---
title: What was the principal wish of the young fir-tree, as expressed in t… — Andersen's Fairy Tales, The Fir Tree,… · tree and pragmatics
description: What was the principal wish of the young fir-tree, as expressed in the passage? Exam question 2 of lesson 825 «Andersen's Fairy Tales, The Fir Tree, part 1: a little fir-tree longs to be tall, is cut down, and is dressed for Christmas» of the books course of Mova's primary school, with the dependenc
---

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# Exam question 2 · Andersen's Fairy Tales, The Fir Tree, part 1: a little fir…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
What was the principal wish of the young fir-tree, as expressed in the passage?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 2 · wrong ✗ · **What happens:** be, express · **To what, where:** principal wish, passage

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 2 of lesson 825 «Andersen's Fairy Tales, The Fir Tree, part 1: a little fir-tree longs to be tall, is cut down, and is dressed for Christmas» 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/825-pg27200-part36/#e2).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:825-pg27200-part36:e2:1
# text = What was the principal wish of the young fir-tree, as expressed in the passage?
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	5	nsubj	_	_
2	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	principal	principal	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	wish	wish	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
6	of	of	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
8	young	young	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	11	amod	_	_
9	fir	fir	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	compound	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	9	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	tree	tree	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	14	punct	_	_
13	as	as	SCONJ	IN	_	14	mark	_	_
14	expressed	express	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	5	acl	_	_
15	in	in	ADP	IN	_	17	case	_	_
16	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	17	det	_	_
17	passage	passage	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
18	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | past |  | the principal wish |  |  |  | of the young fir tree | tree rules |
| 2 | **express** | participle |  | the principal wish *not said here* |  | the passage |  |  | vn reflexive\_appearance-48.1.2 «NP V NP»: 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 · ← Mova's choice {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
To grow as tall as its companions so that it could see all the way to the sea and the ships

<!-- fold The tree, 21 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:825-pg27200-part36:e2:o1:1
# text = To grow as tall as its companions so that it could see all the way to the sea and the ships
1	To	to	PART	TO	_	2	mark	_	_
2	grow	grow	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	as	as	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
4	tall	tall	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	xcomp	_	_
5	as	as	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	7	nmod:poss	_	_
7	companions	companion	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obl	_	_
8	so	so	SCONJ	IN	ExtPos=SCONJ	12	mark	_	_
9	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	8	fixed	_	_
10	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	12	nsubj	_	_
11	could	could	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	12	aux	_	_
12	see	see	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	2	advcl	_	_
13	all	all	DET	PDT	PronType=Tot	15	det:predet	_	_
14	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	15	det	_	_
15	way	way	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	obj	_	_
16	to	to	ADP	IN	_	18	case	_	_
17	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	18	det	_	_
18	sea	sea	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	obl	_	_
19	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	21	cc	_	_
20	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	21	det	_	_
21	ships	ship	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	18	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **grow** | to-infinitive |  |  |  |  |  | as its companions; tall *property* | vn appear-48.1.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 2 | **see** | could | it | all way |  |  |  | to the sea and the ships | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer way=Stimulus |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
To grow as tall as its companions

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:825-pg27200-part36:e2:o2:1
# text = To grow as tall as its companions
1	To	to	PART	TO	_	2	mark	_	_
2	grow	grow	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	as	as	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
4	tall	tall	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	xcomp	_	_
5	as	as	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	7	nmod:poss	_	_
7	companions	companion	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **grow** | to-infinitive |  |  |  |  |  | tall *property* | vn appear-48.1.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
To stand as tall as the other trees near it

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:825-pg27200-part36:e2:o3:1
# text = To stand as tall as the other trees near it
1	To	to	PART	TO	_	2	mark	_	_
2	stand	stand	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	as	as	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
4	tall	tall	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	xcomp	_	_
5	as	as	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
7	other	other	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	amod	_	_
8	trees	tree	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obl	_	_
9	near	near	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
10	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **stand** | to-infinitive |  |  |  | it |  | as the other trees; tall *property* | vn assuming\_position-50 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Agent near it=Location |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
To grow as tall as its companions and be chosen for the feast of Christmas

<!-- fold The tree, 15 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:825-pg27200-part36:e2:o4:1
# text = To grow as tall as its companions and be chosen for the feast of Christmas
1	To	to	PART	TO	_	2	mark	_	_
2	grow	grow	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	as	as	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
4	tall	tall	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	xcomp	_	_
5	as	as	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	7	nmod:poss	_	_
7	companions	companion	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obl	_	_
8	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	10	cc	_	_
9	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	10	aux:pass	_	_
10	chosen	choose	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	2	conj	_	_
11	for	for	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
12	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
13	feast	feast	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	obl	_	_
14	of	of	ADP	IN	_	15	case	_	_
15	Christmas	Christmas	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	13	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **grow** | to-infinitive |  |  |  |  |  | tall *property* | vn appear-48.1.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 2 | **choose** | infinitive · passive |  |  |  |  |  | for the feast of Christmas | vn get-13.5.1 «NP V NP PP.beneficiary»: for feast=Beneficiary |

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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.

<!-- /div -->

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- ← previous: [Andersen's Fairy Tales, The Fir Tree,…, exam 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/825-pg27200-part36/e1/)
- next →: [Andersen's Fairy Tales, The Fir Tree,…, exam 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/825-pg27200-part36/e3/)
- ↑ back to [Andersen's Fairy Tales, The Fir Tree, part 1: a little fir-tree longs to be tall, is cut down, and is dressed for Christmas](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/825-pg27200-part36/)