---
title: «his pride began to whisper that he could do it every bit as well».… — The Wind in the Willows, chapter I, pa… · tree and pragmatics
description: «his pride began to whisper that he could do it every bit as well». What does this mean? Test 2 · ★★ of lesson 28 «The Wind in the Willows, chapter I, part 4: The River Bank (the Mole grabs the oars, the boat goes over, and a friendship begins)» of the books course of Mova's primary school, with the
---

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# Test 2 · ★★ · The Wind in the Willows, chapter I, part 4: The River Bank…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
«his pride began to whisper that he could do it every bit as well». What does this mean?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 3 · **The right answer:** option 3 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** pride, his, this · **What happens:** begin, whisper, do, pride, mean · **To what, where:** it · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 2 · ★★ of lesson 28 «The Wind in the Willows, chapter I, part 4: The River Bank (the Mole grabs the oars, the boat goes over, and a friendship begins)» 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/28-willows-ch1-part4-sploosh/#t2).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* «his pride began to whisper that he could do it every bit as well».

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:28-willows-ch1-part4-sploosh:t2:1
# text = «his pride began to whisper that he could do it every bit as well».
1	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	4	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	3	nmod:poss	_	_
3	pride	pride	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
4	began	begin	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	to	to	PART	TO	_	6	mark	_	_
6	whisper	whisper	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	xcomp	_	_
7	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	10	mark	_	_
8	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	10	nsubj	_	_
9	could	could	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	10	aux	_	_
10	do	do	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	6	ccomp	_	_
11	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	10	obj	_	_
12	every	every	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	13	det	_	_
13	bit	bit	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	obl:unmarked	_	_
14	as	as	ADV	RB	ExtPos=ADV	10	advmod	_	_
15	well	well	ADV	RB	Degree=Pos	14	fixed	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	4	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **begin** *in a quote* | past | his pride |  |  |  |  |  | vn begin-55.1-1-1 «NP V S\_INF»: agent=Agent clause=Eventuality |
| 2 | **whisper** *speech: assert* *in a quote* | to-infinitive | his pride *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn manner\_speaking-37.3 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 3 | **do** *in a quote* | could | pride | it |  |  |  | every bit *obl:unmarked* | vn act-114-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent it=Eventuality |
| 4 | **pride** *in a quote* |  | his *= he* |  |  |  |  |  | nom pride «feeling 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.

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 2:* What does this mean?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:28-willows-ch1-part4-sploosh:t2:2
# text = What does this mean?
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	4	obj	_	_
2	does	do	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
3	this	this	PRON	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	4	nsubj	_	_
4	mean	mean	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **mean** | present · do-support | this |  |  |  |  |  | vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent what=Topic |

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
His pride made him believe he was as skilled as a boatman

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:28-willows-ch1-part4-sploosh:t2:o1:1
# text = His pride made him believe he was as skilled as a boatman
1	His	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	2	nmod:poss	_	_
2	pride	pride	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	made	make	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	obj	_	_
5	believe	believe	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	xcomp	_	_
6	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	9	nsubj	_	_
7	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	9	aux:pass	_	_
8	as	as	ADV	RB	_	9	advmod	_	_
9	skilled	skill	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	5	ccomp	_	_
10	as	as	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
11	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
12	boatman	boatman	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **make** | past | His pride | him *= he* |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **believe** | infinitive | him *= he* *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn admire-31.2 «NP V that S»: agent=Experiencer clause=Stimulus |
| 3 | **skill** | past · passive |  | pride |  |  |  | as a boatman | tree rules |
| 4 | **pride** |  | His *= he* |  |  |  |  |  | nom pride «feeling transitive»: poss=agent |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
His vanity told him he could row as well as anyone there

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:28-willows-ch1-part4-sploosh:t2:o2:1
# text = His vanity told him he could row as well as anyone there
1	His	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	2	nmod:poss	_	_
2	vanity	vanity	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	told	tell	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	iobj	_	_
5	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	7	nsubj	_	_
6	could	could	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	7	aux	_	_
7	row	row	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	ccomp	_	_
8	as	as	ADV	RB	ExtPos=ADV	7	advmod	_	_
9	well	well	ADV	RB	Degree=Pos	8	fixed	_	_
10	as	as	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
11	anyone	anyone	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Ind	7	obl	_	_
12	there	there	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	11	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **tell** *speech: assert* | past | His vanity |  | him *= he* |  |  |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP S\_INF»: agent=Agent he=Recipient clause=Topic |
| 2 | **row** | could | vanity |  |  |  |  | as anyone | vn nonvehicle-51.4.2 «NP.agent V»: agent=Agent |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
His pride made him think he was as good as the Rat

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:28-willows-ch1-part4-sploosh:t2:o3:1
# text = His pride made him think he was as good as the Rat
1	His	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	2	nmod:poss	_	_
2	pride	pride	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	made	make	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	obj	_	_
5	think	think	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	xcomp	_	_
6	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	9	nsubj	_	_
7	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	9	cop	_	_
8	as	as	ADV	RB	_	9	advmod	_	_
9	good	good	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	ccomp	_	_
10	as	as	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
11	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
12	Rat	Rat	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	9	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **make** | past | His pride | him *= he* |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **think** *speech: other* | infinitive | him *= he* *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn focus-87.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **is** | past | pride |  |  |  |  | as the Rat; good *property* | tree rules |
| 4 | **pride** |  | His *= he* |  |  |  |  |  | nom pride «feeling transitive»: poss=agent |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
He was proud of the boat

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:28-willows-ch1-part4-sploosh:t2:o4:1
# text = He was proud of the boat
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	cop	_	_
3	proud	proud	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
4	of	of	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	boat	boat	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | past | He |  |  |  |  | of the boat; proud *property* | tree rules |

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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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- ↑ back to [The Wind in the Willows, chapter I, part 4: The River Bank (the Mole grabs the oars, the boat goes over, and a friendship begins)](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/28-willows-ch1-part4-sploosh/)