---
title: What reason does the boy give for sending his gift across the street? — Andersen's Fairy Tales, The Old House,… · tree and pragmatics
description: What reason does the boy give for sending his gift across the street? Exam question 4 of lesson 298 «Andersen's Fairy Tales, The Old House, part 25: a lonely old man and a gift» 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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# Exam question 4 · Andersen's Fairy Tales, The Old House, part 25: a lonely o…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
What reason does the boy give for sending his gift across the street?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 1 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** reason, boy · **What happens:** do, give, send, gift · **To what, where:** gift, street

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 4 of lesson 298 «Andersen's Fairy Tales, The Old House, part 25: a lonely old man and a gift» 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/298-pg1597-part25/#e4).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:298-pg1597-part25:e4:1
# text = What reason does the boy give for sending his gift across the street?
1	What	what	DET	WDT	PronType=Int	2	det	_	_
2	reason	reason	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	does	do	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	boy	boy	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	_
6	give	give	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	ccomp	_	_
7	for	for	SCONJ	IN	_	8	mark	_	_
8	sending	send	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	6	advcl	_	_
9	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	10	nmod:poss	_	_
10	gift	gift	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obj	_	_
11	across	across	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
12	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
13	street	street	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **do** | present | what reason |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **give** | present | the boy |  |  |  |  |  | vn break\_down-45.8 «NP V»: agent=Patient |
| 3 | **send** | gerund | the boy *not said here* | boy's gift |  | the street |  |  | vn confine-92-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent gift=Theme |
| 4 | **gift** |  | boy |  |  |  |  |  | nom gift «possession 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 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
He knows the old man is so very lonely

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:298-pg1597-part25:e4:o1:1
# text = He knows the old man is so very lonely
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	knows	know	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	old	old	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	man	man	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	nsubj	_	_
6	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	9	cop	_	_
7	so	so	ADV	RB	_	9	advmod	_	_
8	very	very	ADV	RB	_	9	advmod	_	_
9	lonely	lonely	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	ccomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **know** | present | He |  |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Experiencer |
| 2 | **is** | present | the old man |  |  |  |  | lonely *property* | tree rules |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
He thinks the old man wants a new hat

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:298-pg1597-part25:e4:o2:1
# text = He thinks the old man wants a new hat
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	thinks	think	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	old	old	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	man	man	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	_
6	wants	want	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	2	ccomp	_	_
7	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
8	new	new	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	amod	_	_
9	hat	hat	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **think** *speech: other* | present | He |  |  |  |  |  | vn consider-29.9-2 «NP V how S»: agent=Agent clause=Theme |
| 2 | **want** | present | the old man | a new hat |  |  |  |  | vn want-32.1-1-1 «NP V NP ADV»: agent=Pivot hat=Theme |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Because the old man has no friends at all

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:298-pg1597-part25:e4:o3:1
# text = Because the old man has no friends at all
1	Because	because	SCONJ	IN	_	5	mark	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
3	old	old	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	amod	_	_
4	man	man	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
5	has	have	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
6	no	no	DET	DT	PronType=Neg	7	det	_	_
7	friends	friend	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	obj	_	_
8	at	at	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
9	all	all	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	7	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **have** | present | the old man | no friends |  | all |  |  | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent friend=Patient |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Because the old man is rich and the boy wants to be thanked by the king's son

<!-- fold The tree, 18 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:298-pg1597-part25:e4:o4:1
# text = Because the old man is rich and the boy wants to be thanked by the king's son
1	Because	because	SCONJ	IN	_	6	mark	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
3	old	old	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	amod	_	_
4	man	man	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	_
5	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	cop	_	_
6	rich	rich	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
7	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	10	cc	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	boy	boy	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	nsubj	_	_
10	wants	want	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	conj	_	_
11	to	to	PART	TO	_	13	mark	_	_
12	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	13	aux:pass	_	_
13	thanked	thank	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	10	xcomp	_	_
14	by	by	ADP	IN	_	18	case	_	_
15	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	16	det	_	_
16	king	king	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	18	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	's	's	PART	POS	_	16	case	_	_
18	son	son	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | the old man |  |  |  |  | rich *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **want** | present | the boy |  |  |  |  |  | vn want-32.1-1-1 «NP V NP S\_INF»: agent=Pivot clause=Theme |
| 3 | **thank** *speech: thank* *not said to happen* | to-infinitive · passive | the king's son |  |  |  |  |  | vn judgment-33.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=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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