---
title: The drummer in Houston yells, "Y'all fixin' to practise or what?" ("… — Starting a band · tree and pragmatics
description: The drummer in Houston yells, "Y'all fixin' to practise or what?" ("fixin' to" means about to). What does he want? Test 3 · ★ of lesson 4 «Starting a band» of the arts course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each option; Mova's choice was right
---

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# Test 3 · ★ · Starting a band

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The drummer in Houston yells, "Y'all fixin' to practise or what?" ("fixin' to" means about to). What does he want?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 1 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** drummer, fixin · **What happens:** yell, practise, mean, want · **To what, where:** Y'all fixin · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 3 · ★ of lesson 4 «Starting a band» of the arts 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/arts/4-starting-a-band/#t3).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* The drummer in Houston yells, "Y'all fixin' to practise or what?"

```conllu
# sent_id = question:arts:4-starting-a-band:t3:1
# text = The drummer in Houston yells, "Y'all fixin' to practise or what?"
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	drummer	drummer	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
3	in	in	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
4	Houston	Houston	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	_
5	yells	yell	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	5	punct	_	_
7	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	9	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	Y'all	Y'all	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	9	compound	_	_
9	fixin	fixin	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	'	'	PUNCT	''	_	9	punct	_	_
11	to	to	PART	TO	_	12	mark	_	_
12	practise	practise	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	9	xcomp	_	_
13	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	14	cc	_	_
14	what	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	12	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	9	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	9	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **yell** *speech: express* | present | the drummer in Houston | Y'all fixin |  |  |  |  | vn manner\_speaking-37.3 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent fixin=Topic |
| 2 | **practise** *in a quote* | to-infinitive | the drummer in Houston *not said here* | Y'all fixin |  |  |  |  | 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:* ("fixin' to" means about to).

```conllu
# sent_id = question:arts:4-starting-a-band:t3:2
# text = ("fixin' to" means about to).
1	(	(	PUNCT	-LRB-	_	7	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	3	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	fixin	fixin	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	'	'	PUNCT	''	_	3	punct	_	_
5	to	to	PART	TO	_	3	fixed	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	3	punct	_	_
7	means	mean	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
8	about	about	ADV	RB	_	7	advmod	_	_
9	to	to	PART	TO	_	8	fixed	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	)	)	PUNCT	-RRB-	_	7	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	7	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **mean** | present | fixin |  |  |  |  | about *property* | vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V S»: agent=Agent |

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 3:* What does he want?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:arts:4-starting-a-band:t3:3
# text = What does he want?
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	4	obj	_	_
2	does	do	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
3	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
4	want	want	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **want** | present · do-support | fixin |  |  |  |  |  | vn want-32.1-1-1 «NP V NP ADV»: agent=Pivot what=Theme |

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The band to stop chatting and start playing

```conllu
# sent_id = question:arts:4-starting-a-band:t3:o1:1
# text = The band to stop chatting and start playing
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	band	band	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
3	to	to	PART	TO	_	4	mark	_	_
4	stop	stop	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
5	chatting	chat	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	4	xcomp	_	_
6	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	7	cc	_	_
7	start	start	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	conj	_	_
8	playing	play	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	7	xcomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **stop** | to-infinitive | the band |  |  |  |  |  | vn stop-55.4-1-1 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Affector clause=Eventuality |
| 2 | **chat** *speech: other* | gerund | the band *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn chit\_chat-37.6 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **start** | infinitive | the band *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn begin-55.1-1-1 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Agent clause=Eventuality |
| 4 | **play** | gerund | the band *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn performance-26.7-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The band to practise more chatting

```conllu
# sent_id = question:arts:4-starting-a-band:t3:o2:1
# text = The band to practise more chatting
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	band	band	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	to	to	PART	TO	_	4	mark	_	_
4	practise	practise	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	2	acl	_	_
5	more	more	ADV	RBR	Degree=Cmp	6	advmod	_	_
6	chatting	chat	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	4	advcl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **practise** | to-infinitive |  |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **chat** *speech: other* | gerund |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn chit\_chat-37.6 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The band to go home for the night

```conllu
# sent_id = question:arts:4-starting-a-band:t3:o3:1
# text = The band to go home for the night
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	band	band	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	to	to	PART	TO	_	4	mark	_	_
4	go	go	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	2	acl	_	_
5	home	home	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
6	for	for	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	night	night	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **go** | to-infinitive |  |  |  |  | night | home *property* | vn disappearance-48.2-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The band to fix the broken drum kit

```conllu
# sent_id = question:arts:4-starting-a-band:t3:o4:1
# text = The band to fix the broken drum kit
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	band	band	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	to	to	PART	TO	_	4	mark	_	_
4	fix	fix	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	2	acl	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
6	broken	break	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	8	amod	_	_
7	drum	drum	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	compound	_	_
8	kit	kit	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **fix** | to-infinitive |  | the broken drum kit |  |  |  |  | vn shake-22.3-2 «NP V NP together»: agent=Agent kit=Patient |
| 2 | **break** | participle |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn hurt-40.8.3-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Patient |

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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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