---
title: What was the principal reason given for Niels's refusal to part with… — Danish Fairy and Folk Tales, Rasmus an… · tree and pragmatics
description: What was the principal reason given for Niels's refusal to part with his firearm? Exam question 2 of lesson 709 «Danish Fairy and Folk Tales, Rasmus and Niels, part 49: Niels shoots at three giants and is caught» of the books course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics o
---

<!-- md -->
[Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/709-pg2435-part49/e2/)

<!-- crumbs -->
[home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/) / [questions](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/) / [Books](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/) / [Danish Fairy and Folk Tales, Rasmus an…](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/709-pg2435-part49/) / e2

# Exam question 2 · Danish Fairy and Folk Tales, Rasmus and Niels, part 49: Ni…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
What was the principal reason given for Niels's refusal to part with his firearm?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 2 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** Niels · **What happens:** be, give, refuse · **To what, where:** principal reason

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 2 of lesson 709 «Danish Fairy and Folk Tales, Rasmus and Niels, part 49: Niels shoots at three giants and is caught» 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/709-pg2435-part49/#e2).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:709-pg2435-part49:e2:1
# text = What was the principal reason given for Niels's refusal to part with his firearm?
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	5	nsubj	_	_
2	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	principal	principal	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	reason	reason	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
6	given	give	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	5	acl	_	_
7	for	for	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
8	Niels	Niels	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	10	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	's	's	PART	POS	_	8	case	_	_
10	refusal	refusal	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obl	_	_
11	to	to	PART	TO	_	12	mark	_	_
12	part	part	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	advcl	_	_
13	with	with	ADP	IN	_	15	case	_	_
14	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	15	nmod:poss	_	_
15	firearm	firearm	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | past |  | the principal reason |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **give** | participle |  | the principal reason *not said here* |  |  |  | for Niels's refusal | vn give-13.1-1 «NP V NP PP.asset»: agent=Agent for refusal=Asset |
| 3 | **refuse** |  | Niels |  |  |  |  |  | nom refusal «communication 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 -->
He had promised his father that he would never part with it on any road or trip

<!-- fold The tree, 17 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:709-pg2435-part49:e2:o1:1
# text = He had promised his father that he would never part with it on any road or trip
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	promised	promise	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
4	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	5	nmod:poss	_	_
5	father	father	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
6	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	10	mark	_	_
7	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	10	nsubj	_	_
8	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	10	aux	_	_
9	never	never	ADV	RB	PronType=Neg	10	advmod	_	_
10	part	part	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	advcl	_	_
11	with	with	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
12	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	10	nmod	_	_
13	on	on	ADP	IN	_	15	case	_	_
14	any	any	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	15	det	_	_
15	road	road	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
16	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	17	cc	_	_
17	trip	trip	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	15	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **promise** *speech: promise* | past · perfect | He |  | his father | any road or trip |  |  | vn future\_having-13.3 «NP V NP.theme (PP)»: agent=Agent father=Theme |
| 2 | **not** **part** | would | he |  |  |  |  | with part | tree rules |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
He could not be content without it

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:709-pg2435-part49:e2:o2:1
# text = He could not be content without it
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	5	nsubj	_	_
2	could	could	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	5	aux	_	_
3	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	5	advmod	_	_
4	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	cop	_	_
5	content	content	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
6	without	without	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	5	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **is** | could | He |  |  |  |  | without it; content *property* | tree rules |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
He had promised his father to keep it

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:709-pg2435-part49:e2:o3:1
# text = He had promised his father to keep it
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	promised	promise	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
4	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	5	nmod:poss	_	_
5	father	father	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
6	to	to	PART	TO	_	7	mark	_	_
7	keep	keep	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	advcl	_	_
8	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	7	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **promise** *speech: promise* | past · perfect | He |  | his father |  |  |  | vn future\_having-13.3 «NP V NP.theme (PP)»: agent=Agent father=Theme |
| 2 | **keep** | to-infinitive | He *not said here* | it |  |  |  |  | vn keep-15.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent it=Theme |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
He feared wolves on the long road

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:709-pg2435-part49:e2:o4:1
# text = He feared wolves on the long road
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	feared	fear	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	wolves	wolf	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obj	_	_
4	on	on	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
6	long	long	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
7	road	road	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **fear** | past | He | wolves |  | the long road |  |  | vn admire-31.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer wolf=Stimulus |

<!-- div src -->

**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 -->

<!-- pn -->
- ← previous: [Danish Fairy and Folk Tales, Rasmus an…, exam 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/709-pg2435-part49/e1/)
- next →: [Danish Fairy and Folk Tales, Rasmus an…, exam 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/709-pg2435-part49/e3/)
- ↑ back to [Danish Fairy and Folk Tales, Rasmus and Niels, part 49: Niels shoots at three giants and is caught](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/709-pg2435-part49/)