---
title: what was the old wife's problem, like, before the trick? — Russian Folk-Tales, The Smith and the… · tree and pragmatics
description: what was the old wife's problem, like, before the trick? Test 11 · ★ of lesson 422 «Russian Folk-Tales, The Smith and the Demon: the Smith burns the seigneur, then the Demon saves him» of the books course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each o
---

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# Test 11 · ★ · Russian Folk-Tales, The Smith and the Demon: the Smith bur…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
what was the old wife's problem, like, before the trick?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 4 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** problem · **What happens:** be

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 11 · ★ of lesson 422 «Russian Folk-Tales, The Smith and the Demon: the Smith burns the seigneur, then the Demon saves 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/422-pg22373-part14/#t11).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:422-pg22373-part14:t11:1
# text = what was the old wife's problem, like, before the trick?
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	5	det	_	_
4	old	old	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	wife	wife	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	's	's	PART	POS	_	5	case	_	_
7	problem	problem	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	13	punct	_	_
9	like	like	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	9	punct	_	_
11	before	before	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
12	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
13	trick	trick	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | past | the old wife's problem like the trick |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

<!-- .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 -->
He was old and frail, and the lady wanted him to marry a younger wife

<!-- fold The tree, 15 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:422-pg22373-part14:t11:o1:1
# text = He was old and frail, and the lady wanted him to marry a younger wife
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	cop	_	_
3	old	old	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
4	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	5	cc	_	_
5	frail	frail	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	10	punct	_	_
7	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	10	cc	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	lady	lady	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	nsubj	_	_
10	wanted	want	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	conj	_	_
11	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	10	obj	_	_
12	to	to	PART	TO	_	13	mark	_	_
13	marry	marry	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	10	xcomp	_	_
14	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	16	det	_	_
15	younger	young	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	16	amod	_	_
16	wife	wife	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | past | He |  |  |  |  | old *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **be** |  | He *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 3 | **want** | past | the lady | him *= he* |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 4 | **marry** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive | him *= he* *not said here* | a younger wife |  |  |  |  | vn amalgamate-22.2-3-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent wife=Patient |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
She was old and the lady wanted youth, so she demanded a potion

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:422-pg22373-part14:t11:o2:1
# text = She was old and the lady wanted youth, so she demanded a potion
1	She	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	cop	_	_
3	old	old	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
4	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	7	cc	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	lady	lady	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nsubj	_	_
7	wanted	want	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	conj	_	_
8	youth	youth	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	12	punct	_	_
10	so	so	ADV	RB	_	12	advmod	_	_
11	she	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	12	nsubj	_	_
12	demanded	demand	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	conj	_	_
13	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	14	det	_	_
14	potion	potion	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | past | She |  |  |  |  | old *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **want** | past | the lady | youth |  |  |  |  | vn want-32.1-1-1 «NP V NP ADV»: agent=Pivot youth=Theme |
| 3 | **demand** *speech: request* | past | lady | a potion |  |  |  |  | vn require-103-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Theme potion=Precondition |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The lord was old and wanted youth

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:422-pg22373-part14:t11:o3:1
# text = The lord was old and wanted youth
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	lord	lord	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
3	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
4	old	old	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
5	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	6	cc	_	_
6	wanted	want	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	conj	_	_
7	youth	youth	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | past | the lord |  |  |  |  | old *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **want** | past | the lord *not said here* | youth |  |  |  |  | vn want-32.1-1-1 «NP V NP ADV»: agent=Pivot youth=Theme |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
She was old and the lady wanted youth

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:422-pg22373-part14:t11:o4:1
# text = She was old and the lady wanted youth
1	She	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	cop	_	_
3	old	old	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
4	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	7	cc	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	lady	lady	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nsubj	_	_
7	wanted	want	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	conj	_	_
8	youth	youth	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | past | She |  |  |  |  | old *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **want** | past | the lady | youth |  |  |  |  | vn want-32.1-1-1 «NP V NP ADV»: agent=Pivot youth=Theme |

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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.

<!-- /div -->

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- ← previous: [Russian Folk-Tales, The Smith and the…, test 10](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/422-pg22373-part14/t10/)
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