---
title: so why were the stepsisters so salty? — Russian Folk-Tales, Vasilissa the Fair… · tree and pragmatics
description: so why were the stepsisters so salty? Test 3 · ★ of lesson 441 «Russian Folk-Tales, Vasilissa the Fair, part 33: a dying mother leaves a doll, and a stepmother makes Vasilissa work» of the books course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each opti
---

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# Test 3 · ★ · Russian Folk-Tales, Vasilissa the Fair, part 33: a dying m…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
so why were the stepsisters so salty?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 2 · **The right answer:** option 2 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** stepsisters · **What happens:** be

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 3 · ★ of lesson 441 «Russian Folk-Tales, Vasilissa the Fair, part 33: a dying mother leaves a doll, and a stepmother makes Vasilissa work» 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/441-pg22373-part33/#t3).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:441-pg22373-part33:t3:1
# text = so why were the stepsisters so salty?
1	so	so	ADV	RB	_	7	advmod	_	_
2	why	why	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	7	advmod	_	_
3	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	7	cop	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	stepsisters	stepsister	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	nsubj	_	_
6	so	so	ADV	RB	_	7	advmod	_	_
7	salty	salty	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	7	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | past | the stepsisters |  |  |  |  | salty *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.

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
cuz she got all the gifts

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:441-pg22373-part33:t3:o1:1
# text = cuz she got all the gifts
1	cuz	cuz	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
2	she	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
3	got	get	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	all	all	DET	PDT	PronType=Tot	6	det:predet	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	gifts	gift	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **get** | past | cuz | all gifts |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer gift=Stimulus |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
cuz Vasilissa was the prettiest

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:441-pg22373-part33:t3:o2:1
# text = cuz Vasilissa was the prettiest
1	cuz	cuz	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
2	Vasilissa	Vasilissa	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	1	flat	_	_
3	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	prettiest	pretty	ADJ	JJS	Degree=Sup	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | past | cuz |  |  |  |  | pretty *property* | tree rules |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
cuz Vasilissa was the prettiest and everyone in town kept talking about her

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:441-pg22373-part33:t3:o3:1
# text = cuz Vasilissa was the prettiest and everyone in town kept talking about her
1	cuz	cuz	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
2	Vasilissa	Vasilissa	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	1	flat	_	_
3	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	prettiest	pretty	ADJ	JJS	Degree=Sup	0	root	_	_
6	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	10	cc	_	_
7	everyone	everyone	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Tot	10	nsubj	_	_
8	in	in	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
9	town	town	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nmod	_	_
10	kept	keep	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	conj	_	_
11	talking	talk	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	10	xcomp	_	_
12	about	about	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
13	her	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	11	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | past | cuz |  |  |  |  | pretty *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **keep** | past | everyone |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 3 | **talk** | gerund | everyone *not said here* |  |  |  |  | about cuz | vn talk-37.5 «NP V PP.topic»: agent=Agent about she=Topic |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
cuz Vasilissa was the prettiest and dad loved her more

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:441-pg22373-part33:t3:o4:1
# text = cuz Vasilissa was the prettiest and dad loved her more
1	cuz	cuz	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
2	Vasilissa	Vasilissa	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	1	flat	_	_
3	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	prettiest	pretty	ADJ	JJS	Degree=Sup	0	root	_	_
6	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	8	cc	_	_
7	dad	dad	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nsubj	_	_
8	loved	love	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	conj	_	_
9	her	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	8	obj	_	_
10	more	more	ADV	RBR	Degree=Cmp	8	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | past | cuz |  |  |  |  | pretty *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **love** | past | dad | cuz |  |  |  |  | vn admire-31.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer she=Stimulus |

<!-- div src -->

**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, Vasilissa the Fair…, test 2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/441-pg22373-part33/t2/)
- next →: [Russian Folk-Tales, Vasilissa the Fair…, test 4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/441-pg22373-part33/t4/)
- ↑ back to [Russian Folk-Tales, Vasilissa the Fair, part 33: a dying mother leaves a doll, and a stepmother makes Vasilissa work](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/441-pg22373-part33/)