---
title: What was the principal obstacle preventing the man from reaching the… — Grimm's Household Tales, The Raven, pa… · tree and pragmatics
description: What was the principal obstacle preventing the man from reaching the princess upon the glass mountain? Exam question 3 of lesson 772 «Grimm's Household Tales, The Raven, part 48: a giant's maps, a glass mountain, a magic stick» of the books course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree a
---

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# Exam question 3 · Grimm's Household Tales, The Raven, part 48: a giant's map…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
What was the principal obstacle preventing the man from reaching the princess upon the glass mountain?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 4 · **The right answer:** option 3 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** principal obstacle · **What happens:** be, prevent, reach · **To what, where:** man, princess

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 3 of lesson 772 «Grimm's Household Tales, The Raven, part 48: a giant's maps, a glass mountain, a magic stick» 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/772-pg2591-part48/#e3).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:772-pg2591-part48:e3:1
# text = What was the principal obstacle preventing the man from reaching the princess upon the glass mountain?
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	5	det	_	_
4	principal	principal	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	obstacle	obstacle	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	nsubj	_	_
6	preventing	prevent	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	5	acl	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	man	man	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obj	_	_
9	from	from	SCONJ	IN	_	10	mark	_	_
10	reaching	reach	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	6	advcl	_	_
11	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
12	princess	princess	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	obj	_	_
13	upon	upon	ADP	IN	_	16	case	_	_
14	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	16	det	_	_
15	glass	glass	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	16	compound	_	_
16	mountain	mountain	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | past | the principal obstacle |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **prevent** | gerund | the principal obstacle *not said here* | the man |  |  |  |  | vn forbid-64.4-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Causer man=Theme |
| 3 | **reach** | gerund | the principal obstacle *not said here* | the princess |  |  |  | upon the glass mountain | vn body\_motion-49.2-1-1 «NP V NP ADV»: agent=Agent princess=Theme |

<!-- .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 -->
The slippery sides of the mountain and the giant's guards

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:772-pg2591-part48:e3:o1:1
# text = The slippery sides of the mountain and the giant's guards
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	slippery	slippery	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	sides	side	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	0	root	_	_
4	of	of	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	mountain	mountain	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nmod	_	_
7	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	11	cc	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	giant	giant	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	's	's	PART	POS	_	9	case	_	_
11	guards	guard	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .note -->
The frames reader finds no event or fact in this sentence.

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The thick fog over the valley

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:772-pg2591-part48:e3:o2:1
# text = The thick fog over the valley
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	thick	thick	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	fog	fog	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
4	over	over	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	valley	valley	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .note -->
The frames reader finds no event or fact in this sentence.

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The slippery sides of the mountain

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:772-pg2591-part48:e3:o3:1
# text = The slippery sides of the mountain
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	slippery	slippery	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	sides	side	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	0	root	_	_
4	of	of	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	mountain	mountain	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .note -->
The frames reader finds no event or fact in this sentence.

### Option 4 · ← Mova's choice {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The slippery sides of the mountain that no man could climb without a rope and a long, patient rest

<!-- fold The tree, 19 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:772-pg2591-part48:e3:o4:1
# text = The slippery sides of the mountain that no man could climb without a rope and a long, patient rest
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	slippery	slippery	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	sides	side	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	0	root	_	_
4	of	of	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	mountain	mountain	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nmod	_	_
7	that	that	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	11	obj	_	_
8	no	no	DET	DT	PronType=Neg	9	det	_	_
9	man	man	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	nsubj	_	_
10	could	could	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	11	aux	_	_
11	climb	climb	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	6	acl:relcl	_	_
12	without	without	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
13	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	14	det	_	_
14	rope	rope	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	obl	_	_
15	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	20	cc	_	_
16	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	20	det	_	_
17	long	long	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	20	amod	_	SpaceAfter=No
18	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	17	punct	_	_
19	patient	patient	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	20	amod	_	_
20	rest	rest	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **climb** | could | no man | the mountain |  |  |  | without a rope and a long patient rest | vn run-51.3.2 «PP.location V NP»: agent=Initial\_Location that=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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