---
title: «why can't I just eat grass like a cow, it's free» What is right? — Cows: cud, milk, burps and the red cap… · tree and pragmatics
description: «why can't I just eat grass like a cow, it's free» What is right? Test 8 · ★★ of lesson 209 «Cows: cud, milk, burps and the red cape myth» 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 wrong.
---

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# Test 8 · ★★ · Cows: cud, milk, burps and the red cape myth

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
«why can't I just eat grass like a cow, it's free» What is right?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 2 · **The right answer:** option 4 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** I, grass · **What happens:** not eat, be · **To what, where:** grass · **Speech:** someone speaks here

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This is test 8 · ★★ of lesson 209 «Cows: cud, milk, burps and the red cape myth» 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/209-cows-cud-milk-burps-and-the-red-cape-myth/#t8).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:209-cows-cud-milk-burps-and-the-red-cape-myth:t8:1
# text = «why can't I just eat grass like a cow, it's free» What is right?
1	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	15	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	why	why	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	7	advmod	_	_
3	ca	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	7	aux	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	n't	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	7	advmod	_	_
5	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	7	nsubj	_	_
6	just	just	ADV	RB	_	7	advmod	_	_
7	eat	eat	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	15	advcl	_	_
8	grass	grass	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obj	_	_
9	like	like	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
10	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	cow	cow	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	7	punct	_	_
13	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	15	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	's	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	15	cop	_	_
15	free	free	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	15	punct	_	_
17	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	19	nsubj	_	_
18	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	19	cop	_	_
19	right	right	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	15	parataxis	_	SpaceAfter=No
20	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	15	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **eat** *in a quote* | can | I | grass |  |  |  | like a cow | vn eat-39.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent grass=Patient |
| 2 | **is** *in a quote* | present | grass |  |  |  |  | free *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 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Grass is poisonous to every animal

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:209-cows-cud-milk-burps-and-the-red-cape-myth:t8:o1:1
# text = Grass is poisonous to every animal
1	Grass	grass	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	cop	_	_
3	poisonous	poisonous	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
4	to	to	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	every	every	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	6	det	_	_
6	animal	animal	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | Grass |  |  |  |  | to every animal; poisonous *property* | tree rules |

### Option 2 · ← Mova's choice {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Only cows are allowed to eat grass

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:209-cows-cud-milk-burps-and-the-red-cape-myth:t8:o2:1
# text = Only cows are allowed to eat grass
1	Only	only	ADV	RB	_	2	advmod	_	_
2	cows	cow	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj:pass	_	_
3	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux:pass	_	_
4	allowed	allow	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
5	to	to	PART	TO	_	6	mark	_	_
6	eat	eat	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	xcomp	_	_
7	grass	grass	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **allow** | present · passive |  | cows |  |  |  |  | vn allow-64.1-1 «NP V NP S»: subject=Beneficiary clause=Eventuality |
| 2 | **eat** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive | cows *not said here* | grass |  |  |  |  | vn eat-39.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent grass=Patient |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
People can digest grass perfectly well if they chew it for long enough

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:209-cows-cud-milk-burps-and-the-red-cape-myth:t8:o3:1
# text = People can digest grass perfectly well if they chew it for long enough
1	People	people	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj	_	_
2	can	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	3	aux	_	_
3	digest	digest	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
4	grass	grass	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
5	perfectly	perfectly	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	_
6	well	well	ADV	RB	Degree=Pos	3	advmod	_	_
7	if	if	SCONJ	IN	_	9	mark	_	_
8	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	9	nsubj	_	_
9	chew	chew	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	advcl	_	_
10	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	9	obj	_	_
11	for	for	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
12	long	long	ADV	RB	Degree=Pos	9	obl	_	_
13	enough	enough	ADV	RB	_	9	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **digest** | can | People | grass |  |  |  | perfectly, well *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **chew** *a condition, not said to happen* | present | People | grass |  |  |  | enough *property* | vn chew-39.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent it=Patient |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
People have no microbe-filled stomach to break grass down

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:209-cows-cud-milk-burps-and-the-red-cape-myth:t8:o4:1
# text = People have no microbe-filled stomach to break grass down
1	People	people	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nsubj	_	_
2	have	have	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	no	no	DET	DT	PronType=Neg	7	det	_	_
4	microbe	microbe	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	compound	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	4	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	filled	fill	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	7	amod	_	_
7	stomach	stomach	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
8	to	to	PART	TO	_	9	mark	_	_
9	break	break	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	7	acl	_	_
10	grass	grass	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obj	_	_
11	down	down	ADP	RP	_	9	compound:prt	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **have** | present | People | no filled stomach |  |  |  |  | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent stomach=Patient |
| 2 | **fill** | participle |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn other\_cos-45.4 «NP.patient V»: agent=Patient |
| 3 | **break down** | to-infinitive | People *not said here* | grass |  |  |  |  | vn break-45.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent grass=Patient |

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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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- ↑ back to [Cows: cud, milk, burps and the red cape myth](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/209-cows-cud-milk-burps-and-the-red-cape-myth/)