---
title: Ye'll never guess what the wee cowboy was doin' by the sea, yer man… — Celtic Fairy Tales, Trembling: the wha… · tree and pragmatics
description: Ye'll never guess what the wee cowboy was doin' by the sea, yer man was minding the cows like Test 1 · ★ of lesson 2013 «Celtic Fairy Tales, Trembling: the whale, the silver bullet and the cowboy's message» of the books course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the 
---

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# Test 1 · ★ · Celtic Fairy Tales, Trembling: the whale, the silver bulle…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Ye'll never guess what the wee cowboy was doin' by the sea, yer man was minding the cows like

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 4 · **The right answer:** option 4 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** Ye, yer man · **What happens:** not guess, be, mind · **To what, where:** doin, cows · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 1 · ★ of lesson 2013 «Celtic Fairy Tales, Trembling: the whale, the silver bullet and the cowboy's message» 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/2013-pg7885-part32/#t1).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:2013-pg7885-part32:t1:1
# text = Ye'll never guess what the wee cowboy was doin' by the sea, yer man was minding the cows like
1	Ye	ye	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=2|PronType=Prs|Style=Arch	4	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	'll	will	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
3	never	never	ADV	RB	PronType=Neg	4	advmod	_	_
4	guess	guess	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
5	what	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	10	nsubj	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
7	wee	wee	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	amod	_	_
8	cowboy	cowboy	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	nsubj	_	_
9	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	10	cop	_	_
10	doin	doin	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	ccomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	'	'	PUNCT	''	_	10	punct	_	_
12	by	by	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
13	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	14	det	_	_
14	sea	sea	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	19	punct	_	_
16	yer	y	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	17	amod	_	_
17	man	man	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	19	nsubj	_	_
18	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	19	aux	_	_
19	minding	mind	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	4	advcl	_	_
20	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	21	det	_	_
21	cows	cow	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	19	obj	_	_
22	like	like	INTJ	UH	_	21	discourse	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **guess** | future | Ye |  |  |  |  | by the sea | vn conjecture-29.5-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **is a** | past |  | doin |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 3 | **mind** | past · progressive | yer man | the cows |  |  |  |  | vn caring-75.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent cow=Theme |

<!-- .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 -->
Nah, he was asleep at the time and missed the whole thing

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:2013-pg7885-part32:t1:o1:1
# text = Nah, he was asleep at the time and missed the whole thing
1	Nah	nah	INTJ	UH	_	5	discourse	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	1	punct	_	_
3	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	5	nsubj	_	_
4	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
5	asleep	asleep	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
6	at	at	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	time	time	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	_
9	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	10	cc	_	_
10	missed	miss	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	conj	_	_
11	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
12	whole	whole	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	13	amod	_	_
13	thing	thing	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | past | he |  |  |  | time | asleep *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **miss** | past | he *not said here* | the whole thing |  |  |  |  | vn admire-31.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer thing=Stimulus |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Aye, he watched it all from the hill and the whale spat Trembling back

<!-- fold The tree, 14 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:2013-pg7885-part32:t1:o2:1
# text = Aye, he watched it all from the hill and the whale spat Trembling back
1	Aye	aye	INTJ	UH	_	4	discourse	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	4	punct	_	_
3	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
4	watched	watch	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	obj	_	_
6	all	all	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	5	det	_	_
7	from	from	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	hill	hill	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
10	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	13	cc	_	_
11	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
12	whale	whale	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	compound	_	_
13	spat	spat	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	conj	_	_
14	Trembling	tremble	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	13	acl	_	_
15	back	back	ADV	RB	_	14	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **watch** | past | he | it |  | the hill and the whale spat |  |  | vn assessment-34.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent it=Theme |
| 2 | **tremble back** | gerund | the whale spat *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn modes\_of\_being\_with\_motion-47.3 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Yeah, the whale spat her

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:2013-pg7885-part32:t1:o3:1
# text = Yeah, the whale spat her
1	Yeah	yeah	INTJ	UH	_	5	discourse	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	1	punct	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	whale	whale	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
5	spat	spat	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
6	her	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	5	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **spat** | infinitive | the whale | her *= she* |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

### Option 4 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Right, he saw the whole thing, and the whale threw Trembling out

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:2013-pg7885-part32:t1:o4:1
# text = Right, he saw the whole thing, and the whale threw Trembling out
1	Right	right	INTJ	UH	_	4	discourse	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	4	punct	_	_
3	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
4	saw	see	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	whole	whole	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
7	thing	thing	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	12	punct	_	_
9	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	12	cc	_	_
10	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	whale	whale	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	nsubj	_	_
12	threw	throw	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	conj	_	_
13	Trembling	tremble	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	12	xcomp	_	_
14	out	out	ADP	RP	_	13	compound:prt	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **see** | past | he | the whole thing |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer thing=Stimulus |
| 2 | **throw** | past | the whale |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 3 | **tremble out** | gerund | the whale *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn modes\_of\_being\_with\_motion-47.3 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

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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.

<!-- /div -->

<!-- pn -->
- ← previous: [Irish Folk Tales, Trembling, part 31:…, exam 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/2012-pg7885-part31/e3/)
- next →: [Celtic Fairy Tales, Trembling: the wha…, test 2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/2013-pg7885-part32/t2/)
- ↑ back to [Celtic Fairy Tales, Trembling: the whale, the silver bullet and the cowboy's message](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/2013-pg7885-part32/)