---
title: By what means does the wife ensure that the Sultana believes her acc… — Eastern Tales, Abu Nowas, part 47: Abu… · tree and pragmatics
description: By what means does the wife ensure that the Sultana believes her account of the death? Exam question 2 of lesson 707 «Eastern Tales, Abu Nowas, part 47: Abu Nowas fakes his wife's death and tricks the Sultan out of gold» of the books course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and prag
---

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# Exam question 2 · Eastern Tales, Abu Nowas, part 47: Abu Nowas fakes his wif…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
By what means does the wife ensure that the Sultana believes her account of the death?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 3 · **The right answer:** option 3 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** wife, Sultana · **What happens:** mean, ensure, believe, account · **To what, where:** account, death

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 2 of lesson 707 «Eastern Tales, Abu Nowas, part 47: Abu Nowas fakes his wife's death and tricks the Sultan out of gold» 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/707-pg2435-part47/#e2).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:707-pg2435-part47:e2:1
# text = By what means does the wife ensure that the Sultana believes her account of the death?
1	By	by	ADP	IN	_	2	case	_	_
2	what	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Rel	7	obl	_	_
3	means	mean	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	2	acl:relcl	_	_
4	does	do	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	7	aux	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	wife	wife	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nsubj	_	_
7	ensure	ensure	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
8	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	11	mark	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	Sultana	Sultana	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	11	nsubj	_	_
11	believes	believe	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	7	ccomp	_	_
12	her	her	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	13	nmod:poss	_	_
13	account	account	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	obj	_	_
14	of	of	ADP	IN	_	16	case	_	_
15	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	16	det	_	_
16	death	death	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	7	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 |
| 2 | **ensure** | present · do-support | the wife |  |  |  |  |  | vn ensure-99 «NP V that S»: agent=Precondition clause=Theme |
| 3 | **believe** | present | the Sultana | wife's account of the death |  |  |  |  | vn admire-31.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer account=Stimulus |
| 4 | **account** |  | wife | the death |  |  |  |  | nom account «communication transitive»: poss=agent of=patient |

<!-- .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 -->
She shows her face.

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:707-pg2435-part47:e2:o1:1
# text = She shows her face.
1	She	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	shows	show	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	her	her	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	4	nmod:poss	_	_
4	face	face	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **show** | present | She | her face |  |  |  |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP.recipient»: agent=Agent face=Recipient |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
She lies still and lets the Sultana see her stiff body.

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:707-pg2435-part47:e2:o2:1
# text = She lies still and lets the Sultana see her stiff body.
1	She	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	lies	lie	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	still	still	ADV	RB	_	2	advmod	_	_
4	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	5	cc	_	_
5	lets	let	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	2	conj	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	Sultana	Sultana	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	8	nsubj	_	_
8	see	see	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	ccomp	_	_
9	her	her	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	11	nmod:poss	_	_
10	stiff	stiff	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	11	amod	_	_
11	body	body	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **lie** | present | She |  |  |  | still |  | vn assuming\_position-50 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **let** | present | She *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 3 | **see** | past | the Sultana | her stiff body |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer body=Stimulus |

### Option 3 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
She appears in sackcloth and describes the sale of all their possessions.

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:707-pg2435-part47:e2:o3:1
# text = She appears in sackcloth and describes the sale of all their possessions.
1	She	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	appears	appear	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	in	in	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
4	sackcloth	sackcloth	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
5	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	6	cc	_	_
6	describes	describe	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	2	conj	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	sale	sale	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obj	_	_
9	of	of	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
10	all	all	DET	PDT	PronType=Tot	12	det:predet	_	_
11	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	12	nmod:poss	_	_
12	possessions	possession	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **appear** | present | She |  |  | sackcloth |  |  | vn appear-48.1.1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme in sackcloth=Location |
| 2 | **describe** | present | She *not said here* | the sale of their possessions |  |  |  |  | vn characterize-29.2-1-1 «NP V NP S\_ING»: agent=Agent sale=Theme |
| 3 | **possess** |  | their *= they* |  |  |  |  |  | nom possession «act transitive»: poss=agent |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
She wears sackcloth.

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:707-pg2435-part47:e2:o4:1
# text = She wears sackcloth.
1	She	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	wears	wear	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	sackcloth	sackcloth	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **wear** | present | She | sackcloth |  |  |  |  | vn wipe\_manner-10.4.1-1 «NP V NP.source»: agent=Agent sackcloth=Source |

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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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