---
title: How many old men actually sat round the fountain, like three? — Arabian Nights, The Merchant and the G… · tree and pragmatics
description: How many old men actually sat round the fountain, like three? Test 11 · ★ of lesson 163 «Arabian Nights, The Merchant and the Genie, part 3: the merchant goes back to the fountain, and an old man begins his tale» of the books course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics o
---

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# Test 11 · ★ · Arabian Nights, The Merchant and the Genie, part 3: the me…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
How many old men actually sat round the fountain, like three?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 4 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** many old men · **What happens:** sit

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 11 · ★ of lesson 163 «Arabian Nights, The Merchant and the Genie, part 3: the merchant goes back to the fountain, and an old man begins his tale» 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/163-pg128-part3/#t11).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:163-pg128-part3:t11:1
# text = How many old men actually sat round the fountain, like three?
1	How	how	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	2	advmod	_	_
2	many	many	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	amod	_	_
3	old	old	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	amod	_	_
4	men	man	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	nsubj	_	_
5	actually	actually	ADV	RB	_	6	advmod	_	_
6	sat	sit	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
7	round	round	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	fountain	fountain	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	12	punct	_	_
11	like	like	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
12	three	three	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	6	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	6	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **sit** | past | many old men |  |  |  |  | round the fountain; like three; actually *property* | vn assuming\_position-50 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

<!-- .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 -->
Yeah, three old men came to sit near him

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:163-pg128-part3:t11:o1:1
# text = Yeah, three old men came to sit near him
1	Yeah	yeah	INTJ	UH	_	6	discourse	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	6	punct	_	_
3	three	three	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	5	nummod	_	_
4	old	old	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	men	man	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	nsubj	_	_
6	came	come	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
7	to	to	PART	TO	_	8	mark	_	_
8	sit	sit	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	6	xcomp	_	_
9	near	near	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
10	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	8	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **come** | past | three old men |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **sit** | to-infinitive | three old men *not said here* |  |  |  |  | near him *= he* | vn assuming\_position-50 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Agent near he=Location |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Nah, actually four old men came along and sat around the fountain with the merchant that day

<!-- fold The tree, 17 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:163-pg128-part3:t11:o2:1
# text = Nah, actually four old men came along and sat around the fountain with the merchant that day
1	Nah	nah	INTJ	UH	_	7	discourse	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	1	punct	_	_
3	actually	actually	ADV	RB	_	7	advmod	_	_
4	four	four	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	6	nummod	_	_
5	old	old	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	men	man	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	nsubj	_	_
7	came	come	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
8	along	along	ADV	RB	_	7	advmod	_	_
9	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	10	cc	_	_
10	sat	sit	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	7	conj	_	_
11	around	around	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
12	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
13	fountain	fountain	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	obl	_	_
14	with	with	ADP	IN	_	16	case	_	_
15	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	16	det	_	_
16	merchant	merchant	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	obl	_	_
17	that	that	DET	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	18	det	_	_
18	day	day	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	obl:unmarked	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **come along** | past | four old men |  |  |  |  | actually, along *property* | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 2 | **sit** | past | four old men *not said here* |  |  | the fountain | day | with the merchant | vn assuming\_position-50 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Agent around fountain=Location |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Yeah, three old men waited with the merchant, one after another, until the genie came

<!-- fold The tree, 15 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:163-pg128-part3:t11:o3:1
# text = Yeah, three old men waited with the merchant, one after another, until the genie came
1	Yeah	yeah	INTJ	UH	_	6	discourse	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	1	punct	_	_
3	three	three	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	5	nummod	_	_
4	old	old	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	men	man	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	nsubj	_	_
6	waited	wait	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
7	with	with	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	merchant	merchant	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	11	punct	_	_
11	one	one	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	6	conj	_	_
12	after	after	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
13	another	another	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	11	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	18	punct	_	_
15	until	until	SCONJ	IN	_	18	mark	_	_
16	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	17	det	_	_
17	genie	genie	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	18	nsubj	_	_
18	came	come	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	6	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **wait** | past | three old men |  |  |  |  | with the merchant | vn exist-47.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 2 | **come** | past | the genie |  |  |  |  |  | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Yeah, three old men waited with the merchant

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:163-pg128-part3:t11:o4:1
# text = Yeah, three old men waited with the merchant
1	Yeah	yeah	INTJ	UH	_	6	discourse	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	1	punct	_	_
3	three	three	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	5	nummod	_	_
4	old	old	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	men	man	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	nsubj	_	_
6	waited	wait	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
7	with	with	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	merchant	merchant	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **wait** | past | three old men |  |  |  |  | with the merchant | vn exist-47.1 «NP 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.

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- ← previous: [Arabian Nights, The Merchant and the G…, test 10](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/163-pg128-part3/t10/)
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