---
title: wait, why did the Carl just stop to scoff blackberries mid-race? — Irish Fairy Tales, The Carl of the Coa… · tree and pragmatics
description: wait, why did the Carl just stop to scoff blackberries mid-race? Test 2 · ★ of lesson 1058 «Irish Fairy Tales, The Carl of the Coat-Tails, part 26: the Carl stops for blackberries while Fionn waits for news» of the books course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the
---

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# Test 2 · ★ · Irish Fairy Tales, The Carl of the Coat-Tails, part 26: th…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
wait, why did the Carl just stop to scoff blackberries mid-race?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 1 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** you, Carl · **What happens:** wait, stop, scoff · **To what, where:** blackberries

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 2 · ★ of lesson 1058 «Irish Fairy Tales, The Carl of the Coat-Tails, part 26: the Carl stops for blackberries while Fionn waits for news» of the books 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/books/1058-pg2892-part26/#t2).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1058-pg2892-part26:t2:1
# text = wait, why did the Carl just stop to scoff blackberries mid-race?
1	wait	wait	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	8	punct	_	_
3	why	why	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	8	advmod	_	_
4	did	do	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	8	aux	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	Carl	Carl	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	8	nsubj	_	_
7	just	just	ADV	RB	_	8	advmod	_	_
8	stop	stop	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	1	conj	_	_
9	to	to	PART	TO	_	10	mark	_	_
10	scoff	scoff	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	8	xcomp	_	_
11	blackberries	blackberry	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	10	obj	_	_
12	mid-race	mid-race	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **wait** | imperative | you *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn exist-47.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 2 | **stop** | past · do-support | the Carl |  |  |  |  |  | vn stop-55.4-1-1 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Affector clause=Eventuality |
| 3 | **scoff** | to-infinitive | the Carl *not said here* | blackberries |  |  |  |  | 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.

## The options {#options}

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
He was gobbling them, lads, couldn't help it

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1058-pg2892-part26:t2:o1:1
# text = He was gobbling them, lads, couldn't help it
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux	_	_
3	gobbling	gobble	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
4	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	6	punct	_	_
6	lads	lad	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	10	punct	_	_
8	could	could	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	10	aux	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	n't	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	10	advmod	_	_
10	help	help	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	conj	_	_
11	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	10	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **gobble** | past · progressive | He | them *= they* |  |  |  | lads *obl* | vn animal\_sounds-38 «NP V NP.theme»: agent=Agent they=Theme |
| 2 | **not** **help** | could | He *not said here* | it |  |  |  |  | vn help-72.1-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent it=Beneficiary |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
He was starving, so he had a bite, mate

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1058-pg2892-part26:t2:o2:1
# text = He was starving, so he had a bite, mate
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux	_	_
3	starving	starve	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	7	punct	_	_
5	so	so	ADV	RB	_	7	advmod	_	_
6	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	7	nsubj	_	_
7	had	have	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	conj	_	_
8	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	bite	bite	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	11	punct	_	_
11	mate	mate	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **starve** | past · progressive | He |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **have** | past | he | a bite and mate |  |  |  |  | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent bite=Patient |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Cos he's a greedy so-and-so, can't help it

<!-- fold The tree, 12 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1058-pg2892-part26:t2:o3:1
# text = Cos he's a greedy so-and-so, can't help it
1	Cos	cos	SCONJ	IN	_	5	mark	_	_
2	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	5	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	's	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
4	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	greedy	greedy	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	14	advcl	_	_
6	so	so	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	6	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	10	cc	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	8	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	so	so	ADV	RB	_	5	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	5	punct	_	_
12	ca	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	14	aux	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	n't	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	14	advmod	_	_
14	help	help	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
15	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	14	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | he |  |  |  |  | greedy *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **not** **help** | can |  | it |  |  |  |  | vn help-72.1-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent it=Beneficiary |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
He was gobbling them up, lads, the whole bush, couldn't stop himself from eating more

<!-- fold The tree, 16 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1058-pg2892-part26:t2:o4:1
# text = He was gobbling them up, lads, the whole bush, couldn't stop himself from eating more
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux	_	_
3	gobbling	gobble	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
4	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	obj	_	_
5	up	up	ADP	RP	_	3	compound:prt	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	7	punct	_	_
7	lads	lad	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	11	punct	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
10	whole	whole	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	11	amod	_	_
11	bush	bush	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	15	punct	_	_
13	could	could	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	15	aux	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	n't	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	15	advmod	_	_
15	stop	stop	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	conj	_	_
16	himself	himself	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs|Reflex=Yes	15	obj	_	_
17	from	from	SCONJ	IN	_	18	mark	_	_
18	eating	eat	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	15	advcl	_	_
19	more	more	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	18	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **gobble up** | past · progressive | He | them *= they* |  |  |  | lads and the whole bush *obl* | vn animal\_sounds-38 «NP V NP.theme»: agent=Agent they=Theme |
| 2 | **not** **stop** | could | He *not said here* | himself *= he* |  |  |  |  | vn stop-55.4-1-1 «NP V NP.eventuality»: agent=Subeventuality himself=Eventuality |
| 3 | **eat** | gerund | He *not said here* | more |  |  |  |  | vn eat-39.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent more=Patient |

<!-- 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 -->

<!-- pn -->
- ← previous: [Irish Fairy Tales, The Carl of the Coa…, test 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/1058-pg2892-part26/t1/)
- next →: [Irish Fairy Tales, The Carl of the Coa…, test 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/1058-pg2892-part26/t3/)
- ↑ back to [Irish Fairy Tales, The Carl of the Coat-Tails, part 26: the Carl stops for blackberries while Fionn waits for news](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/1058-pg2892-part26/)