---
title: Why might many butterflies choose nettles for their caterpillars? — Roots, stems and leaves · tree and pragmatics
description: Why might many butterflies choose nettles for their caterpillars? Test 8 · ★ of lesson 57 «Roots, stems and leaves» 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 8 · ★ · Roots, stems and leaves

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Why might many butterflies choose nettles for their caterpillars?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 3 · **The right answer:** option 3 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** many butterflies · **What happens:** choose · **To what, where:** nettles

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 8 · ★ of lesson 57 «Roots, stems and leaves» 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/57-roots-stems-and-leaves/#t8).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:57-roots-stems-and-leaves:t8:1
# text = Why might many butterflies choose nettles for their caterpillars?
1	Why	why	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	5	advmod	_	_
2	might	might	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	5	aux	_	_
3	many	many	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	amod	_	_
4	butterflies	butterfly	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	nsubj	_	_
5	choose	choose	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
6	nettles	nettle	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	obj	_	_
7	for	for	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	9	nmod:poss	_	_
9	caterpillars	caterpillar	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **choose** | might | many butterflies | nettles |  |  |  | for butterflies's caterpillars | vn get-13.5.1 «NP V NP PP.beneficiary»: agent=Agent nettle=Theme for caterpillar=Beneficiary |

<!-- .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 -->
Nettles taste much sweeter than any of the other leaves in the hedge

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:57-roots-stems-and-leaves:t8:o1:1
# text = Nettles taste much sweeter than any of the other leaves in the hedge
1	Nettles	nettle	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nsubj	_	_
2	taste	taste	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	much	much	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
4	sweeter	sweet	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	2	xcomp	_	_
5	than	than	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	any	any	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	4	obl	_	_
7	of	of	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
9	other	other	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	10	amod	_	_
10	leaves	leaf	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	nmod	_	_
11	in	in	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
12	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
13	hedge	hedge	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **taste** | present | Nettles |  |  | the hedge |  | sweet *property* | vn stimulus\_subject-30.4 «NP V ADJ»: agent=Stimulus |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Butterflies cannot see any other plants

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:57-roots-stems-and-leaves:t8:o2:1
# text = Butterflies cannot see any other plants
1	Butterflies	butterfly	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj	_	_
2	can	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	4	advmod	_	_
4	see	see	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
5	any	any	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	7	det	_	_
6	other	other	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
7	plants	plant	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **see** | can | Butterflies | any other plants |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer plant=Stimulus |

### Option 3 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Few animals eat nettles, so the caterpillars are safer there

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:57-roots-stems-and-leaves:t8:o3:1
# text = Few animals eat nettles, so the caterpillars are safer there
1	Few	few	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	amod	_	_
2	animals	animal	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj	_	_
3	eat	eat	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	nettles	nettle	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	10	punct	_	_
6	so	so	ADV	RB	_	10	advmod	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	caterpillars	caterpillar	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	10	nsubj	_	_
9	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	10	cop	_	_
10	safer	safe	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	3	conj	_	_
11	there	there	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	10	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **eat** | present | Few animals | nettles |  |  |  |  | vn eat-39.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent nettle=Patient |
| 2 | **is** | present | the caterpillars |  |  | there |  | safe *property* | tree rules |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The sting makes caterpillars strong

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:57-roots-stems-and-leaves:t8:o4:1
# text = The sting makes caterpillars strong
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	sting	sting	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	makes	make	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	caterpillars	caterpillar	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obj	_	_
5	strong	strong	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	xcomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **make** | present | the sting | caterpillars |  |  |  | strong *property* | vn build-26.1-1 «NP.asset V NP»: agent=Asset caterpillar=Product |

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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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