---
title: Portly «hasn't learnt to swim very well yet», and his father taught… — The real animals of the river bank: th… · tree and pragmatics
description: Portly «hasn't learnt to swim very well yet», and his father taught him at the ford. Which part is true of real otters? Test 8 · ★★ of lesson 403 «The real animals of the river bank: the water vole, the mole, the otter, the toad and the river birds» of the biology course of Mova's primary school, wi
---

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# Test 8 · ★★ · The real animals of the river bank: the water vole, the mo…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Portly «hasn't learnt to swim very well yet», and his father taught him at the ford. Which part is true of real otters?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 3 · **The right answer:** option 4 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** Portly, father, part · **What happens:** not learn, swim, teach, be · **To what, where:** Portly, ford · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 8 · ★★ of lesson 403 «The real animals of the river bank: the water vole, the mole, the otter, the toad and the river birds» 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/403-the-real-animals-of-the-river-bank-water-vole-mole-otter-toad-and-the-river-birds/#t8).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* Portly «hasn't learnt to swim very well yet», and his father taught him at the ford.

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:403-the-real-animals-of-the-river-bank-water-vole-mole-otter-toad-and-the-river-birds:t8:1
# text = Portly «hasn't learnt to swim very well yet», and his father taught him at the ford.
1	Portly	Portly	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
2	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	5	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	has	have	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	aux	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	n't	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	5	advmod	_	_
5	learnt	learn	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
6	to	to	PART	TO	_	7	mark	_	_
7	swim	swim	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	xcomp	_	_
8	very	very	ADV	RB	_	9	advmod	_	_
9	well	well	ADV	RB	Degree=Pos	7	advmod	_	_
10	yet	yet	ADV	RB	_	7	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	7	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	16	punct	_	_
13	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	16	cc	_	_
14	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	15	nmod:poss	_	_
15	father	father	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	16	nsubj	_	_
16	taught	teach	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	parataxis	_	_
17	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	16	obj	_	_
18	at	at	ADP	IN	_	20	case	_	_
19	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	20	det	_	_
20	ford	ford	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	16	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
21	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **learn** *in a quote* | present · perfect | Portly |  |  |  |  |  | vn learn-14-2-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 2 | **swim** *in a quote* | to-infinitive | Portly *not said here* |  |  |  | yet | well *property* | vn run-51.3.2-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 3 | **teach** *speech: other* | past | Portly's father |  | Portly | the ford |  |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP.recipient»: agent=Agent he=Recipient |

<!-- .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.

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 2:* Which part is true of real otters?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:403-the-real-animals-of-the-river-bank-water-vole-mole-otter-toad-and-the-river-birds:t8:2
# text = Which part is true of real otters?
1	Which	which	DET	WDT	PronType=Int	2	det	_	_
2	part	part	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
3	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
4	true	true	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
5	of	of	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	real	real	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
7	otters	otter	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | which part |  |  |  |  | of real otters; true *property* | tree rules |

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Otter cubs never swim at all until they are fully grown up

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:403-the-real-animals-of-the-river-bank-water-vole-mole-otter-toad-and-the-river-birds:t8:o1:1
# text = Otter cubs never swim at all until they are fully grown up
1	Otter	otter	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	compound	_	_
2	cubs	cub	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj	_	_
3	never	never	ADV	RB	PronType=Neg	4	advmod	_	_
4	swim	swim	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	at	at	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	all	all	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	4	obl	_	_
7	until	until	SCONJ	IN	_	11	mark	_	_
8	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	11	nsubj	_	_
9	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	11	aux:pass	_	_
10	fully	fully	ADV	RB	_	11	advmod	_	_
11	grown	grow	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	4	advcl	_	_
12	up	up	ADP	RP	_	11	compound:prt	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **swim** | present | Otter cubs |  |  | all |  |  | vn run-51.3.2-1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme at all=Trajectory |
| 2 | **grow up** | present · passive |  | cubs *= cub* |  |  |  | fully *property* | vn appear-48.1.1 «PP.location V NP»: subject=Theme |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Otters are born strong swimmers and never need any lessons at all

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:403-the-real-animals-of-the-river-bank-water-vole-mole-otter-toad-and-the-river-birds:t8:o2:1
# text = Otters are born strong swimmers and never need any lessons at all
1	Otters	otter	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj:pass	_	_
2	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux:pass	_	_
3	born	bear	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
4	strong	strong	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	swimmers	swimmer	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obj	_	_
6	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	8	cc	_	_
7	never	never	ADV	RB	PronType=Neg	8	advmod	_	_
8	need	need	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	conj	_	_
9	any	any	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	10	det	_	_
10	lessons	lesson	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	obj	_	_
11	at	at	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
12	all	all	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	8	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **bear** | present · passive |  | Otters |  |  |  |  | vn birth-28.2-1-1 «NP V NP NP»: subject=Beneficiary swimmer=Patient |
| 2 | **not** **need** | present |  | any lessons |  | all |  |  | vn want-32.1-1-1 «NP V NP ADV»: agent=Pivot lesson=Theme |

### Option 3 · ← Mova's choice {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Only the father otters teach the cubs, never the mothers

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:403-the-real-animals-of-the-river-bank-water-vole-mole-otter-toad-and-the-river-birds:t8:o3:1
# text = Only the father otters teach the cubs, never the mothers
1	Only	only	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
3	father	father	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	compound	_	_
4	otters	otter	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	nsubj	_	_
5	teach	teach	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	cubs	cub	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	11	punct	_	_
9	never	never	ADV	RB	PronType=Neg	11	advmod	_	_
10	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	mothers	mother	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **teach** *speech: other* | present | the father otters | the cubs |  |  |  | the mothers *obl* | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP.recipient»: agent=Agent cub=Recipient |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Cubs are nervous of water and are taught by their mother

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:403-the-real-animals-of-the-river-bank-water-vole-mole-otter-toad-and-the-river-birds:t8:o4:1
# text = Cubs are nervous of water and are taught by their mother
1	Cubs	cub	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj	_	_
2	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	cop	_	_
3	nervous	nervous	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
4	of	of	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	water	water	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
6	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	8	cc	_	_
7	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	8	aux:pass	_	_
8	taught	teach	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	3	conj	_	_
9	by	by	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
10	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	11	nmod:poss	_	_
11	mother	mother	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | Cubs |  |  |  |  | of water; nervous *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **teach** *speech: other* | present · passive | Cubs's mother |  |  |  |  |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

<!-- 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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