---
title: How did the farmer sort out their counting mess? — Lang Fairy Book, The Clever Cat, part… · tree and pragmatics
description: How did the farmer sort out their counting mess? Test 3 · ★ of lesson 1156 «Lang Fairy Book, The Clever Cat, part 22: a weaver's clumsy mistake, a lost-seeming weaver, and a son who gets rich with a magic stone» of the books course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of
---

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# Test 3 · ★ · Lang Fairy Book, The Clever Cat, part 22: a weaver's clums…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
How did the farmer sort out their counting mess?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 2 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** farmer · **What happens:** sort out, mess · **To what, where:** counting mess

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 3 · ★ of lesson 1156 «Lang Fairy Book, The Clever Cat, part 22: a weaver's clumsy mistake, a lost-seeming weaver, and a son who gets rich with a magic stone» 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/1156-pg3027-part22/#t3).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1156-pg3027-part22:t3:1
# text = How did the farmer sort out their counting mess?
1	How	how	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	5	advmod	_	_
2	did	do	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	aux	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	farmer	farm	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	nsubj	_	_
5	sort	sort	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
6	out	out	ADP	RP	_	5	compound:prt	_	_
7	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	9	nmod:poss	_	_
8	counting	counting	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	compound	_	_
9	mess	mess	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **sort out** | past · do-support | the farmer | farmer's counting mess |  |  |  |  | vn classify-29.10 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent mess=Theme |
| 2 | **mess** |  | farmer *= farm* |  |  |  |  |  | nom mess «state transitive»: poss=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 -->
He made each of them stand in a line and whacked them with his stick while they counted out loud

<!-- fold The tree, 20 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1156-pg3027-part22:t3:o1:1
# text = He made each of them stand in a line and whacked them with his stick while they counted out loud
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	made	make	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	each	each	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	6	nsubj	_	_
4	of	of	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nmod	_	_
6	stand	stand	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	2	ccomp	_	_
7	in	in	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	line	line	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obl	_	_
10	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	11	cc	_	_
11	whacked	whack	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	2	conj	_	_
12	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	11	obj	_	_
13	with	with	ADP	IN	_	15	case	_	_
14	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	15	nmod:poss	_	_
15	stick	stick	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	obl	_	_
16	while	while	SCONJ	IN	_	18	mark	_	_
17	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	18	nsubj	_	_
18	counted	count	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	2	advcl	_	_
19	out	out	ADV	RB	_	18	advmod	_	_
20	loud	loud	ADV	RB	_	18	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **make** | past | He |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **stand** | present | each |  |  | a line |  |  | vn assuming\_position-50 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Agent in line=Location |
| 3 | **whack** | past | He *not said here* | them *= they* |  |  |  | with his stick | vn hit-18.1 «NP V NP PP.instrument»: agent=Agent they=Patient with stick=Instrument |
| 4 | **count out** | past | they |  |  |  |  | loud, out *property* | vn matter-91 «NP V»: agent=Stimulus |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
He whacked each of them with his stick while counting

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1156-pg3027-part22:t3:o2:1
# text = He whacked each of them with his stick while counting
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	whacked	whack	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	each	each	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	2	obj	_	_
4	of	of	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nmod	_	_
6	with	with	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	8	nmod:poss	_	_
8	stick	stick	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
9	while	while	SCONJ	IN	_	10	mark	_	_
10	counting	count	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	2	advcl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **whack** | past | He | each |  |  |  | with his stick | vn hit-18.1 «NP V NP PP.instrument»: agent=Agent each=Patient with stick=Instrument |
| 2 | **count** | gerund | He *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn matter-91 «NP V»: agent=Stimulus |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
He sorted it by hitting each one, proper clever

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1156-pg3027-part22:t3:o3:1
# text = He sorted it by hitting each one, proper clever
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	sorted	sort	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	obj	_	_
4	by	by	SCONJ	IN	_	5	mark	_	_
5	hitting	hit	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	2	advcl	_	_
6	each	each	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	7	det	_	_
7	one	one	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	2	punct	_	_
9	proper	proper	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	10	amod	_	_
10	clever	clever	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	parataxis	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **sort** | past | He | it |  |  |  |  | vn classify-29.10 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent it=Theme |
| 2 | **hit** | gerund | He *not said here* | each one |  |  |  |  | vn contiguous\_location-47.8-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Theme one=Co-Theme |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
He made them count out loud, cheeky sod

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1156-pg3027-part22:t3:o4:1
# text = He made them count out loud, cheeky sod
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	made	make	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	obj	_	_
4	count	count	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	2	xcomp	_	_
5	out	out	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
6	loud	loud	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	9	punct	_	_
8	cheeky	cheeky	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	amod	_	_
9	sod	sod	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **make** | past | He | them *= they* |  |  |  | cheeky sod *obl* | tree rules |
| 2 | **count out** | infinitive | them *= they* *not said here* |  |  |  |  | loud, out *property* | vn matter-91 «NP V»: agent=Stimulus |

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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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- ← previous: [Lang Fairy Book, The Clever Cat, part…, test 2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/1156-pg3027-part22/t2/)
- next →: [Lang Fairy Book, The Clever Cat, part…, test 4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/1156-pg3027-part22/t4/)
- ↑ back to [Lang Fairy Book, The Clever Cat, part 22: a weaver's clumsy mistake, a lost-seeming weaver, and a son who gets rich with a magic stone](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/1156-pg3027-part22/)