---
title: what made Theseus fail at his speech? — A Wonder-Book, The Minotaur, part 4: M… · tree and pragmatics
description: what made Theseus fail at his speech? Test 12 · ★ of lesson 2045 «A Wonder-Book, The Minotaur, part 4: Medea's poisoned wine nearly kills Theseus before his father recognizes him» 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 12 · ★ · A Wonder-Book, The Minotaur, part 4: Medea's poisoned wine…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
what made Theseus fail at his speech?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 2 · **The right answer:** option 2 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** his · **What happens:** make, speak · **To what, where:** Theseus fail, speech · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 12 · ★ of lesson 2045 «A Wonder-Book, The Minotaur, part 4: Medea's poisoned wine nearly kills Theseus before his father recognizes him» 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/2045-pg976-part4/#t12).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:2045-pg976-part4:t12:1
# text = what made Theseus fail at his speech?
1	what	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	2	nsubj	_	_
2	made	make	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	Theseus	Theseus	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	4	compound	_	_
4	fail	fail	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
5	at	at	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	7	nmod:poss	_	_
7	speech	speech	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **make** | past |  | Theseus fail |  | his speech |  |  | vn build-26.1-1 «NP.material V NP»: agent=Material fail=Product |
| 2 | **speak** |  | his *= he* |  |  |  |  |  | nom speech «communication transitive»: 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 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
the king's stern face frightened him so badly that he could not remember anything he had planned to say

<!-- fold The tree, 20 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:2045-pg976-part4:t12:o1:1
# text = the king's stern face frightened him so badly that he could not remember anything he had planned to say
1	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	king	king	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	's	's	PART	POS	_	2	case	_	_
4	stern	stern	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	face	face	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	_
6	frightened	frighten	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
7	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	6	obj	_	_
8	so	so	ADV	RB	_	9	advmod	_	_
9	badly	badly	ADV	RB	Degree=Pos	6	advmod	_	_
10	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	14	mark	_	_
11	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	14	nsubj	_	_
12	could	could	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	14	aux	_	_
13	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	14	advmod	_	_
14	remember	remember	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	6	advcl	_	_
15	anything	anything	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Ind	14	obj	_	_
16	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	18	nsubj	_	_
17	had	have	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	18	aux	_	_
18	planned	plan	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	15	acl:relcl	_	_
19	to	to	PART	TO	_	20	mark	_	_
20	say	say	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	18	xcomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **frighten** | past | the king's stern face | king |  |  |  | badly *property* | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Stimulus he=Experiencer |
| 2 | **not** **remember** | could | face | anything |  |  |  |  | vn characterize-29.2-1-1 «NP V NP S\_ING»: agent=Agent anything=Theme |
| 3 | **plan** | past · perfect | face |  |  |  |  |  | vn intend-61.2-1-1 «NP V S\_INF»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 4 | **say** *speech: assert* *not said to happen* | to-infinitive | face *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent |

### Option 2 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
all the big feelings choked him

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:2045-pg976-part4:t12:o2:1
# text = all the big feelings choked him
1	all	all	DET	PDT	PronType=Tot	4	det:predet	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
3	big	big	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	amod	_	_
4	feelings	feeling	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	nsubj	_	_
5	choked	choke	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
6	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	5	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **choke** | past | all big feelings |  | him *= he* |  |  |  | vn fill-9.8 «NP V NP»: agent=Theme he=Destination |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
his feelings broke his words

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:2045-pg976-part4:t12:o3:1
# text = his feelings broke his words
1	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	2	nmod:poss	_	_
2	feelings	feeling	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj	_	_
3	broke	break	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	5	nmod:poss	_	_
5	words	word	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **break** | past | his feelings | his words |  |  |  |  | vn hurt-40.8.3-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer word=Patient |
| 2 | **word** |  | his *= he* |  |  |  |  |  | nom word «communication transitive»: poss=agent |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
the words he had practiced for weeks slipped from his mind the moment he saw the throne

<!-- fold The tree, 17 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:2045-pg976-part4:t12:o4:1
# text = the words he had practiced for weeks slipped from his mind the moment he saw the throne
1	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	words	word	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	nsubj	_	_
3	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	5	nsubj	_	_
4	had	have	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	aux	_	_
5	practiced	practice	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	2	acl:relcl	_	_
6	for	for	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	weeks	week	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	obl	_	_
8	slipped	slip	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
9	from	from	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
10	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	11	nmod:poss	_	_
11	mind	mind	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obl	_	_
12	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
13	moment	moment	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obl:unmarked	_	_
14	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	15	nsubj	_	_
15	saw	see	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	13	acl:relcl	_	_
16	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	17	det	_	_
17	throne	throne	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	15	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **practice** | past · perfect | he | the words *not said here* |  |  | week |  | vn rehearse-26.8-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent word=Theme |
| 2 | **slip** | past | the words |  |  |  | moment | from his mind | vn split-23.2 «NP V PP.co-patient»: agent=Patient from mind=Co-Patient |
| 3 | **see** | past | he | the throne |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer throne=Stimulus |
| 4 | **mind** |  | his *= he* |  |  |  |  |  | nom mind «cognition transitive»: poss=agent |

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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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