---
title: «hyenas are laughing cos they're happy» What is right? — The African savanna area: hippos, meer… · tree and pragmatics
description: «hyenas are laughing cos they're happy» What is right? Test 7 · ★ of lesson 102 «The African savanna area: hippos, meerkats, ostriches, wild dogs and hyenas» of the biology course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each option; Mova's choice was 
---

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# Test 7 · ★ · The African savanna area: hippos, meerkats, ostriches, wil…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
«hyenas are laughing cos they're happy» What is right?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 4 · **The right answer:** option 1 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** hyenas · **What happens:** laugh, be · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 7 · ★ of lesson 102 «The African savanna area: hippos, meerkats, ostriches, wild dogs and hyenas» of the biology 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/biology/102-the-african-savanna-area-hippos-meerkats-ostriches/#t7).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:102-the-african-savanna-area-hippos-meerkats-ostriches:t7:1
# text = «hyenas are laughing cos they're happy» What is right?
1	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	4	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	hyenas	hyena	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj	_	_
3	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
4	laughing	laugh	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
5	cos	cos	SCONJ	IN	_	8	mark	_	_
6	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	8	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	're	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	8	cop	_	_
8	happy	happy	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	ccomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	8	punct	_	_
10	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	12	nsubj	_	_
11	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	12	cop	_	_
12	right	right	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	parataxis	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **laugh** *in a quote* | present · progressive | hyenas |  |  |  |  |  | vn nonverbal\_expression-40.2 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **is** *in a quote* | present | hyenas *= hyena* |  |  |  |  | happy *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **is** | present |  |  |  |  |  | right *property* | 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 · ✓ the right answer {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The giggle often means they are nervous or excited

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:102-the-african-savanna-area-hippos-meerkats-ostriches:t7:o1:1
# text = The giggle often means they are nervous or excited
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	giggle	giggle	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
3	often	often	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
4	means	mean	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	7	nsubj	_	_
6	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	7	cop	_	_
7	nervous	nervous	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	ccomp	_	_
8	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	9	cc	_	_
9	excited	excited	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **mean** | present | the giggle |  |  |  |  | often *property* | vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V S»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **is** | present | they |  |  |  |  | nervous *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **be** |  | they *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
No, hyenas make no sound at all

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:102-the-african-savanna-area-hippos-meerkats-ostriches:t7:o2:1
# text = No, hyenas make no sound at all
1	No	no	INTJ	UH	Polarity=Neg	4	discourse	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	1	punct	_	_
3	hyenas	hyena	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj	_	_
4	make	make	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	no	no	DET	DT	PronType=Neg	6	det	_	_
6	sound	sound	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obj	_	_
7	at	at	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
8	all	all	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	4	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **make** | present | hyenas | no sound |  | all |  |  | vn build-26.1-1 «NP.asset V NP»: agent=Asset sound=Product |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Yes, they laugh only after a big meal

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:102-the-african-savanna-area-hippos-meerkats-ostriches:t7:o3:1
# text = Yes, they laugh only after a big meal
1	Yes	yes	INTJ	UH	Polarity=Pos	4	discourse	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	4	punct	_	_
3	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
4	laugh	laugh	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	only	only	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
6	after	after	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
7	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
8	big	big	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	amod	_	_
9	meal	meal	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **laugh** | present | they |  |  |  | after a big meal |  | vn nonverbal\_expression-40.2 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

### Option 4 · ← Mova's choice {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Yes, they giggle at all the funny things they see

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:102-the-african-savanna-area-hippos-meerkats-ostriches:t7:o4:1
# text = Yes, they giggle at all the funny things they see
1	Yes	yes	INTJ	UH	Polarity=Pos	4	discourse	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	1	punct	_	_
3	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
4	giggle	giggle	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	at	at	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
6	all	all	DET	PDT	PronType=Tot	9	det:predet	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
8	funny	funny	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	amod	_	_
9	things	thing	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obl	_	_
10	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	11	nsubj	_	_
11	see	see	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	9	acl:relcl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **giggle** | present | they |  |  | all funny things |  |  | vn nonverbal\_expression-40.2 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **see** | present | things *= thing* | all funny things *not said here* |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer thing=Stimulus |

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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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