---
title: What misfortune befell the stepdaughters, in consequence of their co… — Russian Fairy Tales, Frost, part 49: t… · tree and pragmatics
description: What misfortune befell the stepdaughters, in consequence of their conduct toward Frost? Exam question 3 of lesson 457 «Russian Fairy Tales, Frost, part 49: the stepmother's daughters freeze in the forest» of the books course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the qu
---

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# Exam question 3 · Russian Fairy Tales, Frost, part 49: the stepmother's daug…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
What misfortune befell the stepdaughters, in consequence of their conduct toward Frost?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 4 · **The right answer:** option 1 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** misfortune, stepdaughters · **What happens:** befall, conduct · **To what, where:** stepdaughters, consequence

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 3 of lesson 457 «Russian Fairy Tales, Frost, part 49: the stepmother's daughters freeze in the forest» 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/457-pg22373-part49/#e3).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:457-pg22373-part49:e3:1
# text = What misfortune befell the stepdaughters, in consequence of their conduct toward Frost?
1	What	what	DET	WDT	PronType=Int	2	det	_	_
2	misfortune	misfortune	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	befell	befall	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	stepdaughters	stepdaughter	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	8	punct	_	_
7	in	in	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
8	consequence	consequence	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
9	of	of	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
10	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	11	nmod:poss	_	_
11	conduct	conduct	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nmod	_	_
12	toward	toward	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
13	Frost	frost	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **befall** | past | what misfortune | the stepdaughters |  | consequence of stepdaughters's conduct toward Frost |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **conduct** |  | stepdaughters *= stepdaughter* |  |  |  |  | toward Frost | nom conduct «act transitive»: poss=agent toward=obl |

<!-- .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 · ✓ the right answer {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
They were frozen to death in the forest

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:457-pg22373-part49:e3:o1:1
# text = They were frozen to death in the forest
1	They	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj:pass	_	_
2	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux:pass	_	_
3	frozen	freeze	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
4	to	to	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	death	death	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
6	in	in	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	forest	forest	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **freeze** | past · passive |  | They |  | the forest |  | to death | vn other\_cos-45.4-1 «NP V NP ADJ»: subject=Result |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
They were frozen to death in the forest after they insulted Frost and refused to be kind

<!-- fold The tree, 17 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:457-pg22373-part49:e3:o2:1
# text = They were frozen to death in the forest after they insulted Frost and refused to be kind
1	They	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj:pass	_	_
2	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux:pass	_	_
3	frozen	freeze	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
4	to	to	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	death	death	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
6	in	in	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	forest	forest	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
9	after	after	SCONJ	IN	_	11	mark	_	_
10	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	11	nsubj	_	_
11	insulted	insult	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	advcl	_	_
12	Frost	Frost	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	11	obj	_	_
13	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	14	cc	_	_
14	refused	refuse	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	11	conj	_	_
15	to	to	PART	TO	_	17	mark	_	_
16	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	17	cop	_	_
17	kind	kind	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	14	xcomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **freeze** | past · passive |  | They |  | the forest |  | to death | vn other\_cos-45.4-1 «NP V NP ADJ»: subject=Result |
| 2 | **insult** | past | they | Frost |  |  |  |  | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Stimulus frost=Experiencer |
| 3 | **refuse** | past | they *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn reject-77.2 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Agent |
| 4 | **not** **is** | to-infinitive | they *not said here* |  |  |  |  | kind *property* | tree rules |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
They were lost in a snowstorm there

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:457-pg22373-part49:e3:o3:1
# text = They were lost in a snowstorm there
1	They	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux:pass	_	_
3	lost	lose	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
4	in	in	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	snowstorm	snowstorm	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
7	there	there	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	3	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **lose** | past · passive |  | They |  | a snowstorm; there |  |  | vn succeed-74-3-1 «NP V NP»: subject=Eventuality |

### Option 4 · ← Mova's choice {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
They were frozen to death in the forest, as punishment for their rudeness toward the bridegroom

<!-- fold The tree, 16 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:457-pg22373-part49:e3:o4:1
# text = They were frozen to death in the forest, as punishment for their rudeness toward the bridegroom
1	They	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj:pass	_	_
2	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux:pass	_	_
3	frozen	freeze	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
4	to	to	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	death	death	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
6	in	in	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	forest	forest	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	11	punct	_	_
10	as	as	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
11	punishment	punishment	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	parataxis	_	_
12	for	for	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
13	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	14	nmod:poss	_	_
14	rudeness	rudeness	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	nmod	_	_
15	toward	toward	ADP	IN	_	17	case	_	_
16	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	17	det	_	_
17	bridegroom	bridegroom	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **freeze** | past · passive |  | They |  | the forest |  | to death; toward the bridegroom | vn other\_cos-45.4-1 «NP V NP ADJ»: subject=Result |

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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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