--- title: The ball over the fence and the grumpy old man next door — a lesson of Mova's school · trees and pragmatics description: «The ball over the fence and the grumpy old man next door», a lesson of the everyday course of Mova's primary school, sentence by sentence with dependency trees and pragmatics. It begins: Sam's football flies over the fence into Mr Grimshaw's garden. --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/473-the-ball-over-the-fence-and-the-grumpy-old-man-next-door/) [home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/) / [school](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/) / [Everyday](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/) / The ball over the fence and the grumpy… # The ball over the fence and the grumpy old man next door Lesson 473 of the everyday course of Mova's primary school: 33 sentences, each with its syntax tree and pragmatics. The lessons are written for Mova, and their agreed trees are part of Mova corpus 0.4 (CC BY-SA 4.0). How Mova does on its tests: [the lesson 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/). - [0](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/473-the-ball-over-the-fence-and-the-grumpy-old-man-next-door/0/) — Sam's football flies over the fence into Mr Grimshaw's garden. - [1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/473-the-ball-over-the-fence-and-the-grumpy-old-man-next-door/1/) — Mr Grimshaw comes out holding it like a dead rat: «That's the third this month. - [4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/473-the-ball-over-the-fence-and-the-grumpy-old-man-next-door/4/) — Do you live here? - [6](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/473-the-ball-over-the-fence-and-the-grumpy-old-man-next-door/6/) — Grumpy, yes, but he has a reason. - [7](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/473-the-ball-over-the-fence-and-the-grumpy-old-man-next-door/7/) — Sam's dad goes round, Sam says sorry about the tomatoes, and they agree: the kids play at the far end and knock to ask, and Mr Grimshaw hands balls back. - [8](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/473-the-ball-over-the-fence-and-the-grumpy-old-man-next-door/8/) — One icy morning Sam sees Mr Grimshaw wobbling up his slippery path with four bags of shopping. - [9](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/473-the-ball-over-the-fence-and-the-grumpy-old-man-next-door/9/) — Sam takes two. - [10](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/473-the-ball-over-the-fence-and-the-grumpy-old-man-next-door/10/) — Not a word all the way, then at the door: «Thank you, lad.» Sam's mum tells him Mr Grimshaw's wife died last year and he lives alone. - [11](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/473-the-ball-over-the-fence-and-the-grumpy-old-man-next-door/11/) — After that the balls come back straight away, sometimes with a toffee. - [12](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/473-the-ball-over-the-fence-and-the-grumpy-old-man-next-door/12/) — «He's actually alright, y'know,» says Kieran, chewing. - [13](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/473-the-ball-over-the-fence-and-the-grumpy-old-man-next-door/13/) — By August Sam has grown a huge red tomato from Mr Grimshaw's seeds. - [14](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/473-the-ball-over-the-fence-and-the-grumpy-old-man-next-door/14/) — Not every neighbour softens. - [15](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/473-the-ball-over-the-fence-and-the-grumpy-old-man-next-door/15/) — Mrs Platt at number 22 shuts her curtains when kids say hello and rings the council about hopscotch, so the kids play in the park instead. - [16](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/473-the-ball-over-the-fence-and-the-grumpy-old-man-next-door/16/) — Some kids shout «old witch» at her through the letterbox; she tells their parents, and they're grounded for a week. - [17](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/473-the-ball-over-the-fence-and-the-grumpy-old-man-next-door/17/) — Mr Hal, who sits on his porch at number 9, says «kids these days» at everyone, until Mia draws him a picture of his old dog — now he waves whenever she passes. - [18](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/473-the-ball-over-the-fence-and-the-grumpy-old-man-next-door/18/) — Maddie's ball gets chewed to shreds by the neighbour's Staffie (a Staffordshire bull terrier, a strong, stocky dog); «Tough luck, love.» Her mum buys a new one: «Some folk are like that, pet. - [19](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/473-the-ball-over-the-fence-and-the-grumpy-old-man-next-door/19/) — Play at the front.» - [20](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/473-the-ball-over-the-fence-and-the-grumpy-old-man-next-door/20/) — Mistakes get worse when you run or climb. - [21](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/473-the-ball-over-the-fence-and-the-grumpy-old-man-next-door/21/) — Jake climbs Mr Grimshaw's fence and smashes a pot; he pays for it from three weeks' pocket money. - [22](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/473-the-ball-over-the-fence-and-the-grumpy-old-man-next-door/22/) — Connor's ball breaks the greenhouse glass, and he legs it (runs off) and hides under his bed. - [23](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/473-the-ball-over-the-fence-and-the-grumpy-old-man-next-door/23/) — His mum marches him back. - [24](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/473-the-ball-over-the-fence-and-the-grumpy-old-man-next-door/24/) — Mr Grimshaw is very cross, then says, «At least you came back. - [25](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/473-the-ball-over-the-fence-and-the-grumpy-old-man-next-door/25/) — That's more than most.» Lily's grandad says, «Some folk have had hard lives, love. - [26](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/473-the-ball-over-the-fence-and-the-grumpy-old-man-next-door/26/) — Grumpy's how they cope.» - [27](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/473-the-ball-over-the-fence-and-the-grumpy-old-man-next-door/27/) — Neighbours who seem grumpy often have a reason, such as damaged plants, tiredness or loneliness. - [28](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/473-the-ball-over-the-fence-and-the-grumpy-old-man-next-door/28/) — When your ball goes into someone's garden, the right thing is to knock and ask, not to climb in. - [29](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/473-the-ball-over-the-fence-and-the-grumpy-old-man-next-door/29/) — Climbing fences can break things in the garden and you can get hurt. - [30](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/473-the-ball-over-the-fence-and-the-grumpy-old-man-next-door/30/) — A real apology and a simple agreement can turn a quarrel with a neighbour into peace. - [31](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/473-the-ball-over-the-fence-and-the-grumpy-old-man-next-door/31/) — Many older people live alone, and loneliness can make a person seem cross. - [32](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/473-the-ball-over-the-fence-and-the-grumpy-old-man-next-door/32/) — A small kind act, like carrying shopping or drawing a picture, can soften a grumpy person. - [33](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/473-the-ball-over-the-fence-and-the-grumpy-old-man-next-door/33/) — Some people stay grumpy whatever you do; then it is fine to play somewhere else. - [34](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/473-the-ball-over-the-fence-and-the-grumpy-old-man-next-door/34/) — If you break something by accident, owning up is better than running away; running away makes you look guiltier. - [35](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/473-the-ball-over-the-fence-and-the-grumpy-old-man-next-door/35/) — Shouting rude words back at a cross neighbour makes things worse; walk away and tell your parents. - ← previous: [Rival teams and the older bully](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/472-rival-teams-and-the-older-bully/) - next →: [Feuds between families](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/474-feuds-between-families/) - ↑ back to [Everyday](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/)