---
title: What was the little Man doing when the messenger spotted him, lol? — Grimm, Rumpelstiltskin, part 31: the w… · tree and pragmatics
description: What was the little Man doing when the messenger spotted him, lol? Test 9 · ★ of lesson 128 «Grimm, Rumpelstiltskin, part 31: the wicked pair are punished, and a Miller's daughter must spin straw into gold» of the books course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the 
---

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# Test 9 · ★ · Grimm, Rumpelstiltskin, part 31: the wicked pair are punis…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
What was the little Man doing when the messenger spotted him, lol?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 2 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** little Man, messenger · **What happens:** be, do, spot · **To what, where:** little Man, Man

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 9 · ★ of lesson 128 «Grimm, Rumpelstiltskin, part 31: the wicked pair are punished, and a Miller's daughter must spin straw into gold» 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/128-pg11027-part31/#t9).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:128-pg11027-part31:t9:1
# text = What was the little Man doing when the messenger spotted him, lol?
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	5	nsubj	_	_
2	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	little	little	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	Man	man	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
6	doing	do	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	5	acl	_	_
7	when	when	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	10	advmod	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	messenger	messenger	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	nsubj	_	_
10	spotted	spot	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	6	parataxis	_	_
11	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	10	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	10	punct	_	_
13	lol	lol	INTJ	UH	_	6	discourse	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | past |  | the little Man |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **do** | gerund | the little Man *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn act-114-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **spot** | past | the messenger |  | Man |  |  |  | vn fill-9.8-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Theme he=Destination |

<!-- .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 -->
Running round the big oak tree

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:128-pg11027-part31:t9:o1:1
# text = Running round the big oak tree
1	Running	run	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
2	round	round	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
4	big	big	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
5	oak	oak	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	compound	_	_
6	tree	tree	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obl	_	_
```

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

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Dancing on one leg, shouting rhymes

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:128-pg11027-part31:t9:o2:1
# text = Dancing on one leg, shouting rhymes
1	Dancing	dance	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
2	on	on	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
3	one	one	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	4	nummod	_	_
4	leg	leg	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	6	punct	_	_
6	shouting	shout	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	1	conj	_	_
7	rhymes	rhyme	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **dance** | gerund |  |  |  | one leg |  |  | vn modes\_of\_being\_with\_motion-47.3 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme on leg=Location |
| 2 | **shout** *speech: express* | gerund |  | rhymes |  |  |  |  | vn manner\_speaking-37.3 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent rhyme=Topic |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Hopping about, singing songs

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:128-pg11027-part31:t9:o3:1
# text = Hopping about, singing songs
1	Hopping	hop	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
2	about	about	ADV	RB	_	1	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	4	punct	_	_
4	singing	sing	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	1	advcl	_	_
5	songs	song	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **hop about** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  | about *property* | vn run-51.3.2-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 2 | **sing** *speech: express* | gerund |  | songs |  |  |  |  | vn sound\_emission-43.2 «PP.location V NP»: agent=Location song=Theme |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Sleeping, lol

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:128-pg11027-part31:t9:o4:1
# text = Sleeping, lol
1	Sleeping	sleeping	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	1	punct	_	_
3	lol	lol	INTJ	UH	_	1	discourse	_	_
```

<!-- .note -->
The frames reader finds no event or fact in this sentence.

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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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