---
title: why did the sparrow get her tongue cut? — Japanese Fairy Tales, The Tongue-Cut S… · tree and pragmatics
description: why did the sparrow get her tongue cut? Test 13 · ★ of lesson 1344 «Japanese Fairy Tales, The Tongue-Cut Sparrow, part 4: the greedy old wife opens the big box and finds demons» of the books course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each option; 
---

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# Test 13 · ★ · Japanese Fairy Tales, The Tongue-Cut Sparrow, part 4: the…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
why did the sparrow get her tongue cut?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 3 · **The right answer:** option 1 · wrong ✗ · **What happens:** do, cut · **To what, where:** sparrow

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 13 · ★ of lesson 1344 «Japanese Fairy Tales, The Tongue-Cut Sparrow, part 4: the greedy old wife opens the big box and finds demons» 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/1344-pg4018-part4/#t13).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1344-pg4018-part4:t13:1
# text = why did the sparrow get her tongue cut?
1	why	why	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	5	advmod	_	_
2	did	do	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	1	advcl	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	sparrow	sparrow	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
5	get	get	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	8	aux:pass	_	_
6	her	her	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	7	nmod:poss	_	_
7	tongue	tongue	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obj	_	_
8	cut	cut	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	8	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **do** | past |  | the sparrow |  |  |  |  | vn act-114-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent sparrow=Eventuality |
| 2 | **cut** | present · passive |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V ADV-Middle» |

<!-- .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 · ✓ the right answer {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
cuz she ate some rice-paste by mistake

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1344-pg4018-part4:t13:o1:1
# text = cuz she ate some rice-paste by mistake
1	cuz	cuz	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
2	she	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
3	ate	eat	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	some	some	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	7	det	_	_
5	rice	rice	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	compound	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	5	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	paste	paste	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
8	by	by	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
9	mistake	mistake	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **eat** | past | cuz | some rice paste |  |  |  | by mistake | vn eat-39.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent paste=Patient |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
cuz the old wife caught her stealing rice-paste from the pot on purpose

<!-- fold The tree, 14 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1344-pg4018-part4:t13:o2:1
# text = cuz the old wife caught her stealing rice-paste from the pot on purpose
1	cuz	cuz	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
3	old	old	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	amod	_	_
4	wife	wife	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	appos	_	_
5	caught	catch	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
6	her	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	5	obj	_	_
7	stealing	steal	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	5	xcomp	_	_
8	rice	rice	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	compound	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	8	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	paste	paste	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obj	_	_
11	from	from	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
12	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
13	pot	pot	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obl	_	_
14	on	on	ADP	IN	_	15	case	_	_
15	purpose	purpose	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **catch** | past | cuz | wife |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **steal** | gerund | cuz *not said here* | rice paste |  | the pot |  | on purpose | vn steal-10.5-1 «NP V NP PP.source»: agent=Agent paste=Theme from pot=Source |

### Option 3 · ← Mova's choice {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
cuz she broke the old wife's bowl

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1344-pg4018-part4:t13:o3:1
# text = cuz she broke the old wife's bowl
1	cuz	cuz	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
2	she	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
3	broke	break	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
5	old	old	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	wife	wife	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	's	's	PART	POS	_	6	case	_	_
8	bowl	bowl	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **break** | past | cuz | the old wife's bowl |  |  |  |  | vn hurt-40.8.3-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer bowl=Patient |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
cuz she ate the whole family's rice-paste on purpose and then lied about it

<!-- fold The tree, 16 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1344-pg4018-part4:t13:o4:1
# text = cuz she ate the whole family's rice-paste on purpose and then lied about it
1	cuz	cuz	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
2	she	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
3	ate	eat	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
5	whole	whole	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	family	family	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	's	's	PART	POS	_	6	case	_	_
8	rice	rice	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	compound	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	8	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	paste	paste	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
11	on	on	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
12	purpose	purpose	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
13	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	15	cc	_	_
14	then	then	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	15	advmod	_	_
15	lied	lie	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	conj	_	_
16	about	about	ADP	IN	_	17	case	_	_
17	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	15	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **eat** | past | cuz | the whole family's rice paste |  | purpose |  |  | vn eat-39.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent paste=Patient |
| 2 | **lie** | past | cuz *not said here* |  |  |  | then | about purpose | vn assuming\_position-50 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Agent about it=Location |

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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: [Japanese Fairy Tales, The Tongue-Cut S…, test 12](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/1344-pg4018-part4/t12/)
- next →: [Japanese Fairy Tales, The Tongue-Cut S…, test 14](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/1344-pg4018-part4/t14/)
- ↑ back to [Japanese Fairy Tales, The Tongue-Cut Sparrow, part 4: the greedy old wife opens the big box and finds demons](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/1344-pg4018-part4/)