---
title: Where were the maids when they spotted him? — Yellow Fairy Book, Princess Goldilocks… · tree and pragmatics
description: Where were the maids when they spotted him? Test 9 · ★ 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 pragma
---

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# Test 9 · ★ · Yellow Fairy Book, Princess Goldilocks, part 46: Charming…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Where were the maids when they spotted him?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 4 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** maids · **What happens:** be, spot

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 9 · ★ 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/#t9).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1459-pg503-part46:t9:1
# text = Where were the maids when they spotted him?
1	Where	where	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	0	root	_	_
2	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	1	cop	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	maids	maid	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	1	nsubj	_	_
5	when	when	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	7	advmod	_	_
6	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	7	nsubj	_	_
7	spotted	spot	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	1	advcl	_	_
8	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	1	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | past | the maids |  |  |  |  | where *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **spot** | past | maids *= maid* |  |  |  |  |  | vn weather-57 «It V PP.theme» |

<!-- .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 -->
Down in the great kitchen below, baking bread and singing songs for the King

<!-- fold The tree, 14 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1459-pg503-part46:t9:o1:1
# text = Down in the great kitchen below, baking bread and singing songs for the King
1	Down	down	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
2	in	in	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	great	great	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	kitchen	kitchen	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
6	below	below	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	8	punct	_	_
8	baking	bake	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	5	advcl	_	_
9	bread	bread	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obj	_	_
10	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	11	cc	_	_
11	singing	sing	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	8	conj	_	_
12	songs	song	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	11	obj	_	_
13	for	for	ADP	IN	_	15	case	_	_
14	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	15	det	_	_
15	King	King	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	11	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **bake** | gerund |  | bread |  |  |  |  | vn build-26.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent bread=Product |
| 2 | **sing** *speech: express* | gerund |  | songs |  |  |  | for the King | vn performance-26.7-1 «NP V NP PP.beneficiary»: agent=Agent song=Theme for king=Beneficiary |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Up in the high garret, sitting at their wheels spinning flax all day long

<!-- fold The tree, 14 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1459-pg503-part46:t9:o2:1
# text = Up in the high garret, sitting at their wheels spinning flax all day long
1	Up	up	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
2	in	in	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	high	high	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	garret	garret	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	7	punct	_	_
7	sitting	sit	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	5	acl	_	_
8	at	at	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	10	nmod:poss	_	_
10	wheels	wheel	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	obl	_	_
11	spinning	spin	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	7	advcl	_	_
12	flax	flax	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	obj	_	_
13	all	all	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	14	det	_	_
14	day	day	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	obl:unmarked	_	_
15	long	long	ADV	RB	Degree=Pos	11	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **sit** | gerund | the high garret *not said here* |  |  | their wheels |  |  | vn assuming\_position-50 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Agent at wheel=Location |
| 2 | **spin** | gerund | the high garret *not said here* | flax |  |  | day | long *property* | vn roll-51.3.1 «NP V NP.theme»: agent=Agent flax=Theme |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Out in the fields picking flowers

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1459-pg503-part46:t9:o3:1
# text = Out in the fields picking flowers
1	Out	out	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
2	in	in	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	fields	field	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	0	root	_	_
5	picking	pick	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	4	acl	_	_
6	flowers	flower	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **pick** | gerund | the fields *not said here* | flowers |  |  |  |  | vn chew-39.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent flower=Patient |

### Option 4 · ✓ the right answer {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Up in the garret spinning flax

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1459-pg503-part46:t9:o4:1
# text = Up in the garret spinning flax
1	Up	up	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
2	in	in	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	garret	garret	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
5	spinning	spin	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	6	amod	_	_
6	flax	flax	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **spin** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn roll-51.3.1 «NP.theme V»: agent=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.

<!-- /div -->

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- ← previous: [Yellow Fairy Book, Princess Goldilocks…, test 8](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/1459-pg503-part46/t8/)
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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/)