---
title: Did the old woman push him down the stairs or what? — Arabian Nights, Alnaschar, part 34: th… · tree and pragmatics
description: Did the old woman push him down the stairs or what? Test 8 · ★ 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; Mova's
---

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# Test 8 · ★ · Arabian Nights, Alnaschar, part 34: the broken glass, the…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Did the old woman push him down the stairs or what?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 1 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** old woman · **What happens:** push down · **To what, where:** him

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 8 · ★ 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/#t8).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:194-pg128-part34:t8:1
# text = Did the old woman push him down the stairs or what?
1	Did	do	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	aux	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
3	old	old	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	amod	_	_
4	woman	woman	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
5	push	push	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
6	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	5	obj	_	_
7	down	down	ADP	RP	_	5	compound:prt	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	stairs	stair	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	obj	_	_
10	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	11	cc	_	_
11	what	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Rel	9	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **push down** | past · do-support | the old woman | him *= he* |  |  |  |  | vn funnel-9.3-1-1 «NP V NP ADVP»: agent=Agent he=Theme stair=Destination |

<!-- .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 · ✓ the right answer {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
She dragged him to a trapdoor and threw him in

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:194-pg128-part34:t8:o1:1
# text = She dragged him to a trapdoor and threw him in
1	She	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	dragged	drag	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	obj	_	_
4	to	to	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	trapdoor	trapdoor	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
7	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	8	cc	_	_
8	threw	throw	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	2	conj	_	_
9	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	8	obj	_	_
10	in	in	ADP	IN	_	8	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **drag** | past | She | him *= he* |  | a trapdoor |  |  | vn carry-11.4 «NP V NP PP.destination»: agent=Agent he=Theme to trapdoor=Destination |
| 2 | **throw** | past | She *not said here* | him *= he* |  |  |  |  | vn throw-17.1-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent he=Theme |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
She pulled him to a hatch and dropped him

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:194-pg128-part34:t8:o2:1
# text = She pulled him to a hatch and dropped him
1	She	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	pulled	pull	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	obj	_	_
4	to	to	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	hatch	hatch	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
7	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	8	cc	_	_
8	dropped	drop	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	2	conj	_	_
9	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	8	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **pull** | past | She | him *= he* |  | a hatch |  |  | vn carry-11.4 «NP V NP PP.destination»: agent=Agent he=Theme to hatch=Destination |
| 2 | **drop** | past | She *not said here* | him *= he* |  |  |  |  | vn put\_direction-9.4 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent he=Theme |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
She hauled him over to the cellar door

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:194-pg128-part34:t8:o3:1
# text = She hauled him over to the cellar door
1	She	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	hauled	haul	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	obj	_	_
4	over	over	ADP	RP	_	2	compound:prt	_	_
5	to	to	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
7	cellar	cellar	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	compound	_	_
8	door	door	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **haul over** | past | She | him *= he* |  | the cellar door |  |  | vn carry-11.4 «NP V NP PP.destination»: agent=Agent he=Theme to door=Destination |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
She pushed him down stairs

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:194-pg128-part34:t8:o4:1
# text = She pushed him down stairs
1	She	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	pushed	push	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	obj	_	_
4	down	down	ADP	RP	_	2	compound:prt	_	_
5	stairs	stair	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **push down** | past | She | him *= he* |  |  |  |  | vn funnel-9.3-1-1 «NP V NP ADVP»: agent=Agent he=Theme stair=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.

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