---
title: Ascertain the principal factors which enabled a small Spanish force… — Castile, Portugal and the first sea em… · tree and pragmatics
description: Ascertain the principal factors which enabled a small Spanish force to subjugate Tenochtitlan in 1521. Exam question 3 of lesson 33 «Castile, Portugal and the first sea empires» of the geography course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each opti
---

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# Exam question 3 · Castile, Portugal and the first sea empires

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Ascertain the principal factors which enabled a small Spanish force to subjugate Tenochtitlan in 1521.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 2 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** you, principal factors · **What happens:** ascertain, enable, subjugate · **To what, where:** principal factors, small Spanish force, Tenochtitlan, 1521

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 3 of lesson 33 «Castile, Portugal and the first sea empires» of the geography 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/geography/33-castile-portugal-and-the-first-sea-empires/#e3).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:geography:33-castile-portugal-and-the-first-sea-empires:e3:1
# text = Ascertain the principal factors which enabled a small Spanish force to subjugate Tenochtitlan in 1521.
1	Ascertain	ascertain	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
3	principal	principal	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	compound	_	_
4	factors	factor	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	1	obj	_	_
5	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	6	nsubj	_	_
6	enabled	enable	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	acl:relcl	_	_
7	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
8	small	small	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	10	amod	_	_
9	Spanish	Spanish	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	10	amod	_	_
10	force	force	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obj	_	_
11	to	to	PART	TO	_	12	mark	_	_
12	subjugate	subjugate	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	10	acl	_	_
13	Tenochtitlan	Tenochtitlan	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	12	obj	_	_
14	in	in	ADP	IN	_	15	case	_	_
15	1521	1521	NUM	CD	NumForm=Digit|NumType=Card	12	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **ascertain** | imperative | you *not said here* | the principal factors |  |  |  |  | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent factor=Topic |
| 2 | **enable** | past | the principal factors | a small Spanish force |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 3 | **subjugate** | to-infinitive | the principal factors *not said here* | Tenochtitlan |  | 1521 |  |  | vn subjugate-42.3 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent tenochtitlan=Patient |

<!-- .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 -->
The voluntary abdication of the Aztec state to Portugal

```conllu
# sent_id = question:geography:33-castile-portugal-and-the-first-sea-empires:e3:o1:1
# text = The voluntary abdication of the Aztec state to Portugal
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	voluntary	voluntary	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	abdication	abdication	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
4	of	of	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
6	Aztec	Aztec	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	7	compound	_	_
7	state	state	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nmod	_	_
8	to	to	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
9	Portugal	Portugal	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	7	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **abdicate** |  | the Aztec state to Portugal |  |  |  |  |  | nom abdication «communication intransitive»: of=agent |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Numerous Indigenous allies and the ravages of introduced disease

```conllu
# sent_id = question:geography:33-castile-portugal-and-the-first-sea-empires:e3:o2:1
# text = Numerous Indigenous allies and the ravages of introduced disease
1	Numerous	numerous	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
2	Indigenous	indigenous	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	allies	ally	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	0	root	_	_
4	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	6	cc	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	ravages	ravage	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	conj	_	_
7	of	of	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	introduced	introduce	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	9	amod	_	_
9	disease	disease	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **introduce** | participle |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn amalgamate-22.2-3-1 «NP V ADVP-Middle»: agent=Patient |
| 2 | **ravage** |  |  | introduced disease |  |  |  |  | nom ravage «event transitive»: of=patient |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Superior Spanish numbers exceeding those of the Aztecs

```conllu
# sent_id = question:geography:33-castile-portugal-and-the-first-sea-empires:e3:o3:1
# text = Superior Spanish numbers exceeding those of the Aztecs
1	Superior	superior	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
2	Spanish	Spanish	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	numbers	number	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	0	root	_	_
4	exceeding	exceed	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	3	acl	_	_
5	those	that	PRON	DT	Number=Plur|PronType=Dem	4	obj	_	_
6	of	of	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	Aztecs	Aztec	PROPN	NNPS	Number=Plur	5	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **exceed** | gerund | Superior Spanish numbers *not said here* | Superior Spanish numbers |  |  |  |  | vn exceed-90 «NP V NP»: agent=Pivot that=Theme |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The absence of any Aztec armed resistance

```conllu
# sent_id = question:geography:33-castile-portugal-and-the-first-sea-empires:e3:o4:1
# text = The absence of any Aztec armed resistance
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	absence	absence	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	of	of	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
4	any	any	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	7	det	_	_
5	Aztec	Aztec	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	7	compound	_	_
6	armed	armed	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
7	resistance	resistance	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **absent** |  |  | any Aztec armed resistance |  |  |  |  | nom absence «state transitive»: of=patient |

<!-- div src -->

**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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