---
title: «hyenas are just thieves, they nick the lions' food» Which is the fa… — The savanna: grass, trees and the grea… · tree and pragmatics
description: «hyenas are just thieves, they nick the lions' food» Which is the fairest answer? Test 2 of lesson 4 «The savanna: grass, trees and the great herds» 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 right.
---

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# Test 2 · The savanna: grass, trees and the great herds

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
«hyenas are just thieves, they nick the lions' food» Which is the fairest answer?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 2 · **The right answer:** option 2 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** hyenas, thieves, food · **What happens:** be, nick · **To what, where:** thieves, food, fairest answer · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 2 of lesson 4 «The savanna: grass, trees and the great herds» 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/4-the-savanna/#t2).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:4-the-savanna:t2:1
# text = «hyenas are just thieves, they nick the lions' food» Which is the fairest answer?
1	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	5	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	hyenas	hyena	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	nsubj	_	_
3	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
4	just	just	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
5	thieves	thief	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	5	punct	_	_
7	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	8	nsubj	_	_
8	nick	nick	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	lions	lion	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	12	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	'	's	PART	POS	_	10	case	_	_
12	food	food	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	12	punct	_	_
14	Which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	18	nsubj	_	_
15	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	18	cop	_	_
16	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	18	det	_	_
17	fairest	fair	ADJ	JJS	Degree=Sup	18	amod	_	_
18	answer	answer	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
19	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	8	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** *in a quote* | present | hyenas | thieves |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **nick** *in a quote* | present | thieves | the lions's food and the fairest answer |  |  |  |  | vn carve-21.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent food=Patient |
| 3 | **be** *speech: assert* | present | the lions's food and the fairest answer | the fairest answer |  |  |  |  | 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 -->
Hyenas only eat plants

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:4-the-savanna:t2:o1:1
# text = Hyenas only eat plants
1	Hyenas	hyena	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj	_	_
2	only	only	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	_
3	eat	eat	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	plants	plant	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **eat** | present | Hyenas | plants |  |  |  |  | vn eat-39.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent plant=Patient |

### Option 2 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Spotted hyenas catch most of their own food, and lions steal from them too

<!-- fold The tree, 14 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:4-the-savanna:t2:o2:1
# text = Spotted hyenas catch most of their own food, and lions steal from them too
1	Spotted	spot	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	2	amod	_	_
2	hyenas	hyena	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj	_	_
3	catch	catch	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	most	most	ADJ	JJS	Degree=Sup	3	obj	_	_
5	of	of	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
6	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	8	nmod:poss	_	_
7	own	own	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	amod	_	_
8	food	food	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	12	punct	_	_
10	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	12	cc	_	_
11	lions	lion	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	12	nsubj	_	_
12	steal	steal	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	conj	_	_
13	from	from	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
14	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	12	obl	_	_
15	too	too	ADV	RB	_	12	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **spot** | participle |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn weather-57 «It V PP.theme» |
| 2 | **catch** | present | Spotted hyenas | most of hyenas's own food |  |  |  |  | vn get-13.5.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent most=Theme |
| 3 | **steal** | present | lions |  |  |  |  | from hyenas *= hyena* | vn appear-48.1.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Yes, and lions never steal from hyenas, because lions are the kings of the savanna

<!-- fold The tree, 15 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:4-the-savanna:t2:o3:1
# text = Yes, and lions never steal from hyenas, because lions are the kings of the savanna
1	Yes	yes	INTJ	UH	Polarity=Pos	6	discourse	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	6	punct	_	_
3	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	6	cc	_	_
4	lions	lion	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	nsubj	_	_
5	never	never	ADV	RB	PronType=Neg	6	advmod	_	_
6	steal	steal	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
7	from	from	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
8	hyenas	hyena	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	14	punct	_	_
10	because	because	SCONJ	IN	_	14	mark	_	_
11	lions	lion	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	14	nsubj	_	_
12	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	14	cop	_	_
13	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	14	det	_	_
14	kings	king	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	parataxis	_	_
15	of	of	ADP	IN	_	17	case	_	_
16	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	17	det	_	_
17	savanna	savanna	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **steal** | present | lions |  |  | hyenas |  |  | vn appear-48.1.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 2 | **is a** | present | lions | the kings |  |  |  | of the savanna | tree rules |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Yes, hyenas never catch anything themselves

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:4-the-savanna:t2:o4:1
# text = Yes, hyenas never catch anything themselves
1	Yes	yes	INTJ	UH	Polarity=Pos	5	discourse	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	1	punct	_	_
3	hyenas	hyena	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	nsubj	_	_
4	never	never	ADV	RB	PronType=Neg	5	advmod	_	_
5	catch	catch	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
6	anything	anything	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Ind	5	obj	_	_
7	themselves	themselves	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs|Reflex=Yes	5	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **catch** | present | hyenas | anything |  |  |  |  | vn get-13.5.1 «NP V NP.beneficiary NP»: agent=Agent anything=Beneficiary themselves=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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