---
title: Ethan asks why people wanted kings. What is the best answer? — From band to nation: families, tribes,… · tree and pragmatics
description: Ethan asks why people wanted kings. What is the best answer? Test 3 · ★ of lesson 66 «From band to nation: families, tribes, kingdoms, empires and countries» of the history course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each option; Mova's choice was 
---

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# Test 3 · ★ · From band to nation: families, tribes, kingdoms, empires a…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Ethan asks why people wanted kings. What is the best answer?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 3 · **The right answer:** option 3 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** Ethan, people, best answer · **What happens:** ask, want, be · **To what, where:** kings · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 3 · ★ of lesson 66 «From band to nation: families, tribes, kingdoms, empires and countries» of the history 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/history/66-from-band-to-nation-families-tribes-kingdoms-empires-and-countries/#t3).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* Ethan asks why people wanted kings.

```conllu
# sent_id = question:history:66-from-band-to-nation-families-tribes-kingdoms-empires-and-countries:t3:1
# text = Ethan asks why people wanted kings.
1	Ethan	Ethan	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	2	nsubj	_	_
2	asks	ask	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	why	why	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	5	advmod	_	_
4	people	people	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	nsubj	_	_
5	wanted	want	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	2	ccomp	_	_
6	kings	king	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **ask** *speech: ask* | present | Ethan |  |  |  |  |  | vn inquire-37.1.2 «NP V how S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 2 | **want** | past | people | kings |  |  |  |  | vn want-32.1-1-1 «NP V NP ADV»: agent=Pivot king=Theme |

<!-- .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.

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 2:* What is the best answer?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:history:66-from-band-to-nation-families-tribes-kingdoms-empires-and-countries:t3:2
# text = What is the best answer?
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	0	root	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	1	cop	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	best	good	ADJ	JJS	Degree=Sup	5	amod	_	_
5	answer	answer	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | the best answer |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Nobody ever wanted kings; they just appeared

```conllu
# sent_id = question:history:66-from-band-to-nation-families-tribes-kingdoms-empires-and-countries:t3:o1:1
# text = Nobody ever wanted kings; they just appeared
1	Nobody	nobody	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Neg	3	nsubj	_	_
2	ever	ever	ADV	RB	PronType=Ind	3	advmod	_	_
3	wanted	want	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	kings	king	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	;	;	PUNCT	:	_	8	punct	_	_
6	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	8	nsubj	_	_
7	just	just	ADV	RB	_	8	advmod	_	_
8	appeared	appear	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **want** | past | Nobody | kings |  |  | ever |  | vn want-32.1-1-1 «NP V NP ADV»: agent=Pivot king=Theme |
| 2 | **appear** | past | kings *= king* |  |  |  |  |  | vn appear-48.1.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
People wanted someone to do all their homework

```conllu
# sent_id = question:history:66-from-band-to-nation-families-tribes-kingdoms-empires-and-countries:t3:o2:1
# text = People wanted someone to do all their homework
1	People	people	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nsubj	_	_
2	wanted	want	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	someone	someone	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Ind	2	obj	_	_
4	to	to	PART	TO	_	5	mark	_	_
5	do	do	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	acl	_	_
6	all	all	DET	PDT	PronType=Tot	8	det:predet	_	_
7	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	8	nmod:poss	_	_
8	homework	homework	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **want** | past | People | someone |  |  |  |  | vn want-32.1-1-1 «NP V NP ADV»: agent=Pivot someone=Theme |
| 2 | **do** | to-infinitive | People *not said here* | People's homework |  |  |  |  | vn act-114-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent homework=Eventuality |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Kings promised protection and organised the extra food

```conllu
# sent_id = question:history:66-from-band-to-nation-families-tribes-kingdoms-empires-and-countries:t3:o3:1
# text = Kings promised protection and organised the extra food
1	Kings	king	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nsubj	_	_
2	promised	promise	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	protection	protection	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
4	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	5	cc	_	_
5	organised	organise	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	2	conj	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
7	extra	extra	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	amod	_	_
8	food	food	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **promise** *speech: promise* | past | Kings | protection |  |  |  |  | vn future\_having-13.3 «NP V NP.theme (PP)»: agent=Agent protection=Theme |
| 2 | **organise** | past | Kings *not said here* | the extra food |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Kings came down from the sky and everyone obeyed them

```conllu
# sent_id = question:history:66-from-band-to-nation-families-tribes-kingdoms-empires-and-countries:t3:o4:1
# text = Kings came down from the sky and everyone obeyed them
1	Kings	king	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nsubj	_	_
2	came	come	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	down	down	ADV	RB	_	2	advmod	_	_
4	from	from	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	sky	sky	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
7	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	9	cc	_	_
8	everyone	everyone	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Tot	9	nsubj	_	_
9	obeyed	obey	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	2	conj	_	_
10	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	9	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **come down** | past | Kings |  |  | the sky |  | down *property* | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V PP.initial\_location»: agent=Theme from sky=Initial\_Location |
| 2 | **obey** | past | everyone | Kings *= king* |  |  |  |  | vn abide\_by-93.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent they=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.

<!-- /div -->

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