---
title: What was the outcome of the cow-herd's failure to return the calf? — Grimm's Household Tales, The Old Man a… · tree and pragmatics
description: What was the outcome of the cow-herd's failure to return the calf? Exam question 2 of lesson 751 «Grimm's Household Tales, The Old Man and His Grandson: a wooden calf, a raven and a hidden Devil» of the books course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question an
---

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# Exam question 2 · Grimm's Household Tales, The Old Man and His Grandson: a w…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
What was the outcome of the cow-herd's failure to return the calf?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 4 · **The right answer:** option 2 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** cow herd · **What happens:** be, return, fail · **To what, where:** outcome, calf

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 2 of lesson 751 «Grimm's Household Tales, The Old Man and His Grandson: a wooden calf, a raven and a hidden Devil» 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/751-pg2591-part27/#e2).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:751-pg2591-part27:e2:1
# text = What was the outcome of the cow-herd's failure to return the calf?
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	4	nsubj	_	_
2	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	outcome	outcome	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
5	of	of	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
7	cow	cow	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	compound	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	7	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	herd	herd	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	's	's	PART	POS	_	9	case	_	_
11	failure	failure	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nmod	_	_
12	to	to	PART	TO	_	13	mark	_	_
13	return	return	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	11	acl	_	_
14	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	15	det	_	_
15	calf	calf	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | past |  | the outcome |  |  |  | of the cow herd's failure | tree rules |
| 2 | **return** | to-infinitive |  | the calf |  |  |  |  | vn send-11.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent calf=Theme |
| 3 | **fail** |  | the cow herd |  |  |  |  |  | nom failure «act intransitive»: 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 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
He was ordered to surrender a cow and was also banned from the village

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:751-pg2591-part27:e2:o1:1
# text = He was ordered to surrender a cow and was also banned from the village
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux:pass	_	_
3	ordered	order	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
4	to	to	PART	TO	_	5	mark	_	_
5	surrender	surrender	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	xcomp	_	_
6	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	cow	cow	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obj	_	_
8	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	11	cc	_	_
9	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	11	aux:pass	_	_
10	also	also	ADV	RB	_	11	advmod	_	_
11	banned	ban	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	3	conj	_	_
12	from	from	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
13	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	14	det	_	_
14	village	village	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **order** | past · passive |  | He |  |  |  |  | vn order-58.3-1 «NP V NP S\_ING»: subject=Recipient clause=Topic |
| 2 | **surrender** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive | He *not said here* | a cow |  |  |  |  | vn contribute-13.2-1-1 «NP V NP.theme (PP)»: agent=Agent cow=Theme |
| 3 | **ban** | past · passive |  |  |  | the village |  |  | vn forbid-64.4-1 «NP V NP PP.theme»: from village=Eventuality |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
He was ordered to surrender a cow

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:751-pg2591-part27:e2:o2:1
# text = He was ordered to surrender a cow
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux:pass	_	_
3	ordered	order	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
4	to	to	PART	TO	_	5	mark	_	_
5	surrender	surrender	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	xcomp	_	_
6	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	cow	cow	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **order** | past · passive |  | He |  |  |  |  | vn order-58.3-1 «NP V NP S\_ING»: subject=Recipient clause=Topic |
| 2 | **surrender** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive | He *not said here* | a cow |  |  |  |  | vn contribute-13.2-1-1 «NP V NP.theme (PP)»: agent=Agent cow=Theme |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
He was forced to hand over a horse

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:751-pg2591-part27:e2:o3:1
# text = He was forced to hand over a horse
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj:pass	_	_
2	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux:pass	_	_
3	forced	force	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
4	to	to	PART	TO	_	5	mark	_	_
5	hand	hand	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	xcomp	_	_
6	over	over	ADP	RP	_	5	compound:prt	_	_
7	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	horse	horse	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **force** | past · passive |  | He |  |  |  |  | vn urge-58.1-1 «NP V NP S\_ING»: subject=Recipient clause=Topic |
| 2 | **hand over** | to-infinitive | He *not said here* | a horse |  |  |  |  | vn send-11.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent horse=Theme |

### Option 4 · ← Mova's choice {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
He had to give his best ox away

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:751-pg2591-part27:e2:o4:1
# text = He had to give his best ox away
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	to	to	PART	TO	_	4	mark	_	_
4	give	give	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	2	xcomp	_	_
5	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	7	nmod:poss	_	_
6	best	good	ADJ	JJS	Degree=Sup	7	amod	_	_
7	ox	ox	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obj	_	_
8	away	away	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **have** | past | He |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **give** | to-infinitive | He *not said here* | his best ox |  |  |  | away *property* | vn give-13.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent ox=Theme |

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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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