---
title: what were the wee lads doing, all whispering and pointing? — Gods and Fighting Men, Mongan, part 40… · tree and pragmatics
description: what were the wee lads doing, all whispering and pointing? Test 12 · ★ of lesson 1072 «Gods and Fighting Men, Mongan, part 40: a sad king and his servant reach a noisy feast in Leinster» of the books course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each
---

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# Test 12 · ★ · Gods and Fighting Men, Mongan, part 40: a sad king and his…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
what were the wee lads doing, all whispering and pointing?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 3 · **The right answer:** option 2 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** wee lads, all · **What happens:** do, whisper, point

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 12 · ★ of lesson 1072 «Gods and Fighting Men, Mongan, part 40: a sad king and his servant reach a noisy feast in Leinster» 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/1072-pg2892-part40/#t12).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1072-pg2892-part40:t12:1
# text = what were the wee lads doing, all whispering and pointing?
1	what	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	6	obj	_	_
2	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	6	aux	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	wee	wee	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	lads	lad	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	nsubj	_	_
6	doing	do	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	9	punct	_	_
8	all	all	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	9	nsubj	_	_
9	whispering	whisper	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	6	advcl	_	_
10	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	11	cc	_	_
11	pointing	point	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	9	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	6	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **do** | past · progressive | the wee lads |  |  |  |  |  | vn act-114-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent what=Eventuality |
| 2 | **whisper** *speech: assert* | gerund | all |  |  |  |  |  | vn manner\_speaking-37.3 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **point** | gerund | all *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn wink-40.3.1 «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 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
whispering and pointing everywhere at the priests

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1072-pg2892-part40:t12:o1:1
# text = whispering and pointing everywhere at the priests
1	whispering	whisper	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
2	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	3	cc	_	_
3	pointing	point	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	1	conj	_	_
4	everywhere	everywhere	ADV	RB	PronType=Tot	1	advmod	_	_
5	at	at	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	priests	priest	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	1	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **whisper** *speech: assert* | gerund |  |  |  | the priests |  | everywhere *property* | vn sound\_emission-43.2 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme at priest=Location |
| 2 | **point** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn wink-40.3.1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
whispering and pointing everywhere

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1072-pg2892-part40:t12:o2:1
# text = whispering and pointing everywhere
1	whispering	whisper	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
2	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	3	cc	_	_
3	pointing	point	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	1	conj	_	_
4	everywhere	everywhere	ADV	RB	PronType=Tot	1	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **whisper** *speech: assert* | gerund |  |  |  |  |  | everywhere *property* | vn manner\_speaking-37.3 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **point** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn wink-40.3.1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

### Option 3 · ← Mova's choice {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
running in circles around the fire

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1072-pg2892-part40:t12:o3:1
# text = running in circles around the fire
1	running	run	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
2	in	in	ADP	IN	_	3	case	_	_
3	circles	circle	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	1	obl	_	_
4	around	around	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	fire	fire	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **run** | gerund |  |  |  | circles |  | around the fire | vn run-51.3.2-2-1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme in circle=Trajectory |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
whispering, giggling and pointing at every stranger in the hall

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1072-pg2892-part40:t12:o4:1
# text = whispering, giggling and pointing at every stranger in the hall
1	whispering	whisper	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	3	punct	_	_
3	giggling	giggle	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	1	conj	_	_
4	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	5	cc	_	_
5	pointing	point	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	1	conj	_	_
6	at	at	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	every	every	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	8	det	_	_
8	stranger	stranger	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	_
9	in	in	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
10	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	hall	hall	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **whisper** *speech: assert* | gerund |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn manner\_speaking-37.3 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **giggle** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn nonverbal\_expression-40.2 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **point** | gerund |  |  |  | every stranger |  | in the hall | vn wink-40.3.1 «NP V PP.theme»: agent=Agent in hall=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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