---
title: What activity was the sexton engaged in at Mr. Fordyce's grave when… — English Fairy Tales, Rushen Coatie: th… · tree and pragmatics
description: What activity was the sexton engaged in at Mr. Fordyce's grave when he heard the cats? Exam question 3 of lesson 258 «English Fairy Tales, Rushen Coatie: the glass slipper fits the girl in the rushen coatie» of the books course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the
---

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# Exam question 3 · English Fairy Tales, Rushen Coatie: the glass slipper fits…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
What activity was the sexton engaged in at Mr. Fordyce's grave when he heard the cats?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 3 · **The right answer:** option 3 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** activity, Fordyce · **What happens:** be, engage in, hear · **To what, where:** sexton, grave, cats

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 3 of lesson 258 «English Fairy Tales, Rushen Coatie: the glass slipper fits the girl in the rushen coatie» 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/258-pg14241-part25/#e3).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:258-pg14241-part25:e3:1
# text = What activity was the sexton engaged in at Mr. Fordyce's grave when he heard the cats?
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	6	nsubj	_	_
2	activity	activity	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
3	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	sexton	sexton	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	acl:relcl	_	_
6	engaged	engage	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
7	in	in	ADP	RP	_	6	compound:prt	_	_
8	at	at	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
9	Mr.	Mr.	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	10	nmod:desc	_	_
10	Fordyce	Fordyce	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	12	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	's	's	PART	POS	_	10	case	_	_
12	grave	grave	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obl	_	_
13	when	when	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	15	advmod	_	_
14	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	15	nsubj	_	_
15	heard	hear	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	6	parataxis	_	_
16	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	17	det	_	_
17	cats	cat	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	15	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
18	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	6	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | past | activity | the sexton |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **engage in** | past |  |  |  | Fordyce  Mr.'s grave |  |  | vn act-114 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **hear** | past | Fordyce | the cats |  |  |  |  | vn see-30.1-1-1 «NP V S»: agent=Experiencer cat=Stimulus |

<!-- .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 -->
shovelling soil into a freshly dug hole for a funeral

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:258-pg14241-part25:e3:o1:1
# text = shovelling soil into a freshly dug hole for a funeral
1	shovelling	shovell	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
2	soil	soil	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
3	into	into	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
4	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
5	freshly	freshly	ADV	RB	_	6	advmod	_	_
6	dug	dig	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	7	amod	_	_
7	hole	hole	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obl	_	_
8	for	for	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	funeral	funeral	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **shovell** | gerund |  | soil |  | a dug hole for a funeral |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **dig** | participle |  |  |  |  |  | freshly *property* | vn create-26.4-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
mending the gate

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:258-pg14241-part25:e3:o2:1
# text = mending the gate
1	mending	mend	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	gate	gate	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **mend** | gerund |  | the gate |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

### Option 3 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
digging the grave

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:258-pg14241-part25:e3:o3:1
# text = digging the grave
1	digging	dig	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	grave	grave	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **dig** | gerund |  | the grave |  |  |  |  | vn poke-19-1-1-1 «NP V NP.theme»: agent=Agent grave=Theme |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
repairing the stone wall around the churchyard for the parish

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:258-pg14241-part25:e3:o4:1
# text = repairing the stone wall around the churchyard for the parish
1	repairing	repair	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
3	stone	stone	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	compound	_	_
4	wall	wall	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
5	around	around	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	churchyard	churchyard	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obl	_	_
8	for	for	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	parish	parish	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **repair** | gerund |  | the stone wall |  | the churchyard |  | for the parish | vn remedy-45.7 «NP V NP.patient»: agent=Agent wall=Patient |

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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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