---
title: Was the old beggar a wicked wizard, or just a bit of gossip? — Lang's Fairy Books, The Stones of Plou… · tree and pragmatics
description: Was the old beggar a wicked wizard, or just a bit of gossip? Test 8 · ★ of lesson 1316 «Lang's Fairy Books, The Stones of Plouhinec, part 1: a beggar comes to the Christmas supper» of the books course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each optio
---

<!-- md -->
[Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/1316-pg3454-part41/t8/)

<!-- crumbs -->
[home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/) / [questions](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/) / [Books](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/) / [Lang's Fairy Books, The Stones of Plou…](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/1316-pg3454-part41/) / t8

# Test 8 · ★ · Lang's Fairy Books, The Stones of Plouhinec, part 1: a beg…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Was the old beggar a wicked wizard, or just a bit of gossip?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 3 · wrong ✗ · **What happens:** be · **To what, where:** old beggar

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 8 · ★ of lesson 1316 «Lang's Fairy Books, The Stones of Plouhinec, part 1: a beggar comes to the Christmas supper» 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/1316-pg3454-part41/#t8).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1316-pg3454-part41:t8:1
# text = Was the old beggar a wicked wizard, or just a bit of gossip?
1	Was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
3	old	old	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	amod	_	_
4	beggar	beggar	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	csubj	_	_
5	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
6	wicked	wicked	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
7	wizard	wizard	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	12	punct	_	_
9	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	12	cc	_	_
10	just	just	ADV	RB	_	12	advmod	_	_
11	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
12	bit	bit	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	appos	_	_
13	of	of	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
14	gossip	gossip	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	7	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | past |  | the old beggar |  |  |  |  | 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 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Probably just gossip, but some folks reckon he's a proper wizard

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1316-pg3454-part41:t8:o1:1
# text = Probably just gossip, but some folks reckon he's a proper wizard
1	Probably	probably	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	_
2	just	just	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	_
3	gossip	gossip	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	8	punct	_	_
5	but	but	CCONJ	CC	_	8	cc	_	_
6	some	some	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	7	det	_	_
7	folks	folk	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	nsubj	_	_
8	reckon	reckon	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
9	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	13	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	's	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	13	cop	_	_
11	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
12	proper	proper	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	13	amod	_	_
13	wizard	wizard	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	ccomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **reckon** | present | gossip |  |  |  |  |  | vn consider-29.9-1 «NP V how S»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **is a** | present | gossip | a proper wizard |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A real wizard who cursed the corn, or just gossip, probably

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1316-pg3454-part41:t8:o2:1
# text = A real wizard who cursed the corn, or just gossip, probably
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	real	real	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	wizard	wizard	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
4	who	who	PRON	WP	PronType=Rel	5	nsubj	_	_
5	cursed	curse	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	corn	corn	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	11	punct	_	_
9	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	11	cc	_	_
10	just	just	ADV	RB	_	11	advmod	_	_
11	gossip	gossip	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	13	punct	_	_
13	probably	probably	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **curse** | past | a real wizard | the corn |  |  |  | gossip *obl*; probably *property* | vn judgment-33.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent corn=Theme |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Just gossip, probably

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1316-pg3454-part41:t8:o3:1
# text = Just gossip, probably
1	Just	just	ADV	RB	_	2	advmod	_	_
2	gossip	gossip	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	2	punct	_	_
4	probably	probably	ADV	RB	_	2	advmod	_	_
```

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

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Just a rumour, maybe

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1316-pg3454-part41:t8:o4:1
# text = Just a rumour, maybe
1	Just	just	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	_
2	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	rumour	rumour	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	3	punct	_	_
5	maybe	maybe	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	_
```

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

<!-- 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: [Lang's Fairy Books, The Stones of Plou…, test 7](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/1316-pg3454-part41/t7/)
- next →: [Lang's Fairy Books, The Stones of Plou…, test 9](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/1316-pg3454-part41/t9/)
- ↑ back to [Lang's Fairy Books, The Stones of Plouhinec, part 1: a beggar comes to the Christmas supper](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/1316-pg3454-part41/)