---
title: A judge asks: «Why did Nathan use a story instead of shouting at the… — King David and King Solomon · tree and pragmatics
description: A judge asks: «Why did Nathan use a story instead of shouting at the king?» Test 9 · ★★ of lesson 9 «King David and King Solomon» of the religion ethics 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 9 · ★★ · King David and King Solomon

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A judge asks: «Why did Nathan use a story instead of shouting at the king?»

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 2 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** judge, Nathan · **What happens:** ask, use, shout · **To what, where:** story · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 9 · ★★ of lesson 9 «King David and King Solomon» of the religion ethics 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/religion-ethics/9-king-david-and-king-solomon/#t9).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:religion-ethics:9-king-david-and-king-solomon:t9:1
# text = A judge asks: «Why did Nathan use a story instead of shouting at the king?»
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	judge	judge	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	asks	ask	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	:	:	PUNCT	:	_	3	punct	_	_
5	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	9	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	Why	why	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	9	advmod	_	_
7	did	do	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	9	aux	_	_
8	Nathan	Nathan	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	9	nsubj	_	_
9	use	use	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	parataxis	_	_
10	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	story	story	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obj	_	_
12	instead	instead	ADV	RB	ExtPos=SCONJ	14	mark	_	_
13	of	of	ADP	IN	_	12	fixed	_	_
14	shouting	shout	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	9	advcl	_	_
15	at	at	ADP	IN	_	17	case	_	_
16	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	17	det	_	_
17	king	king	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
18	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	9	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
19	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	9	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **ask** *speech: ask* | present | a judge |  |  |  |  |  | vn inquire-37.1.2 «NP V how S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 2 | **use** *in a quote* | past · do-support | Nathan | a story |  |  |  |  | vn eat-39.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent story=Patient |
| 3 | **shout** *speech: express* *in a quote* | gerund | Nathan *not said here* |  |  |  |  | at the king | vn manner\_speaking-37.3 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

<!-- .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 -->
Shouting was forbidden in the palace

```conllu
# sent_id = question:religion-ethics:9-king-david-and-king-solomon:t9:o1:1
# text = Shouting was forbidden in the palace
1	Shouting	shout	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	3	nsubj	_	_
2	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux:pass	_	_
3	forbidden	forbid	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
4	in	in	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	palace	palace	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **shout** *speech: express* | gerund |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn manner\_speaking-37.3 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **forbid** | past · passive |  |  |  | the palace |  |  | vn forbid-64.4-1 «NP V NP»: subject=Theme |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A story let David judge the wrong before seeing it was his own

```conllu
# sent_id = question:religion-ethics:9-king-david-and-king-solomon:t9:o2:1
# text = A story let David judge the wrong before seeing it was his own
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	story	story	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	let	let	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	David	David	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
5	judge	judge	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	xcomp	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	wrong	wrong	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obj	_	_
8	before	before	SCONJ	IN	_	9	mark	_	_
9	seeing	see	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	5	advcl	_	_
10	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	13	nsubj	_	_
11	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	13	cop	_	_
12	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	13	nmod:poss	_	_
13	own	own	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	ccomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **let** | infinitive | a story | David |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **judge** | infinitive | David *not said here* | the wrong |  |  |  |  | vn estimate-34.2-1-1 «NP V NP.value»: agent=Agent wrong=Value |
| 3 | **see** | gerund | David *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Experiencer |
| 4 | **is** | past | story |  |  |  |  | own *property* | tree rules |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
David could not understand plain words, only stories and songs and riddles

```conllu
# sent_id = question:religion-ethics:9-king-david-and-king-solomon:t9:o3:1
# text = David could not understand plain words, only stories and songs and riddles
1	David	David	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
2	could	could	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
3	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	4	advmod	_	_
4	understand	understand	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
5	plain	plain	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	words	word	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	9	punct	_	_
8	only	only	ADV	RB	_	9	advmod	_	_
9	stories	story	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	conj	_	_
10	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	11	cc	_	_
11	songs	song	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	conj	_	_
12	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	13	cc	_	_
13	riddles	riddle	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **understand** | could | David | plain words and stories and songs and riddles |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1-1 «NP V NP PP.attribute»: agent=Experiencer word=Stimulus |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Nathan liked to entertain the king

```conllu
# sent_id = question:religion-ethics:9-king-david-and-king-solomon:t9:o4:1
# text = Nathan liked to entertain the king
1	Nathan	Nathan	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	2	nsubj	_	_
2	liked	like	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	to	to	PART	TO	_	4	mark	_	_
4	entertain	entertain	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	2	xcomp	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	king	king	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **like** | past | Nathan |  |  |  |  |  | vn want-32.1-1-1 «NP V NP S\_INF»: agent=Pivot clause=Theme |
| 2 | **entertain** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive | Nathan *not said here* | the king |  |  |  |  | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Stimulus king=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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