---
title: Ascertain the manner in which a bird grinds its food in the absence… — Birds: feathers, nests and flight · tree and pragmatics
description: Ascertain the manner in which a bird grinds its food in the absence of teeth. Exam question 3 of lesson 73 «Birds: feathers, nests and flight» of the world 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 3 · Birds: feathers, nests and flight

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Ascertain the manner in which a bird grinds its food in the absence of teeth.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 3 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** you, bird · **What happens:** ascertain, grind, absent · **To what, where:** manner, food, teeth

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 3 of lesson 73 «Birds: feathers, nests and flight» of the world 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/world/73-birds-feathers-nests-flight/#e3).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:73-birds-feathers-nests-flight:e3:1
# text = Ascertain the manner in which a bird grinds its food in the absence of teeth.
1	Ascertain	ascertain	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	manner	manner	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
4	in	in	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	8	obl	_	_
6	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	bird	bird	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nsubj	_	_
8	grinds	grind	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	acl:relcl	_	_
9	its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	10	nmod:poss	_	_
10	food	food	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obj	_	_
11	in	in	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
12	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
13	absence	absence	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obl	_	_
14	of	of	ADP	IN	_	15	case	_	_
15	teeth	tooth	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	13	nmod	_	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 manner |  |  |  |  | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent manner=Topic |
| 2 | **grind** | present | a bird | bird's food |  | the manner |  | in the absence of teeth | vn carve-21.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent food=Patient |
| 3 | **absent** |  |  | teeth |  |  |  |  | nom absence «state 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 · ← Mova's choice {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
By the claws, which tear the food into dust

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:73-birds-feathers-nests-flight:e3:o1:1
# text = By the claws, which tear the food into dust
1	By	by	ADP	IN	_	3	case	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	claws	claw	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	6	punct	_	_
5	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	6	nsubj	_	_
6	tear	tear	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	food	food	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obj	_	_
9	into	into	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
10	dust	dust	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **tear** | present |  | the food |  |  |  | into dust *result*; by the claws | vn break-45.1 «NP V NP PP.result»: agent=Agent food=Patient into dust=Result |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
By the beak, which chews the food thoroughly

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:73-birds-feathers-nests-flight:e3:o2:1
# text = By the beak, which chews the food thoroughly
1	By	by	ADP	IN	_	3	case	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	beak	beak	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	6	punct	_	_
5	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	6	nsubj	_	_
6	chews	chew	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	food	food	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obj	_	_
9	thoroughly	thoroughly	ADV	RB	_	6	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **chew** | present |  | the food |  |  |  | by the beak; thoroughly *property* | vn chew-39.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent food=Patient |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
By the gizzard, a muscly part of the stomach, often with grit

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:73-birds-feathers-nests-flight:e3:o3:1
# text = By the gizzard, a muscly part of the stomach, often with grit
1	By	by	ADP	IN	_	3	case	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	gizzard	gizzard	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	7	punct	_	_
5	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
6	muscly	muscly	ADJ	JJ	_	7	amod	_	_
7	part	part	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	appos	_	_
8	of	of	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	stomach	stomach	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	14	punct	_	_
12	often	often	ADV	RB	_	14	advmod	_	_
13	with	with	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
14	grit	grit	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	conj	_	_
```

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

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
By the tongue, pressed against the palate

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:73-birds-feathers-nests-flight:e3:o4:1
# text = By the tongue, pressed against the palate
1	By	by	ADP	IN	_	3	case	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	tongue	tongue	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	3	punct	_	_
5	pressed	press	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
6	against	against	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	palate	palate	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **press** | participle |  |  |  |  |  | by the tongue; against the palate | vn push-12-1-1 «NP V PP-Conative»: agent=Agent against palate=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.

<!-- /div -->

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- ← previous: [Birds: feathers, nests and flight, exam 2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/world/73-birds-feathers-nests-flight/e2/)
- next →: [Birds: feathers, nests and flight, exam 4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/world/73-birds-feathers-nests-flight/e4/)
- ↑ back to [Birds: feathers, nests and flight](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/world/73-birds-feathers-nests-flight/)