---
title: Hold up, how did the pigeons sort that whole sack in like two hours? — Fairy Tales, The Gold-Bearded Man, par… · tree and pragmatics
description: Hold up, how did the pigeons sort that whole sack in like two hours? Test 5 · ★ of lesson 694 «Fairy Tales, The Gold-Bearded Man, part 34: the prince frees a prisoner, meets three grateful creatures, and is set a grain-sorting task» of the books course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency t
---

<!-- md -->
[Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/694-pg2435-part34/t5/)

<!-- 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/) / [Fairy Tales, The Gold-Bearded Man, par…](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/694-pg2435-part34/) / t5

# Test 5 · ★ · Fairy Tales, The Gold-Bearded Man, part 34: the prince fre…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Hold up, how did the pigeons sort that whole sack in like two hours?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 4 · **The right answer:** option 2 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** you, pigeons · **What happens:** hold up, sort · **To what, where:** whole sack

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 5 · ★ of lesson 694 «Fairy Tales, The Gold-Bearded Man, part 34: the prince frees a prisoner, meets three grateful creatures, and is set a grain-sorting task» 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/694-pg2435-part34/#t5).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:694-pg2435-part34:t5:1
# text = Hold up, how did the pigeons sort that whole sack in like two hours?
1	Hold	hold	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	up	up	ADP	RP	_	1	compound:prt	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	8	punct	_	_
4	how	how	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	8	advmod	_	_
5	did	do	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	8	aux	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	pigeons	pigeon	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	nsubj	_	_
8	sort	sort	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	1	advcl	_	_
9	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	11	mark	_	_
10	whole	whole	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	11	amod	_	_
11	sack	sack	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obj	_	_
12	in	in	ADP	IN	_	15	case	_	_
13	like	like	INTJ	UH	_	15	discourse	_	_
14	two	two	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	15	nummod	_	_
15	hours	hour	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **hold up** | imperative | you *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn support-15.3-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Pivot |
| 2 | **sort** | past · do-support | the pigeons | whole sack |  |  | hour |  | vn classify-29.10 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent sack=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 -->
The pigeon king brought a massive cloud of pigeons that sorted every grain in minutes

<!-- fold The tree, 15 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:694-pg2435-part34:t5:o1:1
# text = The pigeon king brought a massive cloud of pigeons that sorted every grain in minutes
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	pigeon	pigeon	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	compound	_	_
3	king	king	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
4	brought	bring	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
6	massive	massive	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
7	cloud	cloud	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obj	_	_
8	of	of	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
9	pigeons	pigeon	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	nmod	_	_
10	that	that	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	11	nsubj	_	_
11	sorted	sort	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	7	acl:relcl	_	_
12	every	every	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	13	det	_	_
13	grain	grain	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	obj	_	_
14	in	in	ADP	IN	_	15	case	_	_
15	minutes	minute	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	11	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **bring** | past | the pigeon king | a massive cloud of pigeons |  |  |  |  | vn bring-11.3-1 «NP V NP together»: agent=Agent cloud=Theme |
| 2 | **sort** | past | a massive cloud of pigeons | every grain |  |  | minute |  | vn classify-29.10 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent grain=Theme |
| 3 | **cloud** |  |  | pigeons |  |  |  |  | nom cloud «phenomenon transitive»: of=patient |

### Option 2 · ✓ the right answer {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The pigeon king brought a massive cloud of pigeons

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:694-pg2435-part34:t5:o2:1
# text = The pigeon king brought a massive cloud of pigeons
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	pigeon	pigeon	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	compound	_	_
3	king	king	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
4	brought	bring	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
6	massive	massive	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
7	cloud	cloud	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obj	_	_
8	of	of	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
9	pigeons	pigeon	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **bring** | past | the pigeon king | a massive cloud of pigeons |  |  |  |  | vn bring-11.3-1 «NP V NP together»: agent=Agent cloud=Theme |
| 2 | **cloud** |  |  | pigeons |  |  |  |  | nom cloud «phenomenon transitive»: of=patient |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A flock of pigeons helped the prince quickly

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:694-pg2435-part34:t5:o3:1
# text = A flock of pigeons helped the prince quickly
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	flock	flock	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
3	of	of	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
4	pigeons	pigeon	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nmod	_	_
5	helped	help	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	prince	prince	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obj	_	_
8	quickly	quickly	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **help** | past | a flock of pigeons |  | the prince |  |  | quickly *property* | vn help-72.1-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent prince=Beneficiary |

### Option 4 · ← Mova's choice {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The wood-pigeons were called by their king, and they worked together through the night to separate the grain

<!-- fold The tree, 19 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:694-pg2435-part34:t5:o4:1
# text = The wood-pigeons were called by their king, and they worked together through the night to separate the grain
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
2	wood	wood	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	compound	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	2	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	pigeons	pigeon	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	nsubj:pass	_	_
5	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	6	aux:pass	_	_
6	called	call	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
7	by	by	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	9	nmod:poss	_	_
9	king	king	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	13	punct	_	_
11	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	13	cc	_	_
12	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	13	nsubj	_	_
13	worked	work	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	6	conj	_	_
14	together	together	ADV	RB	_	13	advmod	_	_
15	through	through	ADP	IN	_	17	case	_	_
16	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	17	det	_	_
17	night	night	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	obl	_	_
18	to	to	PART	TO	_	19	mark	_	_
19	separate	separate	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	13	advcl	_	_
20	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	21	det	_	_
21	grain	grain	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	19	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **call** | past · passive | pigeons's king | the wood pigeons |  |  |  |  | vn initiate\_communication-37.4.2-1 «NP V NP.recipient»: agent=Agent subject=Recipient |
| 2 | **work together** | past | pigeons *= pigeon* |  |  |  | night | together *property* | vn employment-95.3 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **separate** | to-infinitive | pigeons *= pigeon* *not said here* | the grain |  |  |  |  | vn separate-23.1-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent grain=Patient |

<!-- 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: [Fairy Tales, The Gold-Bearded Man, par…, test 4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/694-pg2435-part34/t4/)
- next →: [Fairy Tales, The Gold-Bearded Man, par…, test 6](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/694-pg2435-part34/t6/)
- ↑ back to [Fairy Tales, The Gold-Bearded Man, part 34: the prince frees a prisoner, meets three grateful creatures, and is set a grain-sorting task](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/694-pg2435-part34/)