---
title: By what means did Prince Vasily finally overcome the abductor? — Russian Folk-Tales, Prince Vasily and… · tree and pragmatics
description: By what means did Prince Vasily finally overcome the abductor? Exam question 2 of lesson 459 «Russian Folk-Tales, Prince Vasily and the Whirlwind: the youngest prince tricks Vikhor and frees his mother» of the books course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the ques
---

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# Exam question 2 · Russian Folk-Tales, Prince Vasily and the Whirlwind: the y…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
By what means did Prince Vasily finally overcome the abductor?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 4 · **The right answer:** option 2 · wrong ✗ · **What happens:** mean, do, overcome · **To what, where:** Prince, abductor · **Speech:** someone speaks here

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This is exam question 2 of lesson 459 «Russian Folk-Tales, Prince Vasily and the Whirlwind: the youngest prince tricks Vikhor and frees his mother» 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/459-pg22373-part51/#e2).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:459-pg22373-part51:e2:1
# text = By what means did Prince Vasily finally overcome the abductor?
1	By	by	SCONJ	IN	_	3	mark	_	_
2	what	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	3	nsubj	_	_
3	means	mean	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	did	do	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	ccomp	_	_
5	Prince	Prince	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	4	obj	_	_
6	Vasily	vasily	ADV	RB	_	8	advmod	_	_
7	finally	finally	ADV	RB	_	8	advmod	_	_
8	overcome	overcome	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=2|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	advcl	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	abductor	abductor	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **mean** | present |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 2 | **do** | past |  | Prince |  |  |  |  | vn act-114-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent prince=Eventuality |
| 3 | **overcome** | present |  | the abductor |  |  |  | finally, vasily *property* | vn exceed-90 «NP V NP»: agent=Pivot abductor=Theme |

<!-- .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 -->
By fighting Vikhor with his wooden sword

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:459-pg22373-part51:e2:o1:1
# text = By fighting Vikhor with his wooden sword
1	By	by	SCONJ	IN	_	2	mark	_	_
2	fighting	fight	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
3	Vikhor	Vikhor	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
4	with	with	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
5	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	7	nmod:poss	_	_
6	wooden	wooden	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
7	sword	sword	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **fight** | gerund |  | Vikhor |  |  |  | with Vikhor's wooden sword | vn battle-36.4-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent vikhor=Co-Agent |

### Option 2 · ✓ the right answer {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
By seizing the little finger of his right hand

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:459-pg22373-part51:e2:o2:1
# text = By seizing the little finger of his right hand
1	By	by	SCONJ	IN	_	2	mark	_	_
2	seizing	seize	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	little	little	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	finger	finger	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
6	of	of	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
7	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	9	nmod:poss	_	_
8	right	right	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	amod	_	_
9	hand	hand	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **seize** | gerund |  | the little finger of his right hand |  |  |  |  | vn obtain-13.5.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent finger=Theme |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
By hiding in the stove

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:459-pg22373-part51:e2:o3:1
# text = By hiding in the stove
1	By	by	SCONJ	IN	_	2	mark	_	_
2	hiding	hide	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
3	in	in	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	stove	stove	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **hide** | gerund |  |  |  | the stove |  |  | vn concealment-16-1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Agent in stove=Location |

### Option 4 · ← Mova's choice {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
By calling his brothers for help at the door

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:459-pg22373-part51:e2:o4:1
# text = By calling his brothers for help at the door
1	By	by	SCONJ	IN	_	2	mark	_	_
2	calling	call	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
3	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	4	nmod:poss	_	_
4	brothers	brother	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obj	_	_
5	for	for	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	help	help	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
7	at	at	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	door	door	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **call** | gerund |  | his brothers |  | the door |  | for help | vn get-13.5.1 «NP V NP PP.beneficiary»: agent=Agent brother=Theme for help=Beneficiary |

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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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