---
title: Why are four-leaf clovers rare? — Weeds and wildflowers: dandelions, net… · tree and pragmatics
description: Why are four-leaf clovers rare? Test 9 · ★★★ of lesson 340 «Weeds and wildflowers: dandelions, nettles, daisies, clover and plantain» 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 9 · ★★★ · Weeds and wildflowers: dandelions, nettles, daisies, clove…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Why are four-leaf clovers rare?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 4 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** leaf clovers · **What happens:** be

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 9 · ★★★ of lesson 340 «Weeds and wildflowers: dandelions, nettles, daisies, clover and plantain» 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/340-weeds-and-wildflowers-dandelions-nettles-daisies-clover-and-plantain/#t9).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:340-weeds-and-wildflowers-dandelions-nettles-daisies-clover-and-plantain:t9:1
# text = Why are four-leaf clovers rare?
1	Why	why	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	7	advmod	_	_
2	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	7	cop	_	_
3	four	four	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	5	nummod	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	3	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	leaf	leaf	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	compound	_	_
6	clovers	clover	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	nsubj	_	_
7	rare	rare	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	7	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | leaf clovers |  |  |  |  | rare *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 · ← Mova's choice {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Bees nibble the fourth leaf off most of them

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:340-weeds-and-wildflowers-dandelions-nettles-daisies-clover-and-plantain:t9:o1:1
# text = Bees nibble the fourth leaf off most of them
1	Bees	bee	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nsubj	_	_
2	nibble	nibble	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	fourth	fourth	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos|NumForm=Word|NumType=Ord	5	amod	_	_
5	leaf	leaf	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
6	off	off	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	most	most	ADJ	JJS	Degree=Sup	2	obl	_	_
8	of	of	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
9	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	7	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **nibble** | present | Bees | the fourth leaf |  |  |  | off most of them | vn chew-39.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent leaf=Patient |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Four-leaf clovers grow only high on mountains, where cows eat most of them first

<!-- fold The tree, 15 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:340-weeds-and-wildflowers-dandelions-nettles-daisies-clover-and-plantain:t9:o2:1
# text = Four-leaf clovers grow only high on mountains, where cows eat most of them first
1	Four	four	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	3	nummod	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	1	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	leaf	leaf	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	compound	_	_
4	clovers	clover	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	nsubj	_	_
5	grow	grow	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
6	only	only	ADV	RB	_	7	advmod	_	_
7	high	high	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	xcomp	_	_
8	on	on	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
9	mountains	mountain	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	13	punct	_	_
11	where	where	ADV	WRB	PronType=Rel	13	advmod	_	_
12	cows	cow	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	13	nsubj	_	_
13	eat	eat	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	conj	_	_
14	most	most	ADJ	JJS	Degree=Sup	13	obj	_	_
15	of	of	ADP	IN	_	16	case	_	_
16	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	14	nmod	_	_
17	first	first	ADV	RB	NumForm=Word|NumType=Ord	13	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **grow** | present | leaf clovers |  |  | mountains |  | high *property* | vn appear-48.1.1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme on mountain=Location |
| 2 | **eat** | present | cows | most of clovers |  |  |  | first *property* | vn eat-39.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent most=Patient |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
They only grow on 29 February

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:340-weeds-and-wildflowers-dandelions-nettles-daisies-clover-and-plantain:t9:o3:1
# text = They only grow on 29 February
1	They	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	only	only	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	_
3	grow	grow	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	on	on	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	29	29	NUM	CD	NumForm=Digit|NumType=Card	3	obl	_	_
6	February	February	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	5	nmod:unmarked	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **grow** | present | They |  |  | 29  February |  |  | vn appear-48.1.1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme on 29=Location |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Clover nearly always grows three leaflets, and a fourth is an unusual change

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:340-weeds-and-wildflowers-dandelions-nettles-daisies-clover-and-plantain:t9:o4:1
# text = Clover nearly always grows three leaflets, and a fourth is an unusual change
1	Clover	clover	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
2	nearly	nearly	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
3	always	always	ADV	RB	PronType=Tot	4	advmod	_	_
4	grows	grow	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	three	three	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	6	nummod	_	_
6	leaflets	leaflet	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	14	punct	_	_
8	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	14	cc	_	_
9	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	fourth	fourth	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	nsubj	_	_
11	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	14	cop	_	_
12	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	14	det	_	_
13	unusual	unusual	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	14	amod	_	_
14	change	change	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	parataxis	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **grow** | present | Clover | three leaflets |  |  |  | always, nearly *property* | vn appear-48.1.1 «PP.location V NP»: agent=Location leaflet=Theme |
| 2 | **is a** | present | a fourth | a unusual change |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

<!-- div src -->

**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: [Weeds and wildflowers: dandelions, net…, test 8](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/340-weeds-and-wildflowers-dandelions-nettles-daisies-clover-and-plantain/t8/)
- next →: [Weeds and wildflowers: dandelions, net…, test 10](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/340-weeds-and-wildflowers-dandelions-nettles-daisies-clover-and-plantain/t10/)
- ↑ back to [Weeds and wildflowers: dandelions, nettles, daisies, clover and plantain](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/340-weeds-and-wildflowers-dandelions-nettles-daisies-clover-and-plantain/)