---
title: Describe the chief circumstance that delayed the embassy's voyage an… — Tales of Many Lands, The Three Robes,… · tree and pragmatics
description: Describe the chief circumstance that delayed the embassy's voyage and rendered its course uncertain. Exam question 4 of lesson 697 «Tales of Many Lands, The Three Robes, part 1: the ogress pays the youth, then the minister sets out to find a queen» of the books course of Mova's primary school, with 
---

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# Exam question 4 · Tales of Many Lands, The Three Robes, part 1: the ogress p…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Describe the chief circumstance that delayed the embassy's voyage and rendered its course uncertain.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 3 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** you, chief circumstance, embassy · **What happens:** describe, delay, render, voyage · **To what, where:** chief circumstance, voyage, course

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 4 of lesson 697 «Tales of Many Lands, The Three Robes, part 1: the ogress pays the youth, then the minister sets out to find a queen» 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/697-pg2435-part37/#e4).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:697-pg2435-part37:e4:1
# text = Describe the chief circumstance that delayed the embassy's voyage and rendered its course uncertain.
1	Describe	describe	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
3	chief	chief	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	amod	_	_
4	circumstance	circumstance	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
5	that	that	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	6	nsubj	_	_
6	delayed	delay	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	acl:relcl	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	embassy	embassy	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	's	's	PART	POS	_	8	case	_	_
10	voyage	voyage	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obj	_	_
11	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	12	cc	_	_
12	rendered	render	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	6	conj	_	_
13	its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	14	nmod:poss	_	_
14	course	course	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	obj	_	_
15	uncertain	uncertain	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	12	xcomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **describe** | imperative | you *not said here* | the chief circumstance |  |  |  |  | vn characterize-29.2-1-1 «NP V NP S\_ING»: agent=Agent circumstance=Theme |
| 2 | **delay** | past | the chief circumstance | the embassy's voyage |  |  |  |  | vn delay-53.3-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent voyage=Source |
| 3 | **render** | past | the chief circumstance *not said here* | voyage's course |  |  |  | uncertain *property* | vn give-13.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent course=Theme |
| 4 | **voyage** |  | the embassy |  |  |  |  |  | nom voyage «act transitive»: poss=agent |

<!-- .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 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A thick fog descended upon the vessel and it drifted in darkness for a whole month before the crew sighted land at last

<!-- fold The tree, 23 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:697-pg2435-part37:e4:o1:1
# text = A thick fog descended upon the vessel and it drifted in darkness for a whole month before the crew sighted land at last
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	thick	thick	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	fog	fog	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	nsubj	_	_
4	descended	descend	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	3	acl	_	_
5	upon	upon	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	vessel	vessel	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
8	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	10	cc	_	_
9	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	10	nsubj	_	_
10	drifted	drift	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
11	in	in	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
12	darkness	darkness	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	obl	_	_
13	for	for	ADP	IN	_	16	case	_	_
14	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	16	det	_	_
15	whole	whole	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	16	amod	_	_
16	month	month	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	obl	_	_
17	before	before	SCONJ	IN	_	20	mark	_	_
18	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	19	det	_	_
19	crew	crew	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	20	nsubj	_	_
20	sighted	sight	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	10	advcl	_	_
21	land	land	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	20	obj	_	_
22	at	at	ADP	IN	_	23	case	_	_
23	last	last	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	20	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **descend** | participle |  | a thick fog *not said here* |  |  |  | upon the vessel | vn meander-47.7-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 2 | **drift** | past | a thick fog |  |  | darkness | month |  | vn run-51.3.2-2 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme in darkness=Trajectory |
| 3 | **sight** | past | the crew | land |  | last |  |  | vn sight-30.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer land=Stimulus |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A dense sea mist fell and the crew were lost for many weeks

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:697-pg2435-part37:e4:o2:1
# text = A dense sea mist fell and the crew were lost for many weeks
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
2	dense	dense	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	amod	_	_
3	sea	sea	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	compound	_	_
4	mist	mist	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
5	fell	fall	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
6	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	10	cc	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	crew	crew	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	nsubj:pass	_	_
9	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	10	aux:pass	_	_
10	lost	lose	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	5	conj	_	_
11	for	for	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
12	many	many	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	13	amod	_	_
13	weeks	week	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	10	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **fall** | past | a dense sea mist |  |  |  |  |  | vn occur-48.3 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 2 | **lose** | past · passive |  | the crew |  |  | week |  | vn succeed-74-3-1 «NP V NP»: subject=Eventuality |

### Option 3 · ✓ the right answer {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A thick fog descended and the vessel drifted in darkness for a whole month

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:697-pg2435-part37:e4:o3:1
# text = A thick fog descended and the vessel drifted in darkness for a whole month
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	thick	thick	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	fog	fog	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
4	descended	descend	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	3	acl	_	_
5	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	7	cc	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	vessel	vessel	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	conj	_	_
8	drifted	drift	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	3	acl	_	_
9	in	in	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
10	darkness	darkness	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obl	_	_
11	for	for	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
12	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	14	det	_	_
13	whole	whole	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	14	amod	_	_
14	month	month	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **descend** | participle |  | a thick fog and the vessel *not said here* |  |  |  |  | vn meander-47.7-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 2 | **drift** | participle |  | a thick fog and the vessel *not said here* |  | darkness | month |  | vn run-51.3.2-2 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme in darkness=Trajectory |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The crew lost their way when a thick mist covered the sea

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:697-pg2435-part37:e4:o4:1
# text = The crew lost their way when a thick mist covered the sea
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	crew	crew	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	lost	lose	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	5	nmod:poss	_	_
5	way	way	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
6	when	when	SCONJ	WRB	_	10	mark	_	_
7	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
8	thick	thick	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	amod	_	_
9	mist	mist	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	nsubj	_	_
10	covered	cover	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	advcl	_	_
11	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
12	sea	sea	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **lose** | past | the crew | their way |  |  |  |  | vn succeed-74-3-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent way=Eventuality |
| 2 | **cover** | past | a thick mist | the sea |  |  |  |  | vn fill-9.8-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Theme sea=Destination |

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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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- ← previous: [Tales of Many Lands, The Three Robes,…, exam 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/697-pg2435-part37/e3/)
- next →: [Violet Fairy Book, Sigurd and Lineik,…, test 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/698-pg2435-part38/t1/)
- ↑ back to [Tales of Many Lands, The Three Robes, part 1: the ogress pays the youth, then the minister sets out to find a queen](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/697-pg2435-part37/)