---
title: Which phrase, used by Brer Rabbit, expresses his claim to belong in… — Uncle Remus, The Tar-Baby, part 5: Bre… · tree and pragmatics
description: Which phrase, used by Brer Rabbit, expresses his claim to belong in the brier-patch? Exam question 4 of lesson 569 «Uncle Remus, The Tar-Baby, part 5: Brer Rabbit tricks Brer Fox into the brier-patch» of the books course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the questi
---

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# Exam question 4 · Uncle Remus, The Tar-Baby, part 5: Brer Rabbit tricks Brer…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Which phrase, used by Brer Rabbit, expresses his claim to belong in the brier-patch?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 4 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** phrase · **What happens:** use, express, belong, claim · **To what, where:** phrase, claim, brier patch

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 4 of lesson 569 «Uncle Remus, The Tar-Baby, part 5: Brer Rabbit tricks Brer Fox into the brier-patch» 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/569-pg2306-part5/#e4).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:569-pg2306-part5:e4:1
# text = Which phrase, used by Brer Rabbit, expresses his claim to belong in the brier-patch?
1	Which	which	DET	WDT	PronType=Int	2	det	_	_
2	phrase	phrase	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	4	punct	_	_
4	used	use	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	2	acl	_	_
5	by	by	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	Brer	Brer	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	4	obl:agent	_	_
7	Rabbit	Rabbit	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	6	flat	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	2	punct	_	_
9	expresses	express	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
10	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	11	nmod:poss	_	_
11	claim	claim	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obj	_	_
12	to	to	PART	TO	_	13	mark	_	_
13	belong	belong	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	9	advcl	_	_
14	in	in	ADP	IN	_	18	case	_	_
15	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	18	det	_	_
16	brier	brier	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	18	compound	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	16	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
18	patch	patch	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
19	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	9	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **use** | participle |  | which phrase *not said here* |  |  |  |  | vn eat-39.1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **express** | present | which phrase | phrase's claim |  |  |  |  | vn reflexive\_appearance-48.1.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent claim=Theme |
| 3 | **belong** | to-infinitive | which phrase *not said here* |  |  | the brier patch |  |  | vn attend-107.4-2 «NP V PP»: agent=Theme |
| 4 | **claim** |  | phrase |  |  |  |  |  | nom claim «communication transitive»: 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 -->
Born in the thorny bushes

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:569-pg2306-part5:e4:o1:1
# text = Born in the thorny bushes
1	Born	bear	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
2	in	in	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	thorny	thorny	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	bushes	bush	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	1	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **bear** | participle |  |  |  | the thorny bushes |  |  | vn admire-31.2 «NP V that S»: agent=Experiencer |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Ain't no fox gonna keep me out, I was bred and born in the briars

<!-- fold The tree, 16 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:569-pg2306-part5:e4:o2:1
# text = Ain't no fox gonna keep me out, I was bred and born in the briars
1	Ai	ai	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	n't	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	4	advmod	_	_
3	no	no	DET	DT	PronType=Neg	4	det	_	_
4	fox	fox	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
5	gonna	gonna	PART	TO	_	6	mark	_	_
6	keep	keep	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	acl	_	_
7	me	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	6	obj	_	_
8	out	out	ADP	RP	_	6	compound:prt	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	12	punct	_	_
10	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	12	nsubj	_	_
11	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	12	aux:pass	_	_
12	bred	breed	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	4	acl	_	_
13	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	14	cc	_	_
14	born	bear	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	12	conj	_	_
15	in	in	ADP	IN	_	17	case	_	_
16	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	17	det	_	_
17	briars	briar	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	14	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **keep out** | infinitive | no fox *not said here* | me |  |  |  |  | vn keep-15.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent i=Theme |
| 2 | **breed** | past · passive |  | I |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 3 | **bear** | participle |  |  |  | the briars |  |  | vn admire-31.2 «NP V that S»: agent=Experiencer |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
I'm a fox, not a rabbit

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:569-pg2306-part5:e4:o3:1
# text = I'm a fox, not a rabbit
1	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	'm	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
3	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	fox	fox	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	8	punct	_	_
6	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	8	advmod	_	_
7	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	rabbit	rabbit	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | I | a fox and a rabbit |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

### Option 4 · ✓ the right answer {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Bred and born in a brier-patch

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:569-pg2306-part5:e4:o4:1
# text = Bred and born in a brier-patch
1	Bred	breed	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
2	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	3	cc	_	_
3	born	bear	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	1	conj	_	_
4	in	in	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
5	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
6	brier	brier	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	compound	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	6	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	patch	patch	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **breed** | participle |  |  |  | a brier patch |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **bear** | participle |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn admire-31.2 «NP V that S»: agent=Experiencer |

<!-- div src -->

**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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