---
title: Ascertain the most appropriate conduct of a child whose ball has ent… — The ball over the fence and the grumpy… · tree and pragmatics
description: Ascertain the most appropriate conduct of a child whose ball has entered a neighbouring garden. Exam question 2 of lesson 473 «The ball over the fence and the grumpy old man next door» of the everyday course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of eac
---

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# Exam question 2 · The ball over the fence and the grumpy old man next door

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Ascertain the most appropriate conduct of a child whose ball has entered a neighbouring garden.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 4 · **The right answer:** option 4 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** you · **What happens:** ascertain, enter, conduct · **To what, where:** appropriate conduct, ball, child

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 2 of lesson 473 «The ball over the fence and the grumpy old man next door» of the everyday 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/everyday/473-the-ball-over-the-fence-and-the-grumpy-old-man-next-door/#e2).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:473-the-ball-over-the-fence-and-the-grumpy-old-man-next-door:e2:1
# text = Ascertain the most appropriate conduct of a child whose ball has entered a neighbouring garden.
1	Ascertain	ascertain	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
3	most	most	ADV	RBS	Degree=Sup	4	advmod	_	_
4	appropriate	appropriate	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	conduct	conduct	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
6	of	of	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	child	child	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nmod	_	_
9	whose	whose	PRON	WP$	Poss=Yes|PronType=Rel	10	nmod:poss	_	_
10	ball	ball	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	nsubj:pass	_	_
11	has	have	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	12	aux	_	_
12	entered	enter	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	8	acl:relcl	_	_
13	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	15	det	_	_
14	neighbouring	neighbouring	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	15	amod	_	_
15	garden	garden	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	.	.	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 appropriate conduct of a child |  |  |  |  | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent conduct=Topic |
| 2 | **enter** | present · perfect · passive |  | ball |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 3 | **conduct** |  |  | a child |  |  |  |  | nom conduct «act transitive»: of=patient |

<!-- .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 -->
To send a younger child to retrieve it secretly

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:473-the-ball-over-the-fence-and-the-grumpy-old-man-next-door:e2:o1:1
# text = To send a younger child to retrieve it secretly
1	To	to	PART	TO	_	2	mark	_	_
2	send	send	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	younger	young	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	5	amod	_	_
5	child	child	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
6	to	to	PART	TO	_	7	mark	_	_
7	retrieve	retrieve	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	2	advcl	_	_
8	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	7	obj	_	_
9	secretly	secretly	ADV	RB	_	7	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **send** | to-infinitive |  | a younger child |  |  |  |  | vn confine-92-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent child=Theme |
| 2 | **retrieve** | to-infinitive |  | child |  |  |  | secretly *property* | vn obtain-13.5.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent it=Theme |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
To abandon the ball permanently

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:473-the-ball-over-the-fence-and-the-grumpy-old-man-next-door:e2:o2:1
# text = To abandon the ball permanently
1	To	to	PART	TO	_	2	mark	_	_
2	abandon	abandon	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	ball	ball	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
5	permanently	permanently	ADV	RB	_	2	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **abandon** | to-infinitive |  | the ball |  |  |  | permanently *property* | vn leave-51.2 «NP V NP.initial\_location»: agent=Theme ball=Source |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
To climb the boundary fence without permission and retrieve it

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:473-the-ball-over-the-fence-and-the-grumpy-old-man-next-door:e2:o3:1
# text = To climb the boundary fence without permission and retrieve it
1	To	to	PART	TO	_	2	mark	_	_
2	climb	climb	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	boundary	boundary	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	compound	_	_
5	fence	fence	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
6	without	without	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	permission	permission	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
8	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	9	cc	_	_
9	retrieve	retrieve	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	2	conj	_	_
10	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	9	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **climb** | to-infinitive |  | the boundary fence |  |  |  | without permission | vn run-51.3.2 «PP.location V NP»: agent=Initial\_Location fence=Theme |
| 2 | **retrieve** | infinitive |  | fence |  |  |  |  | vn obtain-13.5.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent it=Theme |

### Option 4 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
To knock at the neighbour's door and request its return

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:473-the-ball-over-the-fence-and-the-grumpy-old-man-next-door:e2:o4:1
# text = To knock at the neighbour's door and request its return
1	To	to	PART	TO	_	2	mark	_	_
2	knock	knock	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	at	at	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	neighbour	neighbour	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	's	's	PART	POS	_	5	case	_	_
7	door	door	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
8	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	9	cc	_	_
9	request	request	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	2	conj	_	_
10	its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	11	nmod:poss	_	_
11	return	return	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **knock** | to-infinitive |  |  |  |  |  | at the neighbour's door | vn hit-18.1-1 «NP V PP»: agent=Agent at door=Patient |
| 2 | **request** | present |  | door's return |  |  |  |  | vn beg-58.2 «NP V NP S\_INF»: agent=Agent return=Recipient |
| 3 | **return** |  | door |  |  |  |  |  | nom return «communication intransitive»: poss=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 -->

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- ← previous: [The ball over the fence and the grumpy…, exam 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/everyday/473-the-ball-over-the-fence-and-the-grumpy-old-man-next-door/e1/)
- next →: [The ball over the fence and the grumpy…, exam 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/everyday/473-the-ball-over-the-fence-and-the-grumpy-old-man-next-door/e3/)
- ↑ back to [The ball over the fence and the grumpy old man next door](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/everyday/473-the-ball-over-the-fence-and-the-grumpy-old-man-next-door/)