---
title: Ayo, what's a distaff even? — Russian Folk-Tales, Mother Friday, par… · tree and pragmatics
description: Ayo, what's a distaff even? Test 11 · ★ of lesson 453 «Russian Folk-Tales, Mother Friday, part 45: Ivan tricks the Zluidni into the river, and Friday punishes a spinner» of the books course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each option; Mova's c
---

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# Test 11 · ★ · Russian Folk-Tales, Mother Friday, part 45: Ivan tricks th…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Ayo, what's a distaff even?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 1 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** Ayo · **What happens:** be · **To what, where:** distaff

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 11 · ★ of lesson 453 «Russian Folk-Tales, Mother Friday, part 45: Ivan tricks the Zluidni into the river, and Friday punishes a spinner» 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/453-pg22373-part45/#t11).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:453-pg22373-part45:t11:1
# text = Ayo, what's a distaff even?
1	Ayo	Ayo	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	6	punct	_	_
3	what	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	6	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	's	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	cop	_	_
5	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	distaff	distaff	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	appos	_	_
7	even	even	ADV	RB	_	6	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | Ayo | a distaff |  |  |  |  | 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 · ✓ the right answer {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A stick for holding flax

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:453-pg22373-part45:t11:o1:1
# text = A stick for holding flax
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	stick	stick	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	for	for	SCONJ	IN	_	4	mark	_	_
4	holding	hold	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	2	acl	_	_
5	flax	flax	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **hold** | gerund | a stick *not said here* | flax |  |  |  |  | vn keep-15.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent flax=Theme |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A tall stand for weaving the threads of the loom

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:453-pg22373-part45:t11:o2:1
# text = A tall stand for weaving the threads of the loom
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	tall	tall	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	stand	stand	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
4	for	for	SCONJ	IN	_	5	mark	_	_
5	weaving	weave	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	3	acl	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	threads	thread	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	obj	_	_
8	of	of	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	loom	loom	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **weave** | gerund | a tall stand *not said here* | the threads of the loom |  |  |  |  | vn build-26.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent thread=Product |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A tool for cutting wool

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:453-pg22373-part45:t11:o3:1
# text = A tool for cutting wool
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	tool	tool	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	for	for	SCONJ	IN	_	4	mark	_	_
4	cutting	cut	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	2	acl	_	_
5	wool	wool	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **cut** | gerund | a tool *not said here* | wool |  |  |  |  | vn build-26.1-1 «NP.asset V NP»: agent=Asset wool=Product |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A wooden beam used to press cloth

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:453-pg22373-part45:t11:o4:1
# text = A wooden beam used to press cloth
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	wooden	wooden	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	beam	beam	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
4	used	use	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	3	acl	_	_
5	to	to	PART	TO	_	6	mark	_	_
6	press	press	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	advcl	_	_
7	cloth	cloth	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **use** | participle |  | a wooden beam *not said here* |  |  |  |  | vn eat-39.1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **press** | to-infinitive |  | cloth |  |  |  |  | vn push-12-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent cloth=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.

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- ← previous: [Russian Folk-Tales, Mother Friday, par…, test 10](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/453-pg22373-part45/t10/)
- next →: [Russian Folk-Tales, Mother Friday, par…, test 12](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/453-pg22373-part45/t12/)
- ↑ back to [Russian Folk-Tales, Mother Friday, part 45: Ivan tricks the Zluidni into the river, and Friday punishes a spinner](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/453-pg22373-part45/)