---
title: Why were the maids knocking heads, lol? — Yellow Fairy Book, Princess Goldilocks… · tree and pragmatics
description: Why were the maids knocking heads, lol? Test 14 · ★ of lesson 1459 «Yellow Fairy Book, Princess Goldilocks, part 46: Charming is freed, sent to win the Princess, and helped on the road by a carp, a raven and an owl» of the books course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatic
---

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# Test 14 · ★ · Yellow Fairy Book, Princess Goldilocks, part 46: Charming…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Why were the maids knocking heads, lol?

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

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 14 · ★ of lesson 1459 «Yellow Fairy Book, Princess Goldilocks, part 46: Charming is freed, sent to win the Princess, and helped on the road by a carp, a raven and an owl» 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/1459-pg503-part46/#t14).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1459-pg503-part46:t14:1
# text = Why were the maids knocking heads, lol?
1	Why	why	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	4	advmod	_	_
2	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	maids	maid	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	0	root	_	_
5	knocking	knock	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	4	acl	_	_
6	heads	head	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	8	punct	_	_
8	lol	lol	INTJ	UH	_	4	discourse	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | past |  | the maids |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **knock** | gerund | the maids *not said here* | heads |  |  |  |  | vn split-23.2 «NP V NP apart»: agent=Agent head=Patient |

<!-- .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 -->
They were fighting over who would get to see the handsome stranger first in the hall

<!-- fold The tree, 16 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1459-pg503-part46:t14:o1:1
# text = They were fighting over who would get to see the handsome stranger first in the hall
1	They	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux	_	_
3	fighting	fight	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
4	over	over	SCONJ	IN	_	7	mark	_	_
5	who	who	PRON	WP	PronType=Rel	7	nsubj	_	_
6	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	7	aux	_	_
7	get	get	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	advcl	_	_
8	to	to	PART	TO	_	9	mark	_	_
9	see	see	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	7	xcomp	_	_
10	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
11	handsome	handsome	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	12	amod	_	_
12	stranger	stranger	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obj	_	_
13	first	first	ADV	RB	NumForm=Word|NumType=Ord	9	advmod	_	_
14	in	in	ADP	IN	_	16	case	_	_
15	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	16	det	_	_
16	hall	hall	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **fight** | past · progressive | They |  |  |  |  |  | vn battle-36.4-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **get** | would |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1 «NP V how S\_INF»: agent=Experiencer clause=Stimulus |
| 3 | **see** | to-infinitive |  | the handsome stranger |  | the hall |  | first *property* | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer stranger=Stimulus |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
They hurried and tripped on skirts

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1459-pg503-part46:t14:o2:1
# text = They hurried and tripped on skirts
1	They	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	hurried	hurry	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	4	cc	_	_
4	tripped	trip	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	2	conj	_	_
5	on	on	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	skirts	skirt	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **hurry** | past | They |  |  |  |  |  | vn run-51.3.2-2 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 2 | **trip** | past | They *not said here* |  |  | skirts |  |  | vn run-51.3.2-2 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme on skirt=Trajectory |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
They rushed and got in each other's way

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1459-pg503-part46:t14:o3:1
# text = They rushed and got in each other's way
1	They	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	rushed	rush	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	4	cc	_	_
4	got	get	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	2	conj	_	_
5	in	in	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
6	each	each	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	7	det	_	_
7	other	other	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	's	's	PART	POS	_	7	case	_	_
9	way	way	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **rush** | past | They |  |  |  |  |  | vn run-51.3.2-2-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 2 | **get** | past | They *not said here* |  |  | each other's way |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Experiencer |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
They rushed about the garret and got in each other's way while trying to see him

<!-- fold The tree, 17 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1459-pg503-part46:t14:o4:1
# text = They rushed about the garret and got in each other's way while trying to see him
1	They	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	rushed	rush	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	about	about	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	garret	garret	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
6	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	7	cc	_	_
7	got	get	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	2	conj	_	_
8	in	in	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
9	each	each	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	12	det	_	_
10	other	other	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	12	amod	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	's	's	PART	POS	_	10	case	_	_
12	way	way	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obl	_	_
13	while	while	SCONJ	IN	_	14	mark	_	_
14	trying	try	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	7	advcl	_	_
15	to	to	PART	TO	_	16	mark	_	_
16	see	see	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	14	xcomp	_	_
17	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	16	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **rush** | past | They |  |  |  |  | about the garret | vn run-51.3.2-2-1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme about garret=Trajectory |
| 2 | **get** | past | They *not said here* |  |  | each other way |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Experiencer |
| 3 | **try** | gerund | They *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn try-61.1 «NP V S\_INF»: agent=Agent clause=Eventuality |
| 4 | **see** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive | They *not said here* | him *= he* |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer he=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.

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- ← previous: [Yellow Fairy Book, Princess Goldilocks…, test 13](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/1459-pg503-part46/t13/)
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- ↑ back to [Yellow Fairy Book, Princess Goldilocks, part 46: Charming is freed, sent to win the Princess, and helped on the road by a carp, a raven and an owl](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/1459-pg503-part46/)