---
title: What reason did the knight give for declining the princess's hand in… — Violet Fairy Book, The Gifts of the Ma… · tree and pragmatics
description: What reason did the knight give for declining the princess's hand in marriage? Exam question 2 of lesson 682 «Violet Fairy Book, The Gifts of the Magician, part 22: a boy saves a magician from wolves and wins his horse» of the books course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragm
---

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# Exam question 2 · Violet Fairy Book, The Gifts of the Magician, part 22: a b…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
What reason did the knight give for declining the princess's hand in marriage?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 1 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** reason, knight · **What happens:** do, give, decline · **To what, where:** hand

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This is exam question 2 of lesson 682 «Violet Fairy Book, The Gifts of the Magician, part 22: a boy saves a magician from wolves and wins his horse» 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/682-pg2435-part22/#e2).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:682-pg2435-part22:e2:1
# text = What reason did the knight give for declining the princess's hand in marriage?
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	3	obj	_	_
2	reason	reason	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	did	do	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	knight	knight	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	_
6	give	give	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	ccomp	_	_
7	for	for	SCONJ	IN	_	8	mark	_	_
8	declining	decline	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	6	advcl	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	princess	princess	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	's	's	PART	POS	_	10	case	_	_
12	hand	hand	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obj	_	_
13	in	in	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
14	marriage	marriage	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **do** | past | reason |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **give** | present | the knight |  |  |  |  |  | vn break\_down-45.8 «NP V»: agent=Patient |
| 3 | **decline** | gerund | the knight *not said here* | the princess's hand |  |  |  | in marriage | vn calibratable\_cos-45.6.1-1 «NP.patient V PP.attribute NP.extent PP.source PP.goal»: agent=Patient hand=Extent in marriage=Attribute |

<!-- .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 -->
He had a wife he loved better

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:682-pg2435-part22:e2:o1:1
# text = He had a wife he loved better
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	had	have	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	wife	wife	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
5	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	6	nsubj	_	_
6	loved	love	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	acl:relcl	_	_
7	better	well	ADV	RBR	Degree=Cmp	6	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **have** | past | He | a wife |  |  |  |  | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent wife=Patient |
| 2 | **love** | past | he | a wife *not said here* |  |  |  | well *property* | vn admire-31.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer wife=Stimulus |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
He had sworn an oath to a fairy bride he loved better

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:682-pg2435-part22:e2:o2:1
# text = He had sworn an oath to a fairy bride he loved better
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	had	have	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux	_	_
3	sworn	swear	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
4	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	oath	oath	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
6	to	to	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
7	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
8	fairy	fairy	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	amod	_	_
9	bride	bride	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
10	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	11	nsubj	_	_
11	loved	love	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	9	acl:relcl	_	_
12	better	well	ADV	RBR	Degree=Cmp	11	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **swear** | past · perfect | He | a oath |  |  |  | to a fairy bride | vn conjecture-29.5 «NP V NP to be NP»: agent=Agent oath=Eventuality |
| 2 | **love** | past | he | a fairy bride *not said here* |  |  |  | well *property* | vn admire-31.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer bride=Stimulus |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
He already had a wife whom he loved more

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:682-pg2435-part22:e2:o3:1
# text = He already had a wife whom he loved more
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	already	already	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	_
3	had	have	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	wife	wife	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
6	whom	whom	PRON	WP	PronType=Rel	8	obj	_	_
7	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	8	nsubj	_	_
8	loved	love	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	acl:relcl	_	_
9	more	more	ADV	RBR	Degree=Cmp	3	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **have** | past | He | a wife |  |  |  |  | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent wife=Patient |
| 2 | **love** | past | he | a wife |  |  |  |  | vn admire-31.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer whom=Stimulus |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
He wanted to be a monk

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:682-pg2435-part22:e2:o4:1
# text = He wanted to be a monk
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	wanted	want	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	to	to	PART	TO	_	6	mark	_	_
4	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	6	cop	_	_
5	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	monk	monk	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	xcomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **want** | past | He |  |  |  |  |  | vn want-32.1-1-1 «NP V NP S\_INF»: agent=Pivot |
| 2 | **is a** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive | He *not said here* | a monk |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

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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: [Violet Fairy Book, The Gifts of the Ma…, exam 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/682-pg2435-part22/e1/)
- next →: [Violet Fairy Book, The Gifts of the Ma…, exam 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/682-pg2435-part22/e3/)
- ↑ back to [Violet Fairy Book, The Gifts of the Magician, part 22: a boy saves a magician from wolves and wins his horse](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/682-pg2435-part22/)