---
title: Ascertain the meaning of «famished» as employed in the sentence «The… — Vocabulary in context · tree and pragmatics
description: Ascertain the meaning of «famished» as employed in the sentence «The children were famished after the long walk». Exam question 3 of lesson 20 «Vocabulary in context» of the English course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each option; Mova's ch
---

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# Exam question 3 · Vocabulary in context

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Ascertain the meaning of «famished» as employed in the sentence «The children were famished after the long walk».

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 2 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** you, meaning, sentence · **What happens:** ascertain, famish, employ · **To what, where:** meaning, sentence, children

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This is exam question 3 of lesson 20 «Vocabulary in context» of the English 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/english/20-vocabulary-in-context/#e3).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:20-vocabulary-in-context:e3:1
# text = Ascertain the meaning of «famished» as employed in the sentence «The children were famished after the long walk».
1	Ascertain	ascertain	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	meaning	meaning	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
4	of	of	SCONJ	IN	_	6	mark	_	_
5	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	6	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	famished	famish	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	acl	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	6	punct	_	_
8	as	as	SCONJ	IN	_	9	mark	_	_
9	employed	employ	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	6	advcl	_	_
10	in	in	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
11	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
12	sentence	sentence	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obl	_	_
13	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	17	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	15	det	_	_
15	children	child	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	17	nsubj:pass	_	_
16	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	17	aux:pass	_	_
17	famished	famish	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	12	acl:relcl	_	_
18	after	after	ADP	IN	_	21	case	_	_
19	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	21	det	_	_
20	long	long	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	21	amod	_	_
21	walk	walk	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	17	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
22	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	21	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
23	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **ascertain** | imperative | you *not said here* | the meaning |  |  |  |  | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent meaning=Topic |
| 2 | **famish** *in a quote* | past | the meaning *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 3 | **employ** | participle | the meaning *not said here* |  |  | the sentence |  |  | vn hire-13.5.3 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent |
| 4 | **famish** *in a quote* | past · passive | the sentence *not said here* | the children |  |  | after the long walk |  | tree rules |

<!-- .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 -->
Exhausted and in need of a lengthy period of sleep before supper

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:20-vocabulary-in-context:e3:o1:1
# text = Exhausted and in need of a lengthy period of sleep before supper
1	Exhausted	exhaust	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
2	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	4	cc	_	_
3	in	in	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
4	need	need	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	conj	_	_
5	of	of	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
6	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
7	lengthy	lengthy	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	amod	_	_
8	period	period	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nmod	_	_
9	of	of	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
10	sleep	sleep	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nmod	_	_
11	before	before	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
12	supper	supper	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **exhaust** | participle |  |  |  |  | before supper |  | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V ADV-Middle»: agent=Experiencer |
| 2 | **need** |  |  | a lengthy period of sleep |  |  |  |  | nom need «state transitive»: of=patient |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Extremely hungry

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:20-vocabulary-in-context:e3:o2:1
# text = Extremely hungry
1	Extremely	extremely	ADV	RB	_	2	advmod	_	_
2	hungry	hungry	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .note -->
The frames reader finds no event or fact in this sentence.

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Lost upon the way

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:20-vocabulary-in-context:e3:o3:1
# text = Lost upon the way
1	Lost	lose	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
2	upon	upon	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	way	way	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **lose** | participle |  |  |  |  |  | upon the way | vn succeed-74-3-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Joyful and excited

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:20-vocabulary-in-context:e3:o4:1
# text = Joyful and excited
1	Joyful	joyful	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
2	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	3	cc	_	_
3	excited	excited	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	1	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .note -->
The frames reader finds no event or fact in this sentence.

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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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