	They	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	thought	think	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	5	nsubj	_	_
4	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
5	dead	dead	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	ccomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	9	punct	_	_
7	so	so	ADV	RB	_	9	advmod	_	_
8	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	9	nsubj	_	_
9	threw	throw	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	2	parataxis	_	_
10	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	9	obj	_	_
11	in	in	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
12	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
13	sea	sea	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obl	_	_
14	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	15	cc	_	_
15	left	leave	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	2	conj	_	_
16	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	15	obj	_	_
17	there	there	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	15	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **think** *speech: other* | past | They |  |  |  |  |  | vn focus-87.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **is** | past | he |  |  |  |  | dead *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **throw** | past | they | him *= he* |  | the sea |  |  | vn throw-17.1-1-1 «NP V NP PP.destinations»: agent=Agent he=Theme in sea=Destination |
| 4 | **leave** | past | They *not said here* | him *= he* |  | there |  |  | vn keep-15.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent he=Theme |

### Option 4 · ✓ the right answer {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
They thought he was dead, so they salted him

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:194-pg128-part34:t6:o4:1
# text = They thought he was dead, so they salted him
1	They	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	thought	think	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	5	nsubj	_	_
4	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
5	dead	dead	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	ccomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	9	punct	_	_
7	so	so	ADV	RB	_	9	advmod	_	_
8	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	9	nsubj	_	_
9	salted	salt	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	2	conj	_	_
10	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	9	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **think** *speech: other* | past | They |  |  |  |  |  | vn focus-87.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **is** | past | he |  |  |  |  | dead *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **salt** | past | they |  | him *= he* |  |  |  | vn butter-9.9 «NP V NP.destination»: agent=Agent he=Destination |

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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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