---
title: State the number of persons who were ultimately pursuing the protago… — Household Tales, Dullhead: the golden… · tree and pragmatics
description: State the number of persons who were ultimately pursuing the protagonist across the field. Exam question 2 of lesson 1580 «Household Tales, Dullhead: the golden goose, the sticky sisters and the wedding» of the books course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the que
---

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# Exam question 2 · Household Tales, Dullhead: the golden goose, the sticky si…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
State the number of persons who were ultimately pursuing the protagonist across the field.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 2 · **The right answer:** option 1 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** you, persons · **What happens:** state, pursue · **To what, where:** number, protagonist, field

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 2 of lesson 1580 «Household Tales, Dullhead: the golden goose, the sticky sisters and the wedding» of the books course of Mova's primary school, asked in stiff, formal language. 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/1580-pg540-part77/#e2).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1580-pg540-part77:e2:1
# text = State the number of persons who were ultimately pursuing the protagonist across the field.
1	State	state	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	number	number	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
4	of	of	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	persons	person	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nmod	_	_
6	who	who	PRON	WP	PronType=Rel	9	nsubj	_	_
7	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	9	aux	_	_
8	ultimately	ultimately	ADV	RB	_	9	advmod	_	_
9	pursuing	pursue	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	5	acl:relcl	_	_
10	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	protagonist	protagonist	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obj	_	_
12	across	across	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
13	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	14	det	_	_
14	field	field	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **state** *speech: other* | imperative | you *not said here* | the number of persons |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V NP.topic»: agent=Agent number=Topic |
| 2 | **pursue** | past · progressive | persons | the protagonist |  | the field |  | ultimately *property* | vn chase-51.6 «NP V NP PP.location»: agent=Agent protagonist=Theme across field=Trajectory |

<!-- .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 · ✓ the right answer {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Seven persons were in pursuit of the protagonist.

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1580-pg540-part77:e2:o1:1
# text = Seven persons were in pursuit of the protagonist.
1	Seven	seven	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	2	nummod	_	_
2	persons	person	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	nsubj	_	_
3	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
4	in	in	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	pursuit	pursuit	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
6	of	of	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	protagonist	protagonist	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | past | Seven persons |  |  | pursuit |  | of the protagonist | tree rules |

### Option 2 · ← Mova's choice {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Seven persons, all tied in a line, were in pursuit of the protagonist.

<!-- fold The tree, 13 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1580-pg540-part77:e2:o2:1
# text = Seven persons, all tied in a line, were in pursuit of the protagonist.
1	Seven	seven	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	2	nummod	_	_
2	persons	person	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	12	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	5	punct	_	_
4	all	all	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
5	tied	tie	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	2	acl	_	_
6	in	in	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	line	line	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	2	punct	_	_
10	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	12	cop	_	_
11	in	in	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
12	pursuit	pursuit	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
13	of	of	ADP	IN	_	15	case	_	_
14	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	15	det	_	_
15	protagonist	protagonist	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	12	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **tie** | participle |  | Seven persons *not said here* |  | a line |  | all *property* | vn mix-22.1-2 «NP V ADVP-Middle»: agent=Patient |
| 2 | **is** | past | Seven persons |  |  | pursuit |  | of the protagonist | tree rules |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Five persons were in pursuit of the protagonist.

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1580-pg540-part77:e2:o3:1
# text = Five persons were in pursuit of the protagonist.
1	Five	five	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	2	nummod	_	_
2	persons	person	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	nsubj	_	_
3	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
4	in	in	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	pursuit	pursuit	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
6	of	of	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	protagonist	protagonist	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | past | Five persons |  |  | pursuit |  | of the protagonist | tree rules |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Seven persons were in hot pursuit of the protagonist across the whole field.

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1580-pg540-part77:e2:o4:1
# text = Seven persons were in hot pursuit of the protagonist across the whole field.
1	Seven	seven	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	2	nummod	_	_
2	persons	person	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	nsubj	_	_
3	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	6	cop	_	_
4	in	in	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	hot	hot	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	pursuit	pursuit	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
7	of	of	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	protagonist	protagonist	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nmod	_	_
10	across	across	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
11	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
12	whole	whole	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	13	amod	_	_
13	field	field	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	6	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | past | Seven persons |  |  | hot pursuit |  | of the protagonist across the whole field | tree rules |

<!-- 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 -->

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- ← previous: [Household Tales, Dullhead: the golden…, exam 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/1580-pg540-part77/e1/)
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