---
title: Identify the word functioning as the verb in the sentence "The old m… — Grammar puzzles, part one · tree and pragmatics
description: Identify the word functioning as the verb in the sentence "The old man the boat". Exam question 2 of lesson 11 «Grammar puzzles, part one» of the language course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each option; Mova's choice was wrong.
---

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# Exam question 2 · Grammar puzzles, part one

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Identify the word functioning as the verb in the sentence "The old man the boat".

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 3 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** you, boat · **What happens:** identify, man · **To what, where:** word

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This is exam question 2 of lesson 11 «Grammar puzzles, part one» of the language 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/language/11-grammar-puzzles-part-one/#e2).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:11-grammar-puzzles-part-one:e2:1
# text = Identify the word functioning as the verb in the sentence "The old man the boat".
1	Identify	identify	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	word	word	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
4	functioning	functioning	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	1	xcomp	_	_
5	as	as	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	verb	verb	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
8	in	in	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	sentence	sentence	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nmod	_	_
11	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	14	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	14	det	_	_
13	old	old	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	14	amod	_	_
14	man	man	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	appos	_	_
15	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	16	det	_	_
16	boat	boat	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	14	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
18	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **identify** | imperative | you *not said here* | the word |  |  |  | functioning *property* | vn characterize-29.2-1-1 «NP V NP S\_ING»: agent=Agent word=Theme |
| 2 | **man** *in a quote* |  | the boat |  |  |  |  |  | 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 -->
the

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:11-grammar-puzzles-part-one:e2:o1:1
# text = the
1	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	0	root	_	_
```

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

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
boat

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:11-grammar-puzzles-part-one:e2:o2:1
# text = boat
1	boat	boat	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
```

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

### Option 3 · ✓ the right answer {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
man

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:11-grammar-puzzles-part-one:e2:o3:1
# text = man
1	man	man	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
```

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

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
old

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:11-grammar-puzzles-part-one:e2:o4:1
# text = old
1	old	old	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .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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- ← previous: [Grammar puzzles, part one, exam 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/language/11-grammar-puzzles-part-one/e1/)
- next →: [Grammar puzzles, part one, exam 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/language/11-grammar-puzzles-part-one/e3/)
- ↑ back to [Grammar puzzles, part one](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/language/11-grammar-puzzles-part-one/)