---
title: Which expression does the narrator employ to characterise the state… — Irish Fairy and Folk Tales, Guleesh: t… · tree and pragmatics
description: Which expression does the narrator employ to characterise the state of the two men while they awaited her recovery? Exam question 3 of lesson 1987 «Irish Fairy and Folk Tales, Guleesh: the herb wakes Mary, and they wed» of the books course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragm
---

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# Exam question 3 · Irish Fairy and Folk Tales, Guleesh: the herb wakes Mary,…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Which expression does the narrator employ to characterise the state of the two men while they awaited her recovery?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 3 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** expression, men, narrator · **What happens:** employ, characterise, await, recover · **To what, where:** state, recovery

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This is exam question 3 of lesson 1987 «Irish Fairy and Folk Tales, Guleesh: the herb wakes Mary, and they wed» 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/1987-pg7885-part6/#e3).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1987-pg7885-part6:e3:1
# text = Which expression does the narrator employ to characterise the state of the two men while they awaited her recovery?
1	Which	which	DET	WDT	PronType=Int	2	det	_	_
2	expression	expression	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	_
3	does	do	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	aux	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	narrator	narrator	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	_
6	employ	employ	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
7	to	to	PART	TO	_	8	mark	_	_
8	characterise	characterise	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	6	xcomp	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	state	state	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obj	_	_
11	of	of	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
12	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	14	det	_	_
13	two	two	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	14	nummod	_	_
14	men	man	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	10	nmod	_	_
15	while	while	SCONJ	IN	_	17	mark	_	_
16	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	17	nsubj	_	_
17	awaited	await	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	8	advcl	_	_
18	her	her	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	19	nmod:poss	_	_
19	recovery	recovery	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	17	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
20	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	6	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **employ** | present · do-support | which expression |  |  |  |  |  | vn hire-13.5.3 «NP V NP to be NP»: agent=Agent clause=Attribute |
| 2 | **characterise** | to-infinitive | which expression *not said here* | the state of the two men |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 3 | **await** | past | men *= man* | narrator's recovery |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 4 | **recover** |  | narrator |  |  |  |  |  | nom recovery «event intransitive»: poss=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 -->
in great fear

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1987-pg7885-part6:e3:o1:1
# text = in great fear
1	in	in	ADP	IN	_	3	case	_	_
2	great	great	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	fear	fear	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
```

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

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
between sleep and waking

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1987-pg7885-part6:e3:o2:1
# text = between sleep and waking
1	between	between	ADP	IN	_	2	case	_	_
2	sleep	sleep	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	4	cc	_	_
4	waking	waking	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	conj	_	_
```

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

### Option 3 · ✓ the right answer {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
between hope and unhope

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1987-pg7885-part6:e3:o3:1
# text = between hope and unhope
1	between	between	ADP	IN	_	2	case	_	_
2	hope	hope	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	4	cc	_	_
4	unhope	unhope	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	conj	_	_
```

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

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
torn between joy and sorrow

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1987-pg7885-part6:e3:o4:1
# text = torn between joy and sorrow
1	torn	tear	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
2	between	between	ADP	IN	_	3	case	_	_
3	joy	joy	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obl	_	_
4	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	5	cc	_	_
5	sorrow	sorrow	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **tear** | participle |  |  |  | joy and sorrow |  |  | vn run-51.3.2 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme between joy=Trajectory |

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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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