---
title: «why'd Sam carry the shopping for HIM, after he nicked our balls?» W… — The ball over the fence and the grumpy… · tree and pragmatics
description: «why'd Sam carry the shopping for HIM, after he nicked our balls?» What's the best answer? Test 6 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 each option; Mova
---

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# Test 6 · The ball over the fence and the grumpy old man next door

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
«why'd Sam carry the shopping for HIM, after he nicked our balls?» What's the best answer?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 4 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** Sam, best answer · **What happens:** carry, nick, be · **To what, where:** shopping, balls

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 6 of lesson 473 «The ball over the fence and the grumpy old man next door» of the everyday 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/everyday/473-the-ball-over-the-fence-and-the-grumpy-old-man-next-door/#t6).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* «why'd Sam carry the shopping for HIM, after he nicked our balls?»

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:473-the-ball-over-the-fence-and-the-grumpy-old-man-next-door:t6:1
# text = «why'd Sam carry the shopping for HIM, after he nicked our balls?»
1	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	5	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	why	why	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	5	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	'd	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	5	aux	_	_
4	Sam	Sam	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
5	carry	carry	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	shopping	shopping	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obj	_	_
8	for	for	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
9	HIM	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	5	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	13	punct	_	_
11	after	after	SCONJ	IN	_	13	mark	_	_
12	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	13	nsubj	_	_
13	nicked	nick	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	advcl	_	_
14	our	our	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=1|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	15	nmod:poss	_	_
15	balls	ball	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	13	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	5	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **carry** *in a quote* | would | Sam | the shopping |  |  |  | for HIM *= he* | vn carry-11.4 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent shopping=Theme |
| 2 | **nick** *in a quote* | past | Sam | our balls |  |  |  |  | vn carve-21.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent ball=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.

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 2:* What's the best answer?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:473-the-ball-over-the-fence-and-the-grumpy-old-man-next-door:t6:2
# text = What's the best answer?
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	's	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	1	cop	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	best	good	ADJ	JJS	Degree=Sup	5	amod	_	_
5	answer	answer	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

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

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 · ← Mova's choice {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Sam was paid a lot for it

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:473-the-ball-over-the-fence-and-the-grumpy-old-man-next-door:t6:o1:1
# text = Sam was paid a lot for it
1	Sam	Sam	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	3	nsubj:pass	_	_
2	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux:pass	_	_
3	paid	pay	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
4	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	lot	lot	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
6	for	for	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	5	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **pay** | past · passive |  | Sam |  |  |  |  | vn pay-68-1 «NP V NP NP PP.theme»: subject=Recipient lot=Asset for it=Theme |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Sam was scared of Mr Grimshaw

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:473-the-ball-over-the-fence-and-the-grumpy-old-man-next-door:t6:o2:1
# text = Sam was scared of Mr Grimshaw
1	Sam	Sam	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
2	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	cop	_	_
3	scared	scared	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
4	of	of	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	Mr	Mr	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
6	Grimshaw	Grimshaw	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	5	flat	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | past | Sam |  |  |  |  | of Mr; scared *property* | tree rules |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Sam wanted to steal the toffees from his kitchen

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:473-the-ball-over-the-fence-and-the-grumpy-old-man-next-door:t6:o3:1
# text = Sam wanted to steal the toffees from his kitchen
1	Sam	Sam	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	2	nsubj	_	_
2	wanted	want	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	to	to	PART	TO	_	4	mark	_	_
4	steal	steal	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	2	xcomp	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	toffees	toffee	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obj	_	_
7	from	from	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	9	nmod:poss	_	_
9	kitchen	kitchen	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **want** | past | Sam |  |  |  |  |  | vn want-32.1-1-1 «NP V NP S\_INF»: agent=Pivot clause=Theme |
| 2 | **steal** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive | Sam *not said here* | the toffees |  | Sam's kitchen |  |  | vn steal-10.5-1 «NP V NP PP.source»: agent=Agent toffee=Theme from kitchen=Source |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A small kindness can crack a grumpy person

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:473-the-ball-over-the-fence-and-the-grumpy-old-man-next-door:t6:o4:1
# text = A small kindness can crack a grumpy person
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	small	small	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	kindness	kindness	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
4	can	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	5	aux	_	_
5	crack	crack	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
6	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
7	grumpy	grumpy	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	amod	_	_
8	person	person	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **crack** | can | a small kindness | a grumpy person |  |  |  |  | vn sound\_emission-43.2 «PP.location V NP»: agent=Location person=Theme |

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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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- ← previous: [The ball over the fence and the grumpy…, test 5](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/everyday/473-the-ball-over-the-fence-and-the-grumpy-old-man-next-door/t5/)
- next →: [The ball over the fence and the grumpy…, test 7](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/everyday/473-the-ball-over-the-fence-and-the-grumpy-old-man-next-door/t7/)
- ↑ 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/)