---
title: Ascertain the meaning of the command «come by» as employed by shephe… — Babe: real pigs, sheep and sheepdogs · tree and pragmatics
description: Ascertain the meaning of the command «come by» as employed by shepherds. Exam question 4 of lesson 144 «Babe: real pigs, sheep and sheepdogs» of the biology 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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# Exam question 4 · Babe: real pigs, sheep and sheepdogs

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Ascertain the meaning of the command «come by» as employed by shepherds.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 3 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** you · **What happens:** ascertain, come by, employ, mean · **To what, where:** meaning, command

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 4 of lesson 144 «Babe: real pigs, sheep and sheepdogs» of the biology 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/biology/144-babe-real-pigs-sheep-and-sheepdogs/#e4).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:144-babe-real-pigs-sheep-and-sheepdogs:e4:1
# text = Ascertain the meaning of the command «come by» as employed by shepherds.
1	Ascertain	ascertain	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	meaning	meaning	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
4	of	of	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	command	command	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nmod	_	_
7	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	8	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	come	come	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	1	conj	_	_
9	by	by	ADP	IN	_	8	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	8	punct	_	_
11	as	as	SCONJ	IN	_	12	mark	_	_
12	employed	employ	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	8	advcl	_	_
13	by	by	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
14	shepherds	shepherd	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	12	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 meaning of the command |  |  |  |  | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent meaning=Topic |
| 2 | **come by** *in a quote* | infinitive | you *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 3 | **employ** | participle | you *not said here* |  |  |  |  | by shepherds | vn hire-13.5.3 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent |
| 4 | **mean** |  |  | the command |  |  |  |  | nom meaning «communication transitive»: of=patient |

<!-- .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 -->
The dog is to return directly to the shepherd

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:144-babe-real-pigs-sheep-and-sheepdogs:e4:o1:1
# text = The dog is to return directly to the shepherd
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	dog	dog	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
3	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
4	to	to	PART	TO	_	5	mark	_	_
5	return	return	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
6	directly	directly	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
7	to	to	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	shepherd	shepherd	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | the dog |  |  |  |  | to the shepherd; directly, return *property* | tree rules |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The dog is to lie down and remain stationary

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:144-babe-real-pigs-sheep-and-sheepdogs:e4:o2:1
# text = The dog is to lie down and remain stationary
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	dog	dog	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
3	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
4	to	to	PART	TO	_	5	mark	_	_
5	lie	lie	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
6	down	down	ADP	RP	_	5	compound:prt	_	_
7	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	8	cc	_	_
8	remain	remain	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	conj	_	_
9	stationary	stationary	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | the dog |  |  |  |  | lie *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **remain** | infinitive | the dog *not said here* | stationary |  |  |  |  | vn seem-109-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Theme stationary=Attribute |

### Option 3 · ✓ the right answer {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The dog is to proceed clockwise around the flock

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:144-babe-real-pigs-sheep-and-sheepdogs:e4:o3:1
# text = The dog is to proceed clockwise around the flock
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	dog	dog	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
3	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
4	to	to	PART	TO	_	5	mark	_	_
5	proceed	proceed	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
6	clockwise	clockwise	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	xcomp	_	_
7	around	around	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	flock	flock	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | the dog |  |  | the flock |  | clockwise, proceed *property* | tree rules |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The dog is to proceed anticlockwise around the flock

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:144-babe-real-pigs-sheep-and-sheepdogs:e4:o4:1
# text = The dog is to proceed anticlockwise around the flock
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	dog	dog	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
3	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
4	to	to	PART	TO	_	5	mark	_	_
5	proceed	proceed	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
6	anticlockwise	anticlockwise	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
7	around	around	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	flock	flock	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | the dog |  |  | the flock |  | anticlockwise, proceed *property* | tree rules |

<!-- div src -->

**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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- ← previous: [Babe: real pigs, sheep and sheepdogs, exam 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/144-babe-real-pigs-sheep-and-sheepdogs/e3/)
- next →: [Shrek's Donkey: real donkeys and mules, test 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/145-shrek-s-donkey-real-donkeys-and-mules/t1/)
- ↑ back to [Babe: real pigs, sheep and sheepdogs](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/144-babe-real-pigs-sheep-and-sheepdogs/)