---
title: What was the condition under which the folk were permitted to speak? — English Folk Tales, The Lost Moon: the… · tree and pragmatics
description: What was the condition under which the folk were permitted to speak? Exam question 2 of lesson 251 «English Folk Tales, The Lost Moon: the Evil Things bury the Moon in the bog, and the marsh folk find her again» of the books course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of
---

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# Exam question 2 · English Folk Tales, The Lost Moon: the Evil Things bury th…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
What was the condition under which the folk were permitted to speak?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 2 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** condition · **What happens:** be, permit, speak · **To what, where:** folk, condition · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 2 of lesson 251 «English Folk Tales, The Lost Moon: the Evil Things bury the Moon in the bog, and the marsh folk find her again» 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/251-pg14241-part18/#e2).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:251-pg14241-part18:e2:1
# text = What was the condition under which the folk were permitted to speak?
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	0	root	_	_
2	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	1	cop	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	condition	condition	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	nsubj	_	_
5	under	under	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	10	obl	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	folk	folk	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	nsubj:pass	_	_
9	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	10	aux:pass	_	_
10	permitted	permit	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	4	acl:relcl	_	_
11	to	to	PART	TO	_	12	mark	_	_
12	speak	speak	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	10	xcomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | past | the condition |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **permit** | past · passive |  | the folk |  | the condition |  |  | vn allow-64.1-1 «NP V NP S»: subject=Beneficiary clause=Eventuality |
| 3 | **speak** *speech: other* *not said to happen* | to-infinitive |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn talk-37.5 «NP V»: agent=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 -->
silence only

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:251-pg14241-part18:e2:o1:1
# text = silence only
1	silence	silence	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
2	only	only	ADV	RB	_	1	advmod	_	_
```

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

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
none; silence was required until they had returned home

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:251-pg14241-part18:e2:o2:1
# text = none; silence was required until they had returned home
1	none	none	PRON	NN	PronType=Neg	3	compound	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	;	;	PUNCT	:	_	1	punct	_	_
3	silence	silence	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj:pass	_	_
4	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	aux:pass	_	_
5	required	require	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
6	until	until	SCONJ	IN	_	9	mark	_	_
7	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	9	nsubj	_	_
8	had	have	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	9	aux	_	_
9	returned	return	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	5	xcomp	_	_
10	home	home	ADV	RB	_	9	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **require** | past · passive |  | none silence |  |  |  |  | vn order-58.3-1 «NP V NP S\_ING»: subject=Recipient clause=Topic |
| 2 | **return** | past · perfect | they |  |  |  |  | home *property* | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
only the leader spoke, and only at the bridge at dusk

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:251-pg14241-part18:e2:o3:1
# text = only the leader spoke, and only at the bridge at dusk
1	only	only	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	leader	leader	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
4	spoke	speak	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	10	punct	_	_
6	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	10	cc	_	_
7	only	only	ADV	RB	_	10	advmod	_	_
8	at	at	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	bridge	bridge	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
11	at	at	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
12	dusk	dusk	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **speak** *speech: other* | past | the leader |  |  | the bridge at dusk |  |  | vn talk-37.5 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
they could whisper only after dark on the walk

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:251-pg14241-part18:e2:o4:1
# text = they could whisper only after dark on the walk
1	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	could	could	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	3	aux	_	_
3	whisper	whisper	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
4	only	only	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	_
5	after	after	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	dark	dark	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	obl	_	_
7	on	on	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	walk	walk	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **whisper** *speech: assert* | could | they |  |  | the walk | after dark |  | vn sound\_emission-43.2 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme on walk=Location |

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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: [English Folk Tales, The Lost Moon: the…, exam 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/251-pg14241-part18/e1/)
- next →: [English Folk Tales, The Lost Moon: the…, exam 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/251-pg14241-part18/e3/)
- ↑ back to [English Folk Tales, The Lost Moon: the Evil Things bury the Moon in the bog, and the marsh folk find her again](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/251-pg14241-part18/)