---
title: Did the brothers say he was alive? Nah, what did they say? — Russian Folk-Tales, Norka: the brother… · tree and pragmatics
description: Did the brothers say he was alive? Nah, what did they say? Test 5 · ★ of lesson 427 «Russian Folk-Tales, Norka: the brothers are punished and three weddings are held» of the books course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each option; Mova's choi
---

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# Test 5 · ★ · Russian Folk-Tales, Norka: the brothers are punished and t…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Did the brothers say he was alive? Nah, what did they say?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 2 · **The right answer:** option 2 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** brothers, he · **What happens:** say, be · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 5 · ★ of lesson 427 «Russian Folk-Tales, Norka: the brothers are punished and three weddings are held» 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/427-pg22373-part19/#t5).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* Did the brothers say he was alive?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:427-pg22373-part19:t5:1
# text = Did the brothers say he was alive?
1	Did	do	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	brothers	brother	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj	_	_
4	say	say	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	7	nsubj	_	_
6	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	7	cop	_	_
7	alive	alive	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	ccomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **say** *speech: assert* | present | the brothers |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **is** | past | he |  |  |  |  | alive *property* | 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.

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 2:* Nah, what did they say?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:427-pg22373-part19:t5:2
# text = Nah, what did they say?
1	Nah	nah	INTJ	UH	_	6	discourse	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	1	punct	_	_
3	what	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	6	obj	_	_
4	did	do	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	6	aux	_	_
5	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	6	nsubj	_	_
6	say	say	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	6	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **say** *speech: assert* | past · do-support | brothers *= brother* |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V NP.topic»: agent=Agent what=Topic |

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
They said he was dead and buried, trust, honest to god

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:427-pg22373-part19:t5:o1:1
# text = They said he was dead and buried, trust, honest to god
1	They	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	said	say	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	5	nsubj	_	_
4	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
5	dead	dead	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	ccomp	_	_
6	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	7	cc	_	_
7	buried	bury	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	5	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	9	punct	_	_
9	trust	trust	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	11	punct	_	_
11	honest	honest	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	conj	_	_
12	to	to	PART	TO	_	13	mark	_	_
13	god	god	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	11	advcl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **say** *speech: assert* | past | They |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **is** | past | he |  |  |  |  | dead *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **bury** | participle | he *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn put-9.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent |
| 4 | **be** |  | he *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 5 | **god** | to-infinitive | he *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

### Option 2 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
They said he was dead, trust

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:427-pg22373-part19:t5:o2:1
# text = They said he was dead, trust
1	They	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	said	say	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	5	nsubj	_	_
4	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
5	dead	dead	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	ccomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	7	punct	_	_
7	trust	trust	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	ccomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **say** *speech: assert* | past | They |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **is** | past | he |  |  |  |  | dead *property* | tree rules |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
They said he was lost, yeah

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:427-pg22373-part19:t5:o3:1
# text = They said he was lost, yeah
1	They	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	said	say	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	5	nsubj	_	_
4	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	aux:pass	_	_
5	lost	lose	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	2	ccomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	2	punct	_	_
7	yeah	yeah	INTJ	UH	_	2	discourse	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **say** *speech: assert* | past | They |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 2 | **lose** | past · passive |  | he |  |  |  |  | vn succeed-74-3-1 «NP V NP»: subject=Eventuality |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
They reckoned he'd drowned, yeah

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:427-pg22373-part19:t5:o4:1
# text = They reckoned he'd drowned, yeah
1	They	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	reckoned	reckon	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	5	nsubj:pass	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	'd	have	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	aux	_	_
5	drowned	drown	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	2	ccomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	2	punct	_	_
7	yeah	yeah	INTJ	UH	_	2	discourse	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **reckon** | past | They |  |  |  |  |  | vn consider-29.9-1 «NP V how S»: agent=Agent clause=Theme |
| 2 | **drown** | past · perfect · passive |  | he |  |  |  |  | vn poison-42.2 «NP V NP»: subject=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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