---
title: Yo, why was Dick knackered on the doorstep, like proper dead beat? — Old Tales, Whittington and His Cat, pa… · tree and pragmatics
description: Yo, why was Dick knackered on the doorstep, like proper dead beat? Test 1 · ★ of lesson 1968 «Old Tales, Whittington and His Cat, part 27: Dick's cat wins his place at court across the sea» of the books course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of e
---

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# Test 1 · ★ · Old Tales, Whittington and His Cat, part 27: Dick's cat wi…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Yo, why was Dick knackered on the doorstep, like proper dead beat?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 4 · **The right answer:** option 1 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** Dick · **What happens:** be, knacker · **To what, where:** Dick, doorstep

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 1 · ★ of lesson 1968 «Old Tales, Whittington and His Cat, part 27: Dick's cat wins his place at court across the sea» 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/1968-pg7439-part27/#t1).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1968-pg7439-part27:t1:1
# text = Yo, why was Dick knackered on the doorstep, like proper dead beat?
1	Yo	yo	INTJ	UH	_	6	discourse	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	1	punct	_	_
3	why	why	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	6	advmod	_	_
4	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
5	Dick	Dick	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	_
6	knackered	knacker	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
7	on	on	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	doorstep	doorstep	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	14	punct	_	_
11	like	like	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
12	proper	proper	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	14	amod	_	_
13	dead	dead	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	14	amod	_	_
14	beat	beat	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	6	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | past |  | Dick |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **knacker** | past | Dick |  |  | the doorstep |  | like proper dead beat | 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 · ✓ the right answer {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
He hadn't eaten for three days

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1968-pg7439-part27:t1:o1:1
# text = He hadn't eaten for three days
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
2	had	have	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	n't	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	4	advmod	_	_
4	eaten	eat	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
5	for	for	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	three	three	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	7	nummod	_	_
7	days	day	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **eat** | past · perfect | He |  |  |  | day |  | vn eat-39.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
He was locked out all night

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1968-pg7439-part27:t1:o2:1
# text = He was locked out all night
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj:pass	_	_
2	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux:pass	_	_
3	locked	lock	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
4	out	out	ADP	RP	_	3	compound:prt	_	_
5	all	all	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	6	det	_	_
6	night	night	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl:unmarked	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **lock out** | past · passive |  | He |  |  | night |  | vn tape-22.4 «NP V NP»: subject=Patient |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
He was too weak

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1968-pg7439-part27:t1:o3:1
# text = He was too weak
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
2	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
3	too	too	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
4	weak	weak	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | past | He |  |  |  |  | weak *property* | tree rules |

### Option 4 · ← Mova's choice {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
He'd been sleeping rough

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1968-pg7439-part27:t1:o4:1
# text = He'd been sleeping rough
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	'd	have	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
3	been	be	AUX	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	4	aux	_	_
4	sleeping	sleep	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
5	rough	rough	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	xcomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **sleep** | past · perfect · progressive | He |  |  |  |  | rough *property* | vn snooze-40.4-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

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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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