---
title: What was the occupation of the fisherman at the time when he cast hi… — Arabian Nights, The Merchant and the G… · tree and pragmatics
description: What was the occupation of the fisherman at the time when he cast his net? Exam question 3 of lesson 164 «Arabian Nights, The Merchant and the Genie, part 4: three old men tell their wonderful tales, and the fisherman casts his net» of the books course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency t
---

<!-- md -->
[Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/164-pg128-part4/e3/)

<!-- 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/) / [Arabian Nights, The Merchant and the G…](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/164-pg128-part4/) / e3

# Exam question 3 · Arabian Nights, The Merchant and the Genie, part 4: three…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
What was the occupation of the fisherman at the time when he cast his net?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 2 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** he · **What happens:** be, cast · **To what, where:** occupation, net

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 3 of lesson 164 «Arabian Nights, The Merchant and the Genie, part 4: three old men tell their wonderful tales, and the fisherman casts his net» 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/164-pg128-part4/#e3).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:164-pg128-part4:e3:1
# text = What was the occupation of the fisherman at the time when he cast his net?
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	4	nsubj	_	_
2	was	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	occupation	occupation	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
5	of	of	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	fisherman	fisherman	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nmod	_	_
8	at	at	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	time	time	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nmod	_	_
11	when	when	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	13	advmod	_	_
12	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	13	nsubj	_	_
13	cast	cast	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	10	acl:relcl	_	_
14	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	15	nmod:poss	_	_
15	net	net	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | past |  | the occupation |  |  | time | of the fisherman | tree rules |
| 2 | **cast** | past | he | his net |  |  |  |  | vn build-26.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent net=Product |

<!-- .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 -->
Net-making

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:164-pg128-part4:e3:o1:1
# text = Net-making
1	Net	net	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	compound	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	1	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	making	making	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
```

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

### Option 2 · ✓ the right answer {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Fishing

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:164-pg128-part4:e3:o2:1
# text = Fishing
1	Fishing	fishing	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
```

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

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Mending nets for the king

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:164-pg128-part4:e3:o3:1
# text = Mending nets for the king
1	Mending	mend	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
2	nets	net	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	1	obj	_	_
3	for	for	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	king	king	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **mend** | gerund |  | nets |  |  |  | for the king | tree rules |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Selling fish at market

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:164-pg128-part4:e3:o4:1
# text = Selling fish at market
1	Selling	sell	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
2	fish	fish	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
3	at	at	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
4	market	market	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **sell** | gerund |  | fish |  | market |  |  | vn give-13.1-1 «NP V NP PP.asset»: agent=Agent fish=Theme at market=Asset |

<!-- 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: [Arabian Nights, The Merchant and the G…, exam 2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/164-pg128-part4/e2/)
- next →: [Arabian Nights, The Merchant and the G…, exam 4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/164-pg128-part4/e4/)
- ↑ back to [Arabian Nights, The Merchant and the Genie, part 4: three old men tell their wonderful tales, and the fisherman casts his net](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/164-pg128-part4/)