---
title: Which of the following accurately describes the relationship between… — Fairy Tales, The Little Elder-Tree Mot… · tree and pragmatics
description: Which of the following accurately describes the relationship between the old man and the children whose tales he tells? Exam question 4 of lesson 871 «Fairy Tales, The Little Elder-Tree Mother, part 82: Little Claus tricks Great Claus into the river, and an old man begins a story from the teapot» of
---

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# Exam question 4 · Fairy Tales, The Little Elder-Tree Mother, part 82: Little…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Which of the following accurately describes the relationship between the old man and the children whose tales he tells?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 3 · **The right answer:** option 3 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** tales · **What happens:** follow, describe, tell · **To what, where:** relationship · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 4 of lesson 871 «Fairy Tales, The Little Elder-Tree Mother, part 82: Little Claus tricks Great Claus into the river, and an old man begins a story from the teapot» 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/871-pg27200-part82/#e4).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:871-pg27200-part82:e4:1
# text = Which of the following accurately describes the relationship between the old man and the children whose tales he tells?
1	Which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	4	nsubj	_	_
2	of	of	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	following	follow	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
5	accurately	accurately	ADV	RB	_	6	advmod	_	_
6	describes	describe	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	advcl	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	relationship	relationship	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obj	_	_
9	between	between	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
10	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
11	old	old	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	12	amod	_	_
12	man	man	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nmod	_	_
13	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	15	cc	_	_
14	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	15	det	_	_
15	children	child	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	conj	_	_
16	whose	whose	PRON	WP$	Poss=Yes|PronType=Rel	17	nmod:poss	_	_
17	tales	tale	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	19	nsubj	_	_
18	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	19	nsubj	_	_
19	tells	tell	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	15	acl:relcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
20	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **follow** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn occur-48.3-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 2 | **describe** | present |  | the relationship and the children |  |  |  | between the old man; accurately *property* | vn characterize-29.2-1-1 «NP V NP S\_ING»: agent=Agent relationship=Theme |
| 3 | **tell** *speech: assert* | present | tales |  |  |  |  |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V»: 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 -->
He is their teacher, paid by their parents

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:871-pg27200-part82:e4:o1:1
# text = He is their teacher, paid by their parents
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
3	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	4	nmod:poss	_	_
4	teacher	teacher	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	6	punct	_	_
6	paid	pay	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	4	acl	_	_
7	by	by	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	9	nmod:poss	_	_
9	parents	parent	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | He | their teacher |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **pay** | participle |  | their teacher *not said here* |  |  |  | by their parents | vn pay-68-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
He is their father, and they live in the upper storey

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:871-pg27200-part82:e4:o2:1
# text = He is their father, and they live in the upper storey
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
3	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	4	nmod:poss	_	_
4	father	father	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	8	punct	_	_
6	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	8	cc	_	_
7	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	8	nsubj	_	_
8	live	live	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	acl:relcl	_	_
9	in	in	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
10	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
11	upper	upper	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	12	amod	_	_
12	storey	storey	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | He | their father |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **live** | present | they | their father *not said here* |  | the upper storey |  |  | vn lodge-46 «NP V ADV»: agent=Theme father=Location |

### Option 3 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
He loves them, though he has no children of his own

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:871-pg27200-part82:e4:o3:1
# text = He loves them, though he has no children of his own
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	loves	love	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	7	punct	_	_
5	though	though	SCONJ	IN	_	7	mark	_	_
6	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	7	nsubj	_	_
7	has	have	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	2	parataxis	_	_
8	no	no	DET	DT	PronType=Neg	9	det	_	_
9	children	child	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	obj	_	_
10	of	of	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
11	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	12	nmod:poss	_	_
12	own	own	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **love** | present | He | them *= they* |  |  |  |  | vn admire-31.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer they=Stimulus |
| 2 | **have** | present | he | no children of his own |  |  |  |  | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent child=Patient |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
He is their uncle, who visits them every week

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:871-pg27200-part82:e4:o4:1
# text = He is their uncle, who visits them every week
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
3	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	4	nmod:poss	_	_
4	uncle	uncle	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	7	punct	_	_
6	who	who	PRON	WP	PronType=Rel	7	nsubj	_	_
7	visits	visit	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	acl:relcl	_	_
8	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	7	obj	_	_
9	every	every	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	10	det	_	_
10	week	week	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obl:unmarked	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | He | their uncle |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **visit** | present | their uncle | them *= they* |  |  | week |  | vn meet-36.3-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent they=Co-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.

<!-- /div -->

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- ← previous: [Fairy Tales, The Little Elder-Tree Mot…, exam 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/871-pg27200-part82/e3/)
- next →: [Andersen's Fairy Tales, The Elder-Tree…, test 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/872-pg27200-part83/t1/)
- ↑ back to [Fairy Tales, The Little Elder-Tree Mother, part 82: Little Claus tricks Great Claus into the river, and an old man begins a story from the teapot](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/871-pg27200-part82/)