---
title: Specify the means by which Mrs Fox determined the suitability of eac… — Grimm's Fairy Tales, The Wishing-Cloak… · tree and pragmatics
description: Specify the means by which Mrs Fox determined the suitability of each applicant for marriage. Exam question 3 of lesson 779 «Grimm's Fairy Tales, The Wishing-Cloak, part 55: a sister frees her ravens, Mrs Fox tests her suitors, and a huntsman gets a magic cloak» of the books course of Mova's primary
---

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# Exam question 3 · Grimm's Fairy Tales, The Wishing-Cloak, part 55: a sister…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Specify the means by which Mrs Fox determined the suitability of each applicant for marriage.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 3 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** you, the, Mrs · **What happens:** specify, mean, determine · **To what, where:** suitability · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 3 of lesson 779 «Grimm's Fairy Tales, The Wishing-Cloak, part 55: a sister frees her ravens, Mrs Fox tests her suitors, and a huntsman gets a magic cloak» 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/779-pg2591-part55/#e3).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:779-pg2591-part55:e3:1
# text = Specify the means by which Mrs Fox determined the suitability of each applicant for marriage.
1	Specify	specify	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	nsubj	_	_
3	means	mean	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	1	ccomp	_	_
4	by	by	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	8	obl	_	_
6	Mrs	Mrs	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	8	nsubj	_	_
7	Fox	Fox	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	6	flat	_	_
8	determined	determine	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	ccomp	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	suitability	suitability	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obj	_	_
11	of	of	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
12	each	each	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	13	det	_	_
13	applicant	applicant	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	nmod	_	_
14	for	for	ADP	IN	_	15	case	_	_
15	marriage	marriage	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **specify** | imperative | you *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn characterize-29.2 «NP V NP to be ADJ»: agent=Agent clause=Attribute |
| 2 | **mean** | present | the |  |  |  |  |  | vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 3 | **determine** | past | Mrs | the suitability of each applicant for marriage |  |  |  |  | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent suitability=Topic |

<!-- .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 -->
By asking about their shoes

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:779-pg2591-part55:e3:o1:1
# text = By asking about their shoes
1	By	by	SCONJ	IN	_	2	mark	_	_
2	asking	ask	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
3	about	about	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
4	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	5	nmod:poss	_	_
5	shoes	shoe	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **ask** *speech: ask* | gerund |  |  |  |  |  | about their shoes | vn inquire-37.1.2 «NP V PP.topic whether S»: agent=Agent about shoe=Topic |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
By inquiring after their stockings, mouths, and family history in the village

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:779-pg2591-part55:e3:o2:1
# text = By inquiring after their stockings, mouths, and family history in the village
1	By	by	SCONJ	IN	_	2	mark	_	_
2	inquiring	inquire	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
3	after	after	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
4	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	5	nmod:poss	_	_
5	stockings	stocking	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	7	punct	_	_
7	mouths	mouth	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	11	punct	_	_
9	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	11	cc	_	_
10	family	family	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	compound	_	_
11	history	history	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
12	in	in	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
13	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	14	det	_	_
14	village	village	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **inquire** *speech: other* | gerund |  | family history in the village |  |  | after their stockings and mouths |  | vn inquire-37.1.2 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
By inquiring after their stockings and mouths

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:779-pg2591-part55:e3:o3:1
# text = By inquiring after their stockings and mouths
1	By	by	SCONJ	IN	_	2	mark	_	_
2	inquiring	inquire	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
3	after	after	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
4	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	5	nmod:poss	_	_
5	stockings	stocking	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obl	_	_
6	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	7	cc	_	_
7	mouths	mouth	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **inquire** *speech: other* | gerund |  |  |  |  | after their stockings and mouths |  | vn inquire-37.1.2 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
By checking their hats and their coats

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:779-pg2591-part55:e3:o4:1
# text = By checking their hats and their coats
1	By	by	SCONJ	IN	_	2	mark	_	_
2	checking	check	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
3	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	4	nmod:poss	_	_
4	hats	hat	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obj	_	_
5	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	7	cc	_	_
6	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	7	nmod:poss	_	_
7	coats	coat	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **check** | gerund |  | their hats and hats's coats |  |  |  |  | vn assessment-34.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent hat=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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- ← previous: [Grimm's Fairy Tales, The Wishing-Cloak…, exam 2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/779-pg2591-part55/e2/)
- next →: [Grimm's Fairy Tales, The Wishing-Cloak…, exam 4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/779-pg2591-part55/e4/)
- ↑ back to [Grimm's Fairy Tales, The Wishing-Cloak, part 55: a sister frees her ravens, Mrs Fox tests her suitors, and a huntsman gets a magic cloak](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/779-pg2591-part55/)