--- title: Why did the Miller and his son carry the Ass over the bridge? — Aesop's Fables, The Birdcatcher and th… · tree and pragmatics description: Why did the Miller and his son carry the Ass over the bridge? Exam question 4 of lesson 393 «Aesop's Fables, The Birdcatcher and the Cock, part 14: a bird begs for its life, a Cock argues, and many short animal tales follow» of the books course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/393-pg21-part14/e4/) [home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/) / [questions](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/) / [Books](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/) / [Aesop's Fables, The Birdcatcher and th…](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/393-pg21-part14/) / e4 # Exam question 4 · Aesop's Fables, The Birdcatcher and the Cock, part 14: a b… Why did the Miller and his son carry the Ass over the bridge? **Mova's choice:** option 4 · **The right answer:** option 3 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** Miller · **What happens:** carry · **To what, where:** Ass, bridge This is exam question 4 of lesson 393 «Aesop's Fables, The Birdcatcher and the Cock, part 14: a bird begs for its life, a Cock argues, and many short animal tales follow» 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/393-pg21-part14/#e4). ## The question {#question} ```conllu # sent_id = question:books:393-pg21-part14:e4:1 # text = Why did the Miller and his son carry the Ass over the bridge? 1 Why why ADV WRB PronType=Int 8 advmod _ _ 2 did do AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 8 aux _ _ 3 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 4 det _ _ 4 Miller Miller PROPN NNP Number=Sing 8 nsubj _ _ 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 son son NOUN NN Number=Sing 4 conj _ _ 8 carry carry VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 0 root _ _ 9 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 10 det _ _ 10 Ass ass NOUN NN Number=Sing 8 obj _ _ 11 over over ADP IN _ 13 case _ _ 12 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 13 det _ _ 13 bridge bridge NOUN NN Number=Sing 8 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 14 ? ? PUNCT . _ 8 punct _ _ ``` | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **carry** | past · do-support | the Miller and his son | the Ass | | the bridge | | | vn carry-11.4 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent ass=Theme | 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} They wanted to keep it from falling ```conllu # sent_id = question:books:393-pg21-part14:e4:o1:1 # text = They wanted to keep it from falling 1 They they PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs 2 nsubj _ _ 2 wanted want VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 0 root _ _ 3 to to PART TO _ 4 mark _ _ 4 keep keep VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 2 xcomp _ _ 5 it it PRON PRP Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 4 obj _ _ 6 from from SCONJ IN _ 7 mark _ _ 7 falling fall VERB VBG Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part 4 advcl _ _ ``` | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **want** | past | They | | | | | | vn want-32.1-1-1 «NP V NP S\_INF»: agent=Pivot clause=Theme | | 2 | **keep** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive | They *not said here* | it | | | | | vn keep-15.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent it=Theme | | 3 | **fall** | gerund | They *not said here* | | | | | | vn occur-48.3 «NP V»: agent=Theme | ### Option 2 {#o2} The bridge was broken ```conllu # sent_id = question:books:393-pg21-part14:e4:o2:1 # text = The bridge was broken 1 The the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 2 det _ _ 2 bridge bridge NOUN NN Number=Sing 4 nsubj:pass _ _ 3 was be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 4 aux:pass _ _ 4 broken break VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass 0 root _ _ ``` | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **break** | past · passive | | the bridge | | | | | vn hurt-40.8.3-1-1 «NP V NP»: subject=Patient | ### Option 3 · ✓ the right answer {#o3} They had tied its legs to carry it on a pole ```conllu # sent_id = question:books:393-pg21-part14:e4:o3:1 # text = They had tied its legs to carry it on a pole 1 They they PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs 3 nsubj:pass _ _ 2 had have AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 3 aux _ _ 3 tied tie VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass 0 root _ _ 4 its its PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 5 nmod:poss _ _ 5 legs leg NOUN NNS Number=Plur 3 obj _ _ 6 to to PART TO _ 7 mark _ _ 7 carry carry VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 3 advcl _ _ 8 it it PRON PRP Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 7 obj _ _ 9 on on ADP IN _ 11 case _ _ 10 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 11 det _ _ 11 pole pole NOUN NN Number=Sing 7 obl _ _ ``` | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **tie** | past · perfect · passive | | They | | | | | vn tape-22.4 «NP V NP ADJP»: subject=Patient leg=Result | | 2 | **carry** | to-infinitive | | it | | a pole | | | vn carry-11.4 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent it=Theme | ### Option 4 · ← Mova's choice {#o4} The Ass refused to cross the bridge ```conllu # sent_id = question:books:393-pg21-part14:e4:o4:1 # text = The Ass refused to cross the bridge 1 The the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 2 det _ _ 2 Ass ass NOUN NN Number=Sing 3 nsubj _ _ 3 refused refuse VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 0 root _ _ 4 to to PART TO _ 5 mark _ _ 5 cross cross VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 3 xcomp _ _ 6 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 7 det _ _ 7 bridge bridge NOUN NN Number=Sing 5 obj _ _ ``` | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **refuse** | past | the Ass | | | | | | vn reject-77.2 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Agent clause=Theme | | 2 | **not** **cross** | to-infinitive | the Ass *not said here* | the bridge | | | | | vn crane-40.3.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent bridge=Patient | **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. - ← previous: [Aesop's Fables, The Birdcatcher and th…, exam 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/393-pg21-part14/e3/) - next →: [Aesop's Fables, The Cat and the Mice,…, test 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/394-pg21-part15/t1/) - ↑ back to [Aesop's Fables, The Birdcatcher and the Cock, part 14: a bird begs for its life, a Cock argues, and many short animal tales follow](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/393-pg21-part14/)