---
title: What would have happened if the Snake had not helped? — Just So Stories (Rudyard Kipling), 5:… · tree and pragmatics
description: What would have happened if the Snake had not helped? Test 3 · ★★ of lesson 80 «Just So Stories (Rudyard Kipling), 5: The Elephant's Child, part 2 (the tug-of-war and the trunk)» of the books course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each option;
---

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# Test 3 · ★★ · Just So Stories (Rudyard Kipling), 5: The Elephant's Child…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
What would have happened if the Snake had not helped?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 2 · **The right answer:** option 3 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** Snake · **What happens:** happen, not help

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 3 · ★★ of lesson 80 «Just So Stories (Rudyard Kipling), 5: The Elephant's Child, part 2 (the tug-of-war and the trunk)» of the books course of Mova's primary school. 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/80-justso-elephants-child-2/#t3).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:80-justso-elephants-child-2:t3:1
# text = What would have happened if the Snake had not helped?
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	4	nsubj	_	_
2	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
3	have	have	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	aux	_	_
4	happened	happen	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
5	if	if	SCONJ	IN	_	10	mark	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	Snake	Snake	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	10	nsubj	_	_
8	had	have	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	10	aux	_	_
9	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	10	advmod	_	_
10	helped	help	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	4	advcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **happen** | would · perfect |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn occur-48.3-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 2 | **not** **help** *a condition, not said to happen* | past · perfect | the Snake |  |  |  |  |  | vn help-72.1-1-1 «NP V PP.theme»: agent=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 -->
The Crocodile might have pulled him into the river and eaten him for his supper

<!-- fold The tree, 15 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:80-justso-elephants-child-2:t3:o1:1
# text = The Crocodile might have pulled him into the river and eaten him for his supper
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	Crocodile	Crocodile	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
3	might	might	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	5	aux	_	_
4	have	have	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	aux	_	_
5	pulled	pull	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
6	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	5	obj	_	_
7	into	into	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	river	river	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	_
10	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	11	cc	_	_
11	eaten	eat	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	5	conj	_	_
12	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	11	obj	_	_
13	for	for	ADP	IN	_	15	case	_	_
14	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	15	nmod:poss	_	_
15	supper	supper	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **pull** | might · perfect | the Crocodile | him *= he* |  | the river |  |  | vn push-12-1 «NP V NP ADJP-Result»: agent=Agent he=Result |
| 2 | **eat** | participle | the Crocodile *not said here* | Crocodile |  |  |  | for Crocodile's supper | vn eat-39.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent he=Patient |

### Option 2 · ← Mova's choice {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The Crocodile might have pulled him into the deep river, and nobody would ever have known where he went

<!-- fold The tree, 19 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:80-justso-elephants-child-2:t3:o2:1
# text = The Crocodile might have pulled him into the deep river, and nobody would ever have known where he went
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	Crocodile	Crocodile	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
3	might	might	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	5	aux	_	_
4	have	have	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	aux	_	_
5	pulled	pull	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
6	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	5	obj	_	_
7	into	into	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
9	deep	deep	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	10	amod	_	_
10	river	river	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	17	punct	_	_
12	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	17	cc	_	_
13	nobody	nobody	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Neg	17	nsubj:pass	_	_
14	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	17	aux	_	_
15	ever	ever	ADV	RB	PronType=Ind	17	advmod	_	_
16	have	have	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	17	aux	_	_
17	known	know	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	5	conj	_	_
18	where	where	ADV	WRB	PronType=Rel	20	advmod	_	_
19	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	20	nsubj	_	_
20	went	go	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	17	parataxis	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **pull** | might · perfect | the Crocodile | him *= he* |  | the deep river |  |  | vn push-12-1 «NP V NP ADJP-Result»: agent=Agent he=Result |
| 2 | **know** | would · perfect · passive |  | nobody |  |  | ever |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1-1 «NP V NP PP.attribute»: subject=Stimulus |
| 3 | **go** | past | Crocodile |  |  |  |  |  | vn disappearance-48.2-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The Crocodile might have pulled him into the river

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:80-justso-elephants-child-2:t3:o3:1
# text = The Crocodile might have pulled him into the river
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	Crocodile	Crocodile	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
3	might	might	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	5	aux	_	_
4	have	have	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	aux	_	_
5	pulled	pull	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
6	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	5	obj	_	_
7	into	into	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	river	river	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **pull** | might · perfect | the Crocodile | him *= he* |  | the river |  |  | vn push-12-1 «NP V NP ADJP-Result»: agent=Agent he=Result |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The Hippopotamus would have spanked him again

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:80-justso-elephants-child-2:t3:o4:1
# text = The Hippopotamus would have spanked him again
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	Hippopotamus	Hippopotamus	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	5	nsubj:pass	_	_
3	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	5	aux	_	_
4	have	have	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	aux	_	_
5	spanked	spank	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
6	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	5	obj	_	_
7	again	again	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **spank** | would · perfect · passive |  | the Hippopotamus |  |  | again |  | vn spank-18.3 «NP V NP ADJP»: subject=Patient he=Result |

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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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