---
title: By what means did the merchant's son's trunk cease to exist? — Andersen's Tales, The Flying Trunk: th… · tree and pragmatics
description: By what means did the merchant's son's trunk cease to exist? Exam question 2 of lesson 829 «Andersen's Tales, The Flying Trunk: the kitchen talk ends and the trunk burns» of the books course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each option; Mova's 
---

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# Exam question 2 · Andersen's Tales, The Flying Trunk: the kitchen talk ends…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
By what means did the merchant's son's trunk cease to exist?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 2 · **The right answer:** option 3 · wrong ✗ · **What happens:** mean, do, exist · **To what, where:** trunk cease

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 2 of lesson 829 «Andersen's Tales, The Flying Trunk: the kitchen talk ends and the trunk burns» 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/829-pg27200-part40/#e2).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:829-pg27200-part40:e2:1
# text = By what means did the merchant's son's trunk cease to exist?
1	By	by	ADP	IN	_	2	case	_	_
2	what	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	4	obj	_	_
3	means	mean	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	2	acl:relcl	_	_
4	did	do	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	merchant	merchant	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	's	's	PART	POS	_	6	case	_	_
8	son	son	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	's	's	PART	POS	_	8	case	_	_
10	trunk	trunk	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	compound	_	_
11	cease	cease	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obj	_	_
12	to	to	PART	TO	_	13	mark	_	_
13	exist	exist	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	11	acl	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **mean** | present |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V S»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **do** | past |  | the merchant's son's trunk cease |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 3 | **exist** | to-infinitive |  | the merchant's son's trunk cease *not said here* |  |  |  |  | vn exist-47.1 «NP V»: agent=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 -->
it was crushed by a falling wall

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:829-pg27200-part40:e2:o1:1
# text = it was crushed by a falling wall
1	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj:pass	_	_
2	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux:pass	_	_
3	crushed	crush	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
4	by	by	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
5	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
6	falling	fall	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	7	amod	_	_
7	wall	wall	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **crush** | past · passive | a falling wall | it |  |  |  |  | vn carve-21.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent subject=Patient |
| 2 | **fall** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn occur-48.3 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

### Option 2 · ← Mova's choice {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
it was slowly consumed by a fire started by a spark from the rockets above

<!-- fold The tree, 15 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:829-pg27200-part40:e2:o2:1
# text = it was slowly consumed by a fire started by a spark from the rockets above
1	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj:pass	_	_
2	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux:pass	_	_
3	slowly	slowly	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
4	consumed	consume	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
5	by	by	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	fire	fire	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
8	started	start	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	7	acl	_	_
9	by	by	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
10	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	spark	spark	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obl	_	_
12	from	from	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
13	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	14	det	_	_
14	rockets	rocket	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obl	_	_
15	above	above	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **consume** | past · passive | a fire | it |  | the rockets |  | above, slowly *property* | vn consume-66 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent subject=Asset |
| 2 | **start** | participle |  | a fire *not said here* |  |  |  | by a spark | vn begin-55.1-1-1 «NP.eventuality V»: agent=Eventuality |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
it was consumed by fire from a spark

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:829-pg27200-part40:e2:o3:1
# text = it was consumed by fire from a spark
1	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj:pass	_	_
2	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux:pass	_	_
3	consumed	consume	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
4	by	by	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	fire	fire	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
6	from	from	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	spark	spark	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **consume** | past · passive | fire | it |  | a spark |  |  | vn consume-66 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent subject=Asset |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
it was consumed by fire that jumped from a spark of the fireworks

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:829-pg27200-part40:e2:o4:1
# text = it was consumed by fire that jumped from a spark of the fireworks
1	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj:pass	_	_
2	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux:pass	_	_
3	consumed	consume	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
4	by	by	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	fire	fire	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
6	that	that	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	7	nsubj	_	_
7	jumped	jump	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	acl:relcl	_	_
8	from	from	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	spark	spark	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obl	_	_
11	of	of	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
12	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
13	fireworks	firework	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	10	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **consume** | past · passive | fire | it |  |  |  |  | vn consume-66 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent subject=Asset |
| 2 | **jump** | past | fire |  |  | a spark of the fireworks |  |  | vn run-51.3.2-2-1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme from spark=Trajectory |
| 3 | **spark** |  | the fireworks |  |  |  |  |  | nom spark «event intransitive»: of=agent |

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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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