---
title: Upon what object did the bird perch before singing to the cobbler? — English Fairy Tales, The Juniper Tree:… · tree and pragmatics
description: Upon what object did the bird perch before singing to the cobbler? Exam question 3 of lesson 1945 «English Fairy Tales, The Juniper Tree: the stepmother is crushed by a millstone after the bird sings the truth» of the books course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of 
---

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# Exam question 3 · English Fairy Tales, The Juniper Tree: the stepmother is c…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Upon what object did the bird perch before singing to the cobbler?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 2 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** object · **What happens:** do, sing · **To what, where:** bird perch, cobbler

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 3 of lesson 1945 «English Fairy Tales, The Juniper Tree: the stepmother is crushed by a millstone after the bird sings the truth» 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/1945-pg7439-part4/#e3).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1945-pg7439-part4:e3:1
# text = Upon what object did the bird perch before singing to the cobbler?
1	Upon	upon	ADP	IN	_	2	case	_	_
2	what	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	4	obj	_	_
3	object	object	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
4	did	do	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
6	bird	bird	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	compound	_	_
7	perch	perch	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obj	_	_
8	before	before	SCONJ	IN	_	9	mark	_	_
9	singing	sing	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	4	advcl	_	_
10	to	to	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
11	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
12	cobbler	cobbler	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **do** | past | object | the bird perch |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **sing** *speech: express* | gerund | object *not said here* |  | the cobbler |  |  |  | vn manner\_speaking-37.3 «NP V PP.recipient»: agent=Agent to cobbler=Recipient |

<!-- .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 -->
a tree hard by the garden gate

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1945-pg7439-part4:e3:o1:1
# text = a tree hard by the garden gate
1	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	tree	tree	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	hard	hard	ADV	RB	Degree=Pos	2	advmod	_	_
4	by	by	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
6	garden	garden	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	compound	_	_
7	gate	gate	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	_
```

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

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
a tree hard by

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1945-pg7439-part4:e3:o2:1
# text = a tree hard by
1	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	tree	tree	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
3	hard	hard	ADV	RB	Degree=Pos	2	advmod	_	_
4	by	by	ADP	IN	_	0	root	_	_
```

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

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
a roof close by

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1945-pg7439-part4:e3:o3:1
# text = a roof close by
1	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	roof	roof	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	close	close	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	amod	_	_
4	by	by	ADP	IN	_	3	fixed	_	_
```

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

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
a wall nearby

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1945-pg7439-part4:e3:o4:1
# text = a wall nearby
1	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	wall	wall	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	nearby	nearby	ADV	RB	_	2	advmod	_	_
```

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

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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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