---
title: Ascertain the principal reason for which historians verify the Prima… — Kyiv's beginnings and Kyivan Rus · tree and pragmatics
description: Ascertain the principal reason for which historians verify the Primary Chronicle against other evidence. Exam question 4 of lesson 41 «Kyiv's beginnings and Kyivan Rus» of the history 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 4 · Kyiv's beginnings and Kyivan Rus

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Ascertain the principal reason for which historians verify the Primary Chronicle against other evidence.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 2 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** you, historians · **What happens:** ascertain, verify · **To what, where:** principal reason, Primary Chronicle

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 4 of lesson 41 «Kyiv's beginnings and Kyivan Rus» of the history 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/history/41-kyivs-beginnings-and-kyivan-rus/#e4).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:history:41-kyivs-beginnings-and-kyivan-rus:e4:1
# text = Ascertain the principal reason for which historians verify the Primary Chronicle against other evidence.
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	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	amod	_	_
4	reason	reason	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
5	for	for	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	8	obl	_	_
7	historians	historian	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	nsubj	_	_
8	verify	verify	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	acl:relcl	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
10	Primary	Primary	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	11	compound	_	_
11	Chronicle	Chronicle	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	8	obj	_	_
12	against	against	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
13	other	other	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	14	amod	_	_
14	evidence	evidence	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	.	.	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 reason |  |  |  |  | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent reason=Topic |
| 2 | **verify** | present | historians | the Primary Chronicle |  |  |  | for the principal reason; against other evidence | vn indicate-78-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Pivot chronicle=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 · ← Mova's choice {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It was composed in the twentieth century

```conllu
# sent_id = question:history:41-kyivs-beginnings-and-kyivan-rus:e4:o1:1
# text = It was composed in the twentieth century
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	composed	compose	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
4	in	in	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
6	twentieth	twentieth	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
7	century	century	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **compose** | past · passive |  | It |  |  | century |  | vn create-26.4-1 «NP V NP»: subject=Result |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It combines factual record with legend and was composed long after many events

```conllu
# sent_id = question:history:41-kyivs-beginnings-and-kyivan-rus:e4:o2:1
# text = It combines factual record with legend and was composed long after many events
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	combines	combine	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	factual	factual	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	amod	_	_
4	record	record	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
5	with	with	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	legend	legend	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nmod	_	_
7	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	9	cc	_	_
8	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	9	aux:pass	_	_
9	composed	compose	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	2	conj	_	_
10	long	long	ADV	RB	Degree=Pos	9	advmod	_	_
11	after	after	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
12	many	many	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	13	amod	_	_
13	events	event	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	9	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **combine** | present | It | factual record |  |  |  | with legend | vn mix-22.1-1-1 «NP V NP PP.co-patient»: agent=Agent record=Patient with legend=Co-Patient |
| 2 | **compose** | past · passive |  |  |  |  | after many events | long *property* | vn create-26.4-1 «NP V» |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It was written in a language no one can read

```conllu
# sent_id = question:history:41-kyivs-beginnings-and-kyivan-rus:e4:o3:1
# text = It was written in a language no one can read
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	written	write	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
4	in	in	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	language	language	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
7	no	no	DET	DT	PronType=Neg	8	det	_	_
8	one	one	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	nsubj	_	_
9	can	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	10	aux	_	_
10	read	read	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	6	acl:relcl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **write** | past · passive |  | It |  | a language |  |  | vn scribble-25.2-1 «NP V NP PP.destination»: subject=Theme in language=Destination |
| 2 | **read** | can | no one | a language *not said here* |  |  |  |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent language=Topic |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It contradicts every known coin and building

```conllu
# sent_id = question:history:41-kyivs-beginnings-and-kyivan-rus:e4:o4:1
# text = It contradicts every known coin and building
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	contradicts	contradict	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	every	every	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	5	det	_	_
4	known	know	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	5	amod	_	_
5	coin	coin	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
6	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	7	cc	_	_
7	building	building	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **contradict** | present | It | every known coin and building |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **know** | participle |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Experiencer |

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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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