---
title: What was the purpose for which the grandson constructed the trough? — Grimm's Household Tales, The Old Man a… · tree and pragmatics
description: What was the purpose for which the grandson constructed the trough? Exam question 4 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 a
---

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# Exam question 4 · Grimm's Household Tales, The Old Man and His Grandson: a w…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
What was the purpose for which the grandson constructed the trough?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 2 · **The right answer:** option 1 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** purpose, grandson · **What happens:** be, construct · **To what, where:** trough

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 4 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/#e4).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:751-pg2591-part27:e4:1
# text = What was the purpose for which the grandson constructed the trough?
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	0	root	_	_
2	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	1	cop	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	purpose	purpose	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	nsubj	_	_
5	for	for	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	9	obl	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	grandson	grandson	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	nsubj	_	_
9	constructed	construct	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	acl:relcl	_	_
10	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	trough	trough	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | past | the purpose |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **construct** | past | the grandson | the trough |  |  |  | for the purpose | vn create-26.4 «NP V NP PP.beneficiary»: agent=Agent trough=Result for which=Beneficiary |

<!-- .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 · ✓ the right answer {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
To feed his parents in their old age

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:751-pg2591-part27:e4:o1:1
# text = To feed his parents in their old age
1	To	to	PART	TO	_	2	mark	_	_
2	feed	feed	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	4	nmod:poss	_	_
4	parents	parent	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obj	_	_
5	in	in	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
6	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	8	nmod:poss	_	_
7	old	old	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	amod	_	_
8	age	age	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **feed** | to-infinitive |  | his parents |  |  | in parents's old age |  | vn fit-54.3 «NP V NP PP.location»: agent=Agent parent=Value in age=Location |

### Option 2 · ← Mova's choice {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
To feed his parents when they are old and weak and cannot eat well

<!-- fold The tree, 15 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:751-pg2591-part27:e4:o2:1
# text = To feed his parents when they are old and weak and cannot eat well
1	To	to	PART	TO	_	2	mark	_	_
2	feed	feed	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	4	nmod:poss	_	_
4	parents	parent	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obj	_	_
5	when	when	SCONJ	WRB	_	8	mark	_	_
6	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	8	nsubj	_	_
7	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	8	cop	_	_
8	old	old	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	advcl	_	_
9	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	10	cc	_	_
10	weak	weak	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	conj	_	_
11	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	14	cc	_	_
12	can	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	14	aux	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	14	advmod	_	_
14	eat	eat	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	2	conj	_	_
15	well	well	ADV	RB	Degree=Pos	14	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **feed** | to-infinitive |  |  | his parents |  |  |  | vn feeding-39.7 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent parent=Recipient |
| 2 | **is** | present | parents *= parent* |  |  |  |  | old *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **be** |  | parents *= parent* *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 4 | **not** **eat** | can |  |  |  |  |  | well *property* | vn eat-39.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
To give his father a place to sit

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:751-pg2591-part27:e4:o3:1
# text = To give his father a place to sit
1	To	to	PART	TO	_	2	mark	_	_
2	give	give	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	4	nmod:poss	_	_
4	father	father	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	iobj	_	_
5	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	place	place	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
7	to	to	PART	TO	_	8	mark	_	_
8	sit	sit	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	6	acl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **give** | to-infinitive |  | a place | his father |  |  |  | vn give-13.1-1 «NP V NP-Dative NP»: agent=Agent father=Recipient place=Theme |
| 2 | **sit** | to-infinitive |  | a place *not said here* |  |  |  |  | vn assuming\_position-50 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
To teach his small children how to feed their parents in their old age someday

<!-- fold The tree, 15 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:751-pg2591-part27:e4:o4:1
# text = To teach his small children how to feed their parents in their old age someday
1	To	to	PART	TO	_	2	mark	_	_
2	teach	teach	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	5	nmod:poss	_	_
4	small	small	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	children	child	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obj	_	_
6	how	how	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	8	advmod	_	_
7	to	to	PART	TO	_	8	mark	_	_
8	feed	feed	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	2	xcomp	_	_
9	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	10	nmod:poss	_	_
10	parents	parent	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	obj	_	_
11	in	in	ADP	IN	_	15	case	_	_
12	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	15	nmod:poss	_	_
13	old	old	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	15	amod	_	_
14	age	age	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	15	compound	_	_
15	someday	someday	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **teach** *speech: other* | to-infinitive |  |  | his small children |  |  |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP S\_INF»: agent=Agent child=Recipient clause=Topic |
| 2 | **feed** | to-infinitive |  | children's parents |  | children's old age someday |  |  | vn fit-54.3 «NP V NP PP.location»: agent=Agent parent=Value in someday=Location |

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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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- ← previous: [Grimm's Household Tales, The Old Man a…, exam 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/751-pg2591-part27/e3/)
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