---
title: Looking back: what did the Stranger-man give Taffy to show he meant… — Just So Stories, How the Alphabet Was… · tree and pragmatics
description: Looking back: what did the Stranger-man give Taffy to show he meant no harm? Test 10 · ★ of lesson 87 «Just So Stories, How the Alphabet Was Made, part 1: a carp-fish's mouth, a tail, an egg and a snake» of the books course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the que
---

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# Test 10 · ★ · Just So Stories, How the Alphabet Was Made, part 1: a carp…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Looking back: what did the Stranger-man give Taffy to show he meant no harm?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 2 · **The right answer:** option 3 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** Stranger man, man · **What happens:** look back, give, show, mean · **To what, where:** Taffy, harm · **Speech:** someone speaks here

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This is test 10 · ★ of lesson 87 «Just So Stories, How the Alphabet Was Made, part 1: a carp-fish's mouth, a tail, an egg and a snake» 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/87-justso-alphabet-1-a-carp-fishs-mouth/#t10).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:87-justso-alphabet-1-a-carp-fishs-mouth:t10:1
# text = Looking back: what did the Stranger-man give Taffy to show he meant no harm?
1	Looking	look	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	10	csubj	_	_
2	back	back	ADV	RB	_	1	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	:	:	PUNCT	:	_	5	punct	_	_
4	what	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	5	nsubj	_	_
5	did	do	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	10	aux	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
7	Stranger	stranger	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	compound	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	7	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	man	man	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	nsubj	_	_
10	give	give	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
11	Taffy	Taffy	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	10	iobj	_	_
12	to	to	PART	TO	_	13	mark	_	_
13	show	show	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	10	xcomp	_	_
14	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	15	nsubj	_	_
15	meant	mean	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	13	ccomp	_	_
16	no	no	DET	DT	PronType=Neg	17	det	_	_
17	harm	harm	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	15	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
18	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	10	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **look back** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn stimulus\_subject-30.4 «NP V PP.attribute»: agent=Stimulus |
| 2 | **give** | past · do-support | the Stranger man |  | Taffy |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 3 | **show** | to-infinitive | the Stranger man *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V how S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 4 | **mean** | past | man | no harm |  |  |  |  | vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent harm=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 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A fish

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:87-justso-alphabet-1-a-carp-fishs-mouth:t10:o1:1
# text = A fish
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	fish	fish	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
```

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

### Option 2 · ← Mova's choice {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A red-tipped feather

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:87-justso-alphabet-1-a-carp-fishs-mouth:t10:o2:1
# text = A red-tipped feather
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
2	red	red	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	compound	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	2	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	tipped	tip	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	5	amod	_	_
5	feather	feather	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **tip** | participle |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn throw-17.1-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A piece of birch-bark

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:87-justso-alphabet-1-a-carp-fishs-mouth:t10:o3:1
# text = A piece of birch-bark
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	piece	piece	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	of	of	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
4	birch	birch	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	compound	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	4	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	bark	bark	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	_
```

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

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A stone

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:87-justso-alphabet-1-a-carp-fishs-mouth:t10:o4:1
# text = A stone
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	stone	stone	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
```

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

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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: [Just So Stories, How the Alphabet Was…, test 9](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/87-justso-alphabet-1-a-carp-fishs-mouth/t9/)
- next →: [Just So Stories, How the Alphabet Was…, test 11](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/87-justso-alphabet-1-a-carp-fishs-mouth/t11/)
- ↑ back to [Just So Stories, How the Alphabet Was Made, part 1: a carp-fish's mouth, a tail, an egg and a snake](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/87-justso-alphabet-1-a-carp-fishs-mouth/)