---
title: Ascertain the reply of the Cheshire Cat to the protagonist's enquiry… — Alice in Wonderland, chapter VI, part… · tree and pragmatics
description: Ascertain the reply of the Cheshire Cat to the protagonist's enquiry as to which way she ought to go. Exam question 2 of lesson 12 «Alice in Wonderland, chapter VI, part 2: The baby, the pig and the Cheshire Cat» of the books course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics o
---

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# Exam question 2 · Alice in Wonderland, chapter VI, part 2: The baby, the pig…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Ascertain the reply of the Cheshire Cat to the protagonist's enquiry as to which way she ought to go.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 4 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** you, Cat, protagonist · **What happens:** ascertain, go, reply, enquire · **To what, where:** reply, Cheshire Cat

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 2 of lesson 12 «Alice in Wonderland, chapter VI, part 2: The baby, the pig and the Cheshire Cat» of the books course of Mova's primary school, asked in stiff, formal language. 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/books/12-alice-ch6-part2-the-cheshire-cat/#e2).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:12-alice-ch6-part2-the-cheshire-cat:e2:1
# text = Ascertain the reply of the Cheshire Cat to the protagonist's enquiry as to which way she ought to go.
1	Ascertain	ascertain	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	reply	reply	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
4	of	of	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
6	Cheshire	Cheshire	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	7	compound	_	_
7	Cat	cat	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nmod	_	_
8	to	to	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	protagonist	protagonist	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	's	's	PART	POS	_	10	case	_	_
12	enquiry	enquiry	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obl	_	_
13	as	as	ADP	IN	ExtPos=ADP	16	case	_	_
14	to	to	ADP	IN	_	13	fixed	_	_
15	which	which	DET	WDT	PronType=Int	16	det	_	_
16	way	way	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obl	_	_
17	she	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	20	nsubj	_	_
18	ought	ought	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	20	aux	_	_
19	to	to	PART	TO	_	20	mark	_	_
20	go	go	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	16	acl:relcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
21	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **ascertain** | imperative | you *not said here* | the reply of the Cheshire Cat |  |  |  | to the protagonist's enquiry; as which way | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent reply=Topic |
| 2 | **go** | ought | Cat |  |  |  |  |  | vn disappearance-48.2-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 3 | **reply** |  |  | the Cheshire Cat |  |  |  |  | nom reply «communication transitive»: of=patient |
| 4 | **enquire** |  | the protagonist |  |  |  |  |  | nom enquiry «communication transitive»: poss=agent |

<!-- .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 -->
That the choice was hers to make alone

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:12-alice-ch6-part2-the-cheshire-cat:e2:o1:1
# text = That the choice was hers to make alone
1	That	that	DET	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	3	det	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	choice	choice	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
4	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
5	hers	her	PRON	PRP	Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	0	root	_	_
6	to	to	PART	TO	_	7	mark	_	_
7	make	make	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	acl	_	_
8	alone	alone	ADV	RB	_	7	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | past | that choice | hers *= she* |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **make** | to-infinitive |  |  |  |  |  | alone *property* | vn build-26.1-1 «NP.asset V NP»: agent=Asset |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
That she must ask the Duchess about it first

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:12-alice-ch6-part2-the-cheshire-cat:e2:o2:1
# text = That she must ask the Duchess about it first
1	That	that	PRON	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	4	nsubj	_	_
2	she	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
3	must	must	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
4	ask	ask	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	Duchess	duchess	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obj	_	_
7	about	about	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
8	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	6	nmod	_	_
9	first	first	ADV	RB	NumForm=Word|NumType=Ord	4	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **ask** *speech: ask* | must | That |  | the Duchess |  |  | first *property* | vn inquire-37.1.2 «NP V NP PP.topic»: agent=Agent duchess=Recipient about it=Topic |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
That she should follow the cat

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:12-alice-ch6-part2-the-cheshire-cat:e2:o3:1
# text = That she should follow the cat
1	That	that	PRON	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	4	nsubj	_	_
2	she	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
3	should	should	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
4	follow	follow	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	cat	cat	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **follow** | should | That | the cat |  |  |  |  | vn chase-51.6 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent cat=Theme |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
That it depended upon where she wished to arrive

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:12-alice-ch6-part2-the-cheshire-cat:e2:o4:1
# text = That it depended upon where she wished to arrive
1	That	that	PRON	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	3	nsubj	_	_
2	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
3	depended	depend	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	upon	upon	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	where	where	ADV	WRB	PronType=Rel	7	advmod	_	_
6	she	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	7	nsubj	_	_
7	wished	wish	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	ccomp	_	_
8	to	to	PART	TO	_	9	mark	_	_
9	arrive	arrive	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	7	xcomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **depend** | past | That |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **wish** | past | she |  |  |  |  |  | vn wish-62 «NP V for NP S\_INF»: agent=Pivot clause=Theme |
| 3 | **arrive** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive | she *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V»: agent=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.

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- ← previous: [Alice in Wonderland, chapter VI, part…, exam 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/12-alice-ch6-part2-the-cheshire-cat/e1/)
- next →: [Alice in Wonderland, chapter VI, part…, exam 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/12-alice-ch6-part2-the-cheshire-cat/e3/)
- ↑ back to [Alice in Wonderland, chapter VI, part 2: The baby, the pig and the Cheshire Cat](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/12-alice-ch6-part2-the-cheshire-cat/)