---
title: On what grounds does the tanuki's son challenge his father to a cont… — Japanese Fairy Tales, The Fox and the… · tree and pragmatics
description: On what grounds does the tanuki's son challenge his father to a contest of disguise? Exam question 2 of lesson 713 «Japanese Fairy Tales, The Fox and the Tanuki: the tanuki sells his wife, and his son takes revenge» of the books course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatic
---

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# Exam question 2 · Japanese Fairy Tales, The Fox and the Tanuki: the tanuki s…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
On what grounds does the tanuki's son challenge his father to a contest of disguise?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 3 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** grounds · **What happens:** challenge, contest · **To what, where:** father, disguise

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 2 of lesson 713 «Japanese Fairy Tales, The Fox and the Tanuki: the tanuki sells his wife, and his son takes revenge» 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/713-pg2435-part53/#e2).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:713-pg2435-part53:e2:1
# text = On what grounds does the tanuki's son challenge his father to a contest of disguise?
1	On	on	ADP	IN	_	2	case	_	_
2	what	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Rel	9	obl	_	_
3	grounds	grounds	NOUN	NNS	Number=Ptan	9	nsubj	_	_
4	does	do	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	9	aux	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	tanuki	tanuki	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	's	's	PART	POS	_	6	case	_	_
8	son	son	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	nsubj	_	_
9	challenge	challenge	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
10	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	11	nmod:poss	_	_
11	father	father	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obj	_	_
12	to	to	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
13	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	14	det	_	_
14	contest	contest	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obl	_	_
15	of	of	ADP	IN	_	16	case	_	_
16	disguise	disguise	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	9	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **challenge** | present · do-support | grounds | son's father |  |  |  | to a contest of disguise | tree rules |
| 2 | **contest** |  |  | disguise |  |  |  |  | nom contest «event transitive»: 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 · ← Mova's choice {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Because he claims he can outwit his father

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:713-pg2435-part53:e2:o1:1
# text = Because he claims he can outwit his father
1	Because	because	SCONJ	IN	_	3	mark	_	_
2	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
3	claims	claim	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	6	nsubj	_	_
5	can	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	6	aux	_	_
6	outwit	outwit	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	xcomp	_	_
7	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	8	nmod:poss	_	_
8	father	father	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **claim** *speech: other* | present | he |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 2 | **outwit** | can | he | his father |  |  |  |  | vn exceed-90 «NP V NP»: agent=Pivot father=Theme |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Because he wants to prove he is the stronger one

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:713-pg2435-part53:e2:o2:1
# text = Because he wants to prove he is the stronger one
1	Because	because	SCONJ	IN	_	3	mark	_	_
2	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
3	wants	want	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	10	advcl	_	_
4	to	to	PART	TO	_	5	mark	_	_
5	prove	prove	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	xcomp	_	_
6	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	5	obj	_	_
7	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	10	cop	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
9	stronger	strong	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	10	amod	_	_
10	one	one	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **want** | present | he |  |  |  |  |  | vn want-32.1-1-1 «NP V NP S\_INF»: agent=Pivot clause=Theme |
| 2 | **prove** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive | he *not said here* | he |  |  |  |  | vn deduce-97.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent he=Theme |
| 3 | **is a** | present |  | the stronger one |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
On the grounds that he too is a skilled wizard

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:713-pg2435-part53:e2:o3:1
# text = On the grounds that he too is a skilled wizard
1	On	on	ADP	IN	_	3	case	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	grounds	grounds	NOUN	NNS	Number=Ptan	0	root	_	_
4	that	that	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	10	nsubj	_	_
5	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	10	nsubj	_	_
6	too	too	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
7	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	10	cop	_	_
8	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
9	skilled	skilled	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	10	amod	_	_
10	wizard	wizard	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	acl:relcl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | the grounds | a skilled wizard |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Because he thinks he is better

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:713-pg2435-part53:e2:o4:1
# text = Because he thinks he is better
1	Because	because	SCONJ	IN	_	3	mark	_	_
2	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
3	thinks	think	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	advcl	_	_
4	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	6	nsubj	_	_
5	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	cop	_	_
6	better	good	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **think** *speech: other* | present | he |  |  |  |  |  | vn focus-87.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **is** | present | he |  |  |  |  | good *property* | 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.

<!-- /div -->

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