---
title: Bella says witches were burned at Salem. How could she put it right? — Ancient times and famous stories · tree and pragmatics
description: Bella says witches were burned at Salem. How could she put it right? Test 8 of lesson 21 «Ancient times and famous stories» of the myths course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each option; Mova's choice was wrong.
---

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# Test 8 · Ancient times and famous stories

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Bella says witches were burned at Salem. How could she put it right?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 4 · **The right answer:** option 1 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** Bella · **What happens:** say, burn, put · **To what, where:** witches, Salem, it · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 8 of lesson 21 «Ancient times and famous stories» of the myths 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/myths/21-ancient-times-and-famous-stories/#t8).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* Bella says witches were burned at Salem.

```conllu
# sent_id = question:myths:21-ancient-times-and-famous-stories:t8:1
# text = Bella says witches were burned at Salem.
1	Bella	Bella	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	2	nsubj	_	_
2	says	say	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	witches	witch	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	nsubj:pass	_	_
4	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	aux:pass	_	_
5	burned	burn	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	2	ccomp	_	_
6	at	at	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	Salem	Salem	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **say** *speech: assert* | present | Bella |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 2 | **burn** | past · passive |  | witches |  | Salem |  |  | tree rules |

<!-- .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:* How could she put it right?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:myths:21-ancient-times-and-famous-stories:t8:2
# text = How could she put it right?
1	How	how	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	4	advmod	_	_
2	could	could	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
3	she	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
4	put	put	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
5	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	obj	_	_
6	right	right	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **put** | could | Bella | it |  |  |  | right *property* | vn invest-13.5.4-1 «NP V PP»: agent=Agent it=Goal |

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 · ✓ the right answer {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
People were hanged there; burning happened in other places

```conllu
# sent_id = question:myths:21-ancient-times-and-famous-stories:t8:o1:1
# text = People were hanged there; burning happened in other places
1	People	people	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj:pass	_	_
2	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux:pass	_	_
3	hanged	hange	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
4	there	there	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	3	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	;	;	PUNCT	:	_	7	punct	_	_
6	burning	burn	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	7	nsubj	_	_
7	happened	happen	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	conj	_	_
8	in	in	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	other	other	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	10	amod	_	_
10	places	place	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **hange** | past · passive |  | People |  | there |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **burn** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn light\_emission-43.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 3 | **happen** | past |  |  |  | other places |  |  | vn occur-48.3-1 «NP V PP»: agent=Theme in place=Location |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Salem is a made-up town from a film

```conllu
# sent_id = question:myths:21-ancient-times-and-famous-stories:t8:o2:1
# text = Salem is a made-up town from a film
1	Salem	salem	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	7	cop	_	_
3	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
4	made	make	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	7	amod	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	6	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	up	up	ADP	RP	_	4	compound:prt	_	_
7	town	town	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
8	from	from	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	film	film	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **make up** | participle |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn comprise-107.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Theme |
| 2 | **is a** | present | Salem | a made town |  | a film |  |  | tree rules |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Nobody was ever accused of witchcraft at Salem, not even once

```conllu
# sent_id = question:myths:21-ancient-times-and-famous-stories:t8:o3:1
# text = Nobody was ever accused of witchcraft at Salem, not even once
1	Nobody	nobody	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Neg	4	nsubj:pass	_	_
2	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux:pass	_	_
3	ever	ever	ADV	RB	PronType=Ind	4	advmod	_	_
4	accused	accuse	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
5	of	of	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	witchcraft	witchcraft	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
7	at	at	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
8	Salem	Salem	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	12	punct	_	_
10	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	12	advmod	_	_
11	even	even	ADV	RB	_	12	advmod	_	_
12	once	once	ADV	RB	NumForm=Word|NumType=Mult	4	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **accuse** | past · passive |  | Nobody |  | Salem | ever | of witchcraft; once *property* | vn suspect-81 «NP V NP PP.attribute»: subject=Theme of witchcraft=Attribute |

### Option 4 · ← Mova's choice {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
They were burned at Salem every single year

```conllu
# sent_id = question:myths:21-ancient-times-and-famous-stories:t8:o4:1
# text = They were burned at Salem every single year
1	They	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj:pass	_	_
2	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux:pass	_	_
3	burned	burn	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
4	at	at	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	Salem	Salem	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
6	every	every	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	8	det	_	_
7	single	single	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	amod	_	_
8	year	year	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl:unmarked	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **burn** | past · passive |  | They |  | Salem | year |  | vn light\_emission-43.1 «NP V NP.theme»: 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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