---
title: What would the Rat probably have said about the South at the start o… — The Wind in the Willows, chapter IX, p… · tree and pragmatics
description: What would the Rat probably have said about the South at the start of the book? Test 8 · ★ of lesson 57 «The Wind in the Willows, chapter IX, part 2: Wayfarers All (the swallows and the call of the South)» of the books course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the q
---

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# Test 8 · ★ · The Wind in the Willows, chapter IX, part 2: Wayfarers All…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
What would the Rat probably have said about the South at the start of the book?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 4 · **The right answer:** option 3 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** Rat · **What happens:** say, start · **To what, where:** start, book · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 8 · ★ of lesson 57 «The Wind in the Willows, chapter IX, part 2: Wayfarers All (the swallows and the call of the South)» 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/57-willows-ch9-part2-the-swallows/#t8).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:57-willows-ch9-part2-the-swallows:t8:1
# text = What would the Rat probably have said about the South at the start of the book?
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	7	obj	_	_
2	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	7	aux	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	Rat	Rat	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	7	nsubj	_	_
5	probably	probably	ADV	RB	_	7	advmod	_	_
6	have	have	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	7	aux	_	_
7	said	say	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
8	about	about	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	South	South	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	7	obl	_	_
11	at	at	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
12	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
13	start	start	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obl	_	_
14	of	of	ADP	IN	_	16	case	_	_
15	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	16	det	_	_
16	book	book	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	7	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **say** *speech: assert* | would · perfect | the Rat |  |  | the start of the book |  | about the South; probably *property* | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V NP.topic»: agent=Agent what=Topic |
| 2 | **start** |  |  | the book |  |  |  |  | nom start «event transitive»: of=patient |

<!-- .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 -->
He would call it a dull distant place

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:57-willows-ch9-part2-the-swallows:t8:o1:1
# text = He would call it a dull distant place
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	3	aux	_	_
3	call	call	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
4	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	obj	_	_
5	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
6	dull	dull	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	amod	_	_
7	distant	distant	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	amod	_	_
8	place	place	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	xcomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **call** | would | He | it |  |  |  |  | vn initiate\_communication-37.4.2-1 «NP V NP.recipient»: agent=Agent it=Recipient |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
He wanted to visit

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:57-willows-ch9-part2-the-swallows:t8:o2:1
# text = He wanted to visit
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	wanted	want	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	to	to	PART	TO	_	4	mark	_	_
4	visit	visit	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	2	xcomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **want** | past | He |  |  |  |  |  | vn want-32.1-1-1 «NP V NP S\_INF»: agent=Pivot clause=Theme |
| 2 | **visit** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive | He *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn meet-36.3-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

### Option 3 · ✓ the right answer {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It doesn't matter; he never wants to go

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:57-willows-ch9-part2-the-swallows:t8:o3:1
# text = It doesn't matter; he never wants to go
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
2	does	do	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	n't	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	4	advmod	_	_
4	matter	matter	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	;	;	PUNCT	:	_	8	punct	_	_
6	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	8	nsubj	_	_
7	never	never	ADV	RB	PronType=Neg	8	advmod	_	_
8	wants	want	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	conj	_	_
9	to	to	PART	TO	_	10	mark	_	_
10	go	go	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	8	xcomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **matter** | present · do-support | It |  |  |  |  |  | vn matter-91 «NP V»: agent=Stimulus |
| 2 | **not** **want** | present | he |  |  |  |  |  | vn want-32.1-1-1 «NP V NP S\_INF»: agent=Pivot clause=Theme |
| 3 | **go** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive | he *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn disappearance-48.2-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

### Option 4 · ← Mova's choice {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
He would say it means nothing to him

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:57-willows-ch9-part2-the-swallows:t8:o4:1
# text = He would say it means nothing to him
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	3	aux	_	_
3	say	say	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
4	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	5	nsubj	_	_
5	means	mean	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	ccomp	_	_
6	nothing	nothing	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Neg	5	obj	_	_
7	to	to	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
8	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	6	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **say** *speech: assert* | would | He |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 2 | **mean** | present | it | nothing |  |  |  | to him *= he* | vn representation-110.1 «NP V NP PP.attribute»: agent=Pivot nothing=Theme to he=Attribute |

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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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