---
title: Ya, where was the sexton when he heard the meowing? — English Fairy Tales, Rushen Coatie: th… · tree and pragmatics
description: Ya, where was the sexton when he heard the meowing? Test 7 · ★ 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 question and of each option; Mova's cho
---

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# Test 7 · ★ · English Fairy Tales, Rushen Coatie: the glass slipper fits…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Ya, where was the sexton when he heard the meowing?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 2 · **The right answer:** option 2 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** Ya · **What happens:** be, hear · **To what, where:** sexton, meowing

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This is test 7 · ★ 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. 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/#t7).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:258-pg14241-part25:t7:1
# text = Ya, where was the sexton when he heard the meowing?
1	Ya	Ya	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	9	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	6	punct	_	_
3	where	where	ADV	WRB	PronType=Rel	6	advmod	_	_
4	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	6	cop	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	sexton	sexton	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	appos	_	_
7	when	when	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	9	advmod	_	_
8	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	9	nsubj	_	_
9	heard	hear	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
10	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	meowing	meowing	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	9	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | past |  | the sexton |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **hear** | past | Ya | the meowing |  |  |  |  | vn see-30.1-1-1 «NP V S»: agent=Experiencer meowing=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 -->
mending the fence around the churchyard wall

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:258-pg14241-part25:t7:o1:1
# text = mending the fence around the churchyard wall
1	mending	mend	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	fence	fence	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
4	around	around	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
6	churchyard	churchyard	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	compound	_	_
7	wall	wall	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obl	_	_
```

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

### Option 2 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
digging at Mr Fordyce's grave

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:258-pg14241-part25:t7:o2:1
# text = digging at Mr Fordyce's grave
1	digging	dig	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
2	at	at	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
3	Mr	Mr	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	4	compound	_	_
4	Fordyce	Fordyce	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	6	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	's	's	PART	POS	_	4	case	_	_
6	grave	grave	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obl	_	_
```

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

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
sweeping the church steps

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:258-pg14241-part25:t7:o3:1
# text = sweeping the church steps
1	sweeping	sweep	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
3	church	church	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	compound	_	_
4	steps	step	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	1	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **sweep** | gerund |  | the church steps |  |  |  |  | vn run-51.3.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Theme step=Trajectory |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
ringing the bell at dusk

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:258-pg14241-part25:t7:o4:1
# text = ringing the bell at dusk
1	ringing	ring	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	bell	bell	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
4	at	at	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	dusk	dusk	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **ring** | gerund |  | the bell |  |  | dusk |  | vn sound\_emission-43.2 «PP.location V NP»: agent=Location bell=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.

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