---
title: Why did the clerks stick knives in their belts? — Andersen's Tales, The Old Bachelor's N… · tree and pragmatics
description: Why did the clerks stick knives in their belts? Test 8 · ★ of lesson 915 «Andersen's Tales, The Old Bachelor's Nightcap, part 126: a silly pretend play, then the strange street of pepper clerks» of the books course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and
---

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# Test 8 · ★ · Andersen's Tales, The Old Bachelor's Nightcap, part 126: a…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Why did the clerks stick knives in their belts?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 2 · **The right answer:** option 4 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** clerks · **What happens:** stick · **To what, where:** knives, belts

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 8 · ★ of lesson 915 «Andersen's Tales, The Old Bachelor's Nightcap, part 126: a silly pretend play, then the strange street of pepper clerks» 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/915-pg27200-part126/#t8).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:915-pg27200-part126:t8:1
# text = Why did the clerks stick knives in their belts?
1	Why	why	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	5	advmod	_	_
2	did	do	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	aux	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	clerks	clerk	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	nsubj	_	_
5	stick	stick	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
6	knives	knife	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	obj	_	_
7	in	in	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	9	nmod:poss	_	_
9	belts	belt	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **stick** | past · do-support | the clerks | knives |  | clerks's belts |  |  | vn spray-9.7-1 «NP V NP PP.destination»: agent=Agent knife=Theme in belt=Destination |

<!-- .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 -->
For protection, since it was often needed in the dark streets

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:915-pg27200-part126:t8:o1:1
# text = For protection, since it was often needed in the dark streets
1	For	for	ADP	IN	_	2	case	_	_
2	protection	protection	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	2	punct	_	_
4	since	since	SCONJ	IN	_	8	mark	_	_
5	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	8	nsubj:pass	_	_
6	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	8	aux:pass	_	_
7	often	often	ADV	RB	_	8	advmod	_	_
8	needed	need	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
9	in	in	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
10	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
11	dark	dark	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	compound	_	_
12	streets	street	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **need** | past · passive |  | protection |  | the dark streets |  | for protection; often *property* | vn want-32.1-1-1 «NP V NP ADV»: subject=Theme |

### Option 2 · ← Mova's choice {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
To scare away the dogs in town

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:915-pg27200-part126:t8:o2:1
# text = To scare away the dogs in town
1	To	to	PART	TO	_	2	mark	_	_
2	scare	scare	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	away	away	ADP	RP	_	2	compound:prt	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	dogs	dog	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obj	_	_
6	in	in	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	town	town	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **scare away** | to-infinitive |  | the dogs |  | town |  |  | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Stimulus dog=Experiencer |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
For defence, since streets were rough

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:915-pg27200-part126:t8:o3:1
# text = For defence, since streets were rough
1	For	for	ADP	IN	_	2	case	_	_
2	defence	defence	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	2	punct	_	_
4	since	since	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	streets	street	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	obl	_	_
6	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	7	cop	_	_
7	rough	rough	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | past |  |  |  |  | since streets | for defence; rough *property* | tree rules |

### Option 4 · ✓ the right answer {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
For protection, it was often needed

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:915-pg27200-part126:t8:o4:1
# text = For protection, it was often needed
1	For	for	ADP	IN	_	2	case	_	_
2	protection	protection	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	2	punct	_	_
4	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	7	nsubj:pass	_	_
5	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	7	aux:pass	_	_
6	often	often	ADV	RB	_	7	advmod	_	_
7	needed	need	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **need** | past · passive |  | protection |  |  |  | for protection; often *property* | vn want-32.1-1-1 «NP V NP ADV»: subject=Theme |

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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: [Andersen's Tales, The Old Bachelor's N…, test 7](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/915-pg27200-part126/t7/)
- next →: [Andersen's Tales, The Old Bachelor's N…, test 9](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/915-pg27200-part126/t9/)
- ↑ back to [Andersen's Tales, The Old Bachelor's Nightcap, part 126: a silly pretend play, then the strange street of pepper clerks](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/915-pg27200-part126/)