---
title: What is the principal subject of the shadow's account of his three w… — Andersen's Fairy Tales, The Shadow, pa… · tree and pragmatics
description: What is the principal subject of the shadow's account of his three weeks in the adjacent dwelling? Exam question 2 of lesson 304 «Andersen's Fairy Tales, The Shadow, part 31: the shadow returns as a fine gentleman and boasts of what he saw» of the books course of Mova's primary school, with the depe
---

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# Exam question 2 · Andersen's Fairy Tales, The Shadow, part 31: the shadow re…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
What is the principal subject of the shadow's account of his three weeks in the adjacent dwelling?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 3 · **The right answer:** option 4 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** shadow · **What happens:** be, account · **To what, where:** principal subject, three weeks

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 2 of lesson 304 «Andersen's Fairy Tales, The Shadow, part 31: the shadow returns as a fine gentleman and boasts of what he saw» 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/304-pg1597-part31/#e2).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:304-pg1597-part31:e2:1
# text = What is the principal subject of the shadow's account of his three weeks in the adjacent dwelling?
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	5	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	principal	principal	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	subject	subject	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
6	of	of	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	shadow	shadow	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	's	's	PART	POS	_	8	case	_	_
10	account	account	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nmod	_	_
11	of	of	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
12	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	14	nmod:poss	_	_
13	three	three	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	14	nummod	_	_
14	weeks	week	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	10	nmod	_	_
15	in	in	ADP	IN	_	18	case	_	_
16	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	18	det	_	_
17	adjacent	adjacent	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	18	amod	_	_
18	dwelling	dwelling	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
19	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present |  | the principal subject |  |  |  | of the shadow's account of his three weeks in the adjacent dwelling | tree rules |
| 2 | **account** |  | the shadow | his three weeks in the adjacent dwelling |  |  |  |  | nom account «communication transitive»: poss=agent of=patient |

<!-- .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 -->
His new clothes

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:304-pg1597-part31:e2:o1:1
# text = His new clothes
1	His	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	3	nmod:poss	_	_
2	new	new	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	clothes	clothes	NOUN	NNS	Number=Ptan	0	root	_	_
```

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

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
His meeting with Poesy

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:304-pg1597-part31:e2:o2:1
# text = His meeting with Poesy
1	His	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	2	nmod:poss	_	_
2	meeting	meeting	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	with	with	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
4	Poesy	poesy	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	_
```

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

### Option 3 · ← Mova's choice {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
His journey through the town and his visits to many friends

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:304-pg1597-part31:e2:o3:1
# text = His journey through the town and his visits to many friends
1	His	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	2	nmod:poss	_	_
2	journey	journey	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	through	through	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	town	town	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	_
6	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	8	cc	_	_
7	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	8	nmod:poss	_	_
8	visits	visit	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	conj	_	_
9	to	to	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
10	many	many	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	11	amod	_	_
11	friends	friend	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **journey** |  | His *= he* |  |  | the town |  |  | nom journey «act transitive»: poss=agent through=place |
| 2 | **visit** |  | his *= he* |  |  |  |  | to many friends | nom visit «act transitive»: poss=agent to=obl |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
His encounter with Poesy and his acquisition of human form

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:304-pg1597-part31:e2:o4:1
# text = His encounter with Poesy and his acquisition of human form
1	His	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	2	nmod:poss	_	_
2	encounter	encounter	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	with	with	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
4	Poesy	poesy	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	_
5	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	7	cc	_	_
6	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	7	nmod:poss	_	_
7	acquisition	acquisition	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	conj	_	_
8	of	of	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	human	human	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	10	amod	_	_
10	form	form	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **encounter** |  | His *= he* |  |  |  |  | with Poesy | nom encounter «act transitive»: poss=agent with=obl |
| 2 | **acquire** |  | his *= he* | human form |  |  |  |  | nom acquisition «act transitive»: poss=agent of=patient |

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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: [Andersen's Fairy Tales, The Shadow, pa…, exam 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/304-pg1597-part31/e1/)
- next →: [Andersen's Fairy Tales, The Shadow, pa…, exam 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/304-pg1597-part31/e3/)
- ↑ back to [Andersen's Fairy Tales, The Shadow, part 31: the shadow returns as a fine gentleman and boasts of what he saw](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/304-pg1597-part31/)