---
title: Why is "a grin without a cat" so curious? — Alice in Wonderland, chapter VI, part… · tree and pragmatics
description: Why is "a grin without a cat" so curious? Test 9 · ★★ 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 of the question and of each option; Mova's choice was wrong.
---

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# Test 9 · ★★ · Alice in Wonderland, chapter VI, part 2: The baby, the pig…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Why is "a grin without a cat" so curious?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 3 · **The right answer:** option 4 · wrong ✗ · **What happens:** be · **To what, where:** grin

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 9 · ★★ 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. 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/#t9).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:12-alice-ch6-part2-the-cheshire-cat:t9:1
# text = Why is "a grin without a cat" so curious?
1	Why	why	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	5	advmod	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
3	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	5	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	grin	grin	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	nsubj	_	_
6	without	without	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	cat	cat	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	8	punct	_	_
10	so	so	ADV	RB	_	11	advmod	_	_
11	curious	curious	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	11	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** *in a quote* | present |  | a grin |  |  |  |  | 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 -->
A grin should be on a face and the cat has no mouth

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:12-alice-ch6-part2-the-cheshire-cat:t9:o1:1
# text = A grin should be on a face and the cat has no mouth
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	grin	grin	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	nsubj	_	_
3	should	should	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	7	aux	_	_
4	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	7	cop	_	_
5	on	on	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	face	face	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	_
8	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	10	cc	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	cat	cat	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	conj	_	_
11	has	have	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
12	no	no	DET	DT	PronType=Neg	13	det	_	_
13	mouth	mouth	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | should |  |  |  | a face |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **have** | present | a grin and the cat | no mouth |  |  |  |  | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent mouth=Patient |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A grin is part of a face, so it can't stay without the face, and the Cat has vanished completely

<!-- fold The tree, 21 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:12-alice-ch6-part2-the-cheshire-cat:t9:o2:1
# text = A grin is part of a face, so it can't stay without the face, and the Cat has vanished completely
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	grin	grin	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
3	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
4	part	part	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
5	of	of	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	face	face	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	13	punct	_	_
9	so	so	ADV	RB	_	13	advmod	_	_
10	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	13	nsubj	_	_
11	ca	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	13	aux	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	n't	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	13	advmod	_	_
13	stay	stay	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	conj	_	_
14	without	without	ADP	IN	_	16	case	_	_
15	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	16	det	_	_
16	face	face	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	22	punct	_	_
18	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	22	cc	_	_
19	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	20	det	_	_
20	Cat	cat	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	22	nsubj	_	_
21	has	have	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	22	aux	_	_
22	vanished	vanish	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	4	conj	_	_
23	completely	completely	ADV	RB	_	22	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | a grin | part |  |  |  | of a face | tree rules |
| 2 | **not** **stay** | can | grin |  |  |  |  | without the face | vn exist-47.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 3 | **vanish** | present · perfect | the Cat |  |  |  |  | completely *property* | vn disappearance-48.2-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

### Option 3 · ← Mova's choice {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Because the Cat had never been seen grinning before, and nobody knows what a grin without a face could mean

<!-- fold The tree, 20 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:12-alice-ch6-part2-the-cheshire-cat:t9:o3:1
# text = Because the Cat had never been seen grinning before, and nobody knows what a grin without a face could mean
1	Because	because	SCONJ	IN	_	7	mark	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	Cat	cat	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nsubj	_	_
4	had	have	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	7	aux	_	_
5	never	never	ADV	RB	PronType=Neg	7	advmod	_	_
6	been	be	AUX	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	7	aux:pass	_	_
7	seen	see	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	13	advcl	_	_
8	grinning	grin	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	7	xcomp	_	_
9	before	before	ADV	RB	_	8	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	13	punct	_	_
11	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	13	cc	_	_
12	nobody	nobody	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Neg	13	nsubj	_	_
13	knows	know	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
14	what	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	21	obj	_	_
15	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	16	det	_	_
16	grin	grin	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	21	nsubj	_	_
17	without	without	ADP	IN	_	19	case	_	_
18	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	19	det	_	_
19	face	face	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	16	nmod	_	_
20	could	could	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	21	aux	_	_
21	mean	mean	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	13	ccomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **see** | past · perfect · passive |  | the Cat |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **grin** | gerund | the Cat *not said here* |  |  |  |  | before *property* | vn nonverbal\_expression-40.2 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **know** | present | nobody |  |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1-1 «NP V how S\_INF»: agent=Experiencer clause=Stimulus |
| 4 | **mean** | could | a grin without a face |  |  |  |  |  | vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent what=Topic |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A grin is part of a face, so it can't stay without the face

<!-- fold The tree, 15 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:12-alice-ch6-part2-the-cheshire-cat:t9:o4:1
# text = A grin is part of a face, so it can't stay without the face
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	grin	grin	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
3	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
4	part	part	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
5	of	of	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	face	face	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	13	punct	_	_
9	so	so	ADV	RB	_	13	advmod	_	_
10	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	13	nsubj	_	_
11	ca	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	13	aux	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	n't	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	13	advmod	_	_
13	stay	stay	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	conj	_	_
14	without	without	ADP	IN	_	16	case	_	_
15	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	16	det	_	_
16	face	face	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | a grin | part |  |  |  | of a face | tree rules |
| 2 | **not** **stay** | can | grin |  |  |  |  | without the face | vn exist-47.1 «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.

<!-- /div -->

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- ← previous: [Alice in Wonderland, chapter VI, part…, test 8](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/12-alice-ch6-part2-the-cheshire-cat/t8/)
- next →: [Alice in Wonderland, chapter VI, part…, test 10](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/12-alice-ch6-part2-the-cheshire-cat/t10/)
- ↑ 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/)