---
title: Bro, what's the old man doing with the yam? — Uncle Remus, The Tar-Baby, part 5: Bre… · tree and pragmatics
description: Bro, what's the old man doing with the yam? Test 12 · ★ 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 question and of each option; Mova's choice was wron
---

<!-- md -->
[Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/569-pg2306-part5/t12/)

<!-- crumbs -->
[home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/) / [questions](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/) / [Books](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/) / [Uncle Remus, The Tar-Baby, part 5: Bre…](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/569-pg2306-part5/) / t12

# Test 12 · ★ · Uncle Remus, The Tar-Baby, part 5: Brer Rabbit tricks Brer…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Bro, what's the old man doing with the yam?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 3 · **The right answer:** option 4 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** Bro, old man · **What happens:** be, do · **To what, where:** old man

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 12 · ★ 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. 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/#t12).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:569-pg2306-part5:t12:1
# text = Bro, what's the old man doing with the yam?
1	Bro	bro	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	7	punct	_	_
3	what	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	7	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	's	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	7	cop	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
6	old	old	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
7	man	man	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	appos	_	_
8	doing	do	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	7	acl	_	_
9	with	with	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
10	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	yam	yam	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | Bro | the old man |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **do** | gerund | the old man *not said here* |  |  |  |  | with the yam | vn act-114-1 «NP V»: agent=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 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Roasting it in the ashes of the fire while he sings to the little boy

<!-- fold The tree, 15 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:569-pg2306-part5:t12:o1:1
# text = Roasting it in the ashes of the fire while he sings to the little boy
1	Roasting	roast	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	11	csubj	_	_
2	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	1	obj	_	_
3	in	in	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	ashes	ash	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	1	obl	_	_
6	of	of	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	fire	fire	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nmod	_	_
9	while	while	SCONJ	IN	_	11	mark	_	_
10	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	11	nsubj	_	_
11	sings	sing	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
12	to	to	ADP	IN	_	15	case	_	_
13	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	15	det	_	_
14	little	little	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	15	amod	_	_
15	boy	boy	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **roast** | gerund |  | it |  |  |  | in the ashes of the fire | vn cooking-45.3 «NP V NP PP.instrument»: agent=Agent it=Patient in ash=Instrument |
| 2 | **sing** *speech: express* | present | he |  | the little boy |  |  |  | vn manner\_speaking-37.3 «NP V PP.recipient»: agent=Agent to boy=Recipient |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Washing it in the creek

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:569-pg2306-part5:t12:o2:1
# text = Washing it in the creek
1	Washing	wash	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
2	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	1	obj	_	_
3	in	in	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	creek	creek	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **wash** | gerund |  | it |  | the creek |  |  | vn floss-41.2.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent it=Patient |

### Option 3 · ← Mova's choice {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Peeling it slowly with his knife while he keeps telling the boy stories

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:569-pg2306-part5:t12:o3:1
# text = Peeling it slowly with his knife while he keeps telling the boy stories
1	Peeling	peel	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	9	csubj	_	_
2	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	1	obj	_	_
3	slowly	slowly	ADV	RB	_	1	advmod	_	_
4	with	with	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	6	nmod:poss	_	_
6	knife	knife	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obl	_	_
7	while	while	SCONJ	IN	_	9	mark	_	_
8	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	9	nsubj	_	_
9	keeps	keep	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
10	telling	tell	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	9	xcomp	_	_
11	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
12	boy	boy	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	compound	_	_
13	stories	story	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	10	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **peel** | gerund |  | it |  |  |  | with his knife; slowly *property* | vn pit-10.7 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent it=Source |
| 2 | **keep** | present | he |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 3 | **tell** *speech: assert* | gerund | he *not said here* | the boy stories |  |  |  |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP.recipient»: agent=Agent story=Recipient |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Peeling it while he talks

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:569-pg2306-part5:t12:o4:1
# text = Peeling it while he talks
1	Peeling	peel	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	5	csubj	_	_
2	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	1	obj	_	_
3	while	while	SCONJ	IN	_	5	mark	_	_
4	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	5	nsubj	_	_
5	talks	talk	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **peel** | gerund |  | it |  |  |  |  | vn pit-10.7 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent it=Source |
| 2 | **talk** | present | he |  |  |  |  |  | vn talk-37.5 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

<!-- 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.

<!-- /div -->

<!-- pn -->
- ← previous: [Uncle Remus, The Tar-Baby, part 5: Bre…, test 11](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/569-pg2306-part5/t11/)
- next →: [Uncle Remus, The Tar-Baby, part 5: Bre…, test 13](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/569-pg2306-part5/t13/)
- ↑ back to [Uncle Remus, The Tar-Baby, part 5: Brer Rabbit tricks Brer Fox into the brier-patch](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/569-pg2306-part5/)