---
title: So which bird was late, and what was its excuse? — Celtic Fairy Tales, The Irishman and t… · tree and pragmatics
description: So which bird was late, and what was its excuse? Test 9 · ★ of lesson 1736 «Celtic Fairy Tales, The Irishman and the Blue Mountains, part 60: the Irishman learns from an Eagle where the Princess is» of the books course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question
---

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# Test 9 · ★ · Celtic Fairy Tales, The Irishman and the Blue Mountains, p…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
So which bird was late, and what was its excuse?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 4 · **The right answer:** option 2 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** bird · **What happens:** be · **To what, where:** excuse

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 9 · ★ of lesson 1736 «Celtic Fairy Tales, The Irishman and the Blue Mountains, part 60: the Irishman learns from an Eagle where the Princess is» 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/1736-pg640-part60/#t9).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1736-pg640-part60:t9:1
# text = So which bird was late, and what was its excuse?
1	So	so	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
2	which	which	DET	WDT	PronType=Int	3	det	_	_
3	bird	bird	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
4	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
5	late	late	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	11	punct	_	_
7	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	11	cc	_	_
8	what	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	11	nsubj	_	_
9	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	11	cop	_	_
10	its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	11	nmod:poss	_	_
11	excuse	excuse	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	parataxis	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | past | which bird |  |  |  |  | late *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **is a** | past |  | bird's excuse |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

<!-- .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 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The big Eagle, said it came way further, from over the mountains and across the sea

<!-- fold The tree, 16 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1736-pg640-part60:t9:o1:1
# text = The big Eagle, said it came way further, from over the mountains and across the sea
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	big	big	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	Eagle	Eagle	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	3	punct	_	_
5	said	say	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
6	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	7	nsubj	_	_
7	came	come	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	ccomp	_	_
8	way	way	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nsubj	_	_
9	further	further	ADV	RB	_	7	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	14	punct	_	_
11	from	from	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
12	over	over	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
13	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	14	det	_	_
14	mountains	mountain	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	obl	_	_
15	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	18	cc	_	_
16	across	across	ADP	IN	_	18	case	_	_
17	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	18	det	_	_
18	sea	sea	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **say** *speech: assert* | past | the big Eagle |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 2 | **come** | past | Eagle |  |  | the mountains and the sea |  | further *property* | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V PP.initial\_location»: agent=Theme from mountain=Initial\_Location |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The big Eagle, said it came way further

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1736-pg640-part60:t9:o2:1
# text = The big Eagle, said it came way further
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	big	big	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	Eagle	Eagle	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	3	punct	_	_
5	said	say	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
6	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	7	nsubj	_	_
7	came	come	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	ccomp	_	_
8	way	way	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nsubj	_	_
9	further	further	ADV	RB	_	7	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **say** *speech: assert* | past | the big Eagle |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 2 | **come** | past | Eagle |  |  |  |  | further *property* | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The little wren, said it was tired

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1736-pg640-part60:t9:o3:1
# text = The little wren, said it was tired
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	little	little	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	wren	wren	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	3	punct	_	_
5	said	say	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
6	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	8	nsubj	_	_
7	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	8	cop	_	_
8	tired	tired	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	ccomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **say** *speech: assert* | past | the little wren |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **is** | past | wren |  |  |  |  | tired *property* | tree rules |

### Option 4 · ← Mova's choice {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The big Eagle, said it came way further than anyone and had to rest on the way

<!-- fold The tree, 17 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1736-pg640-part60:t9:o4:1
# text = The big Eagle, said it came way further than anyone and had to rest on the way
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	big	big	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	Eagle	Eagle	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	3	punct	_	_
5	said	say	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
6	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	7	nsubj	_	_
7	came	come	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	ccomp	_	_
8	way	way	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nsubj	_	_
9	further	further	ADV	RB	_	11	advmod	_	_
10	than	than	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
11	anyone	anyone	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Ind	8	nmod	_	_
12	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	13	cc	_	_
13	had	have	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	conj	_	_
14	to	to	PART	TO	_	15	mark	_	_
15	rest	rest	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	13	xcomp	_	_
16	on	on	ADP	IN	_	18	case	_	_
17	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	18	det	_	_
18	way	way	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	15	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **say** *speech: assert* | past | the big Eagle |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 2 | **come** | past | Eagle |  |  |  |  |  | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 3 | **have** | past | the big Eagle *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 4 | **rest** | to-infinitive | the big Eagle *not said here* |  |  | the way |  |  | vn spatial\_configuration-47.6-1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme on way=Location |

<!-- 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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