---
title: Could the girls have saved themselves if they'd been nicer? — Russian Fairy Tales, Frost, part 49: t… · tree and pragmatics
description: Could the girls have saved themselves if they'd been nicer? Test 12 · ★ 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 question and of each option; Mova'
---

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# Test 12 · ★ · Russian Fairy Tales, Frost, part 49: the stepmother's daug…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Could the girls have saved themselves if they'd been nicer?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 2 · **The right answer:** option 4 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** girls · **What happens:** save, be · **To what, where:** girls

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 12 · ★ 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. 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/#t12).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:457-pg22373-part49:t12:1
# text = Could the girls have saved themselves if they'd been nicer?
1	Could	could	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	5	aux	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	girls	girl	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	nsubj:pass	_	_
4	have	have	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	aux	_	_
5	saved	save	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
6	themselves	themselves	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs|Reflex=Yes	5	obj	_	_
7	if	if	SCONJ	IN	_	11	mark	_	_
8	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	11	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	'd	have	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	11	aux	_	_
10	been	be	AUX	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	11	cop	_	_
11	nicer	nice	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	5	advcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **save** | could · perfect · passive |  | the girls |  |  |  |  | vn get-13.5.1-1 «NP V NP.beneficiary NP»: subject=Beneficiary themselves=Theme |
| 2 | **is** *a condition, not said to happen* | past · perfect | girls *= girl* |  |  |  |  | nice *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 -->
Probably, since Frost likes kind answers and gentle words from people he meets in the woods

<!-- fold The tree, 16 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:457-pg22373-part49:t12:o1:1
# text = Probably, since Frost likes kind answers and gentle words from people he meets in the woods
1	Probably	probably	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	1	punct	_	_
3	since	since	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
4	Frost	frost	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	_
5	likes	like	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
6	kind	kind	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
7	answers	answer	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	obj	_	_
8	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	10	cc	_	_
9	gentle	gentle	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	10	amod	_	_
10	words	word	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	conj	_	_
11	from	from	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
12	people	people	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	10	nmod	_	_
13	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	14	nsubj	_	_
14	meets	meet	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	12	acl:relcl	_	_
15	in	in	ADP	IN	_	17	case	_	_
16	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	17	det	_	_
17	woods	wood	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	14	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **like** | present |  | kind answers and gentle words from people |  |  | since Frost | probably *property* | vn want-32.1-1-1 «NP V NP ADV»: agent=Pivot answer=Theme |
| 2 | **meet** | present | he | people *not said here* |  | the woods |  |  | vn meet-36.3-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent people=Co-Agent |

### Option 2 · ← Mova's choice {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Probably, since Frost likes kind answers, but the girls were way too proud to try at all

<!-- fold The tree, 17 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:457-pg22373-part49:t12:o2:1
# text = Probably, since Frost likes kind answers, but the girls were way too proud to try at all
1	Probably	probably	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	1	punct	_	_
3	since	since	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
4	Frost	frost	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	_
5	likes	like	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
6	kind	kind	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
7	answers	answer	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	13	punct	_	_
9	but	but	CCONJ	CC	_	13	cc	_	_
10	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	girls	girl	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	13	nsubj	_	_
12	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	13	cop	_	_
13	way	way	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	_
14	too	too	ADV	RB	_	15	advmod	_	_
15	proud	proud	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	13	amod	_	_
16	to	to	PART	TO	_	17	mark	_	_
17	try	try	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	15	xcomp	_	_
18	at	at	ADP	IN	_	19	case	_	_
19	all	all	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	17	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **like** | present |  | kind answers |  |  | since Frost | probably *property* | vn want-32.1-1-1 «NP V NP ADV»: agent=Pivot answer=Theme |
| 2 | **is a** | past | the girls | way |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 3 | **try** | to-infinitive | the girls *not said here* |  |  | all |  |  | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V ADV-Middle»: agent=Experiencer |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Probably, since Frost likes nice folks

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:457-pg22373-part49:t12:o3:1
# text = Probably, since Frost likes nice folks
1	Probably	probably	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	1	punct	_	_
3	since	since	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
4	Frost	frost	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	_
5	likes	like	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
6	nice	nice	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
7	folks	folk	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **like** | present |  | nice folks |  |  | since Frost | probably *property* | vn want-32.1-1-1 «NP V NP ADV»: agent=Pivot folk=Theme |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Probably, since Frost likes kind answers

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:457-pg22373-part49:t12:o4:1
# text = Probably, since Frost likes kind answers
1	Probably	probably	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	1	punct	_	_
3	since	since	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
4	Frost	frost	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	_
5	likes	like	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
6	kind	kind	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
7	answers	answer	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **like** | present |  | kind answers |  |  | since Frost | probably *property* | vn want-32.1-1-1 «NP V NP ADV»: agent=Pivot answer=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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