---
title: Why does the Rat say «looking like a gentleman if you can»? — The Wind in the Willows, chapter XI, p… · tree and pragmatics
description: Why does the Rat say «looking like a gentleman if you can»? Test 2 · ★★ of lesson 65 «The Wind in the Willows, chapter XI, part 1: «Like Summer Tempests Came His Tears» (home at the Rat's, a telling-off, and bad news)» of the books course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragma
---

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# Test 2 · ★★ · The Wind in the Willows, chapter XI, part 1: «Like Summer…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Why does the Rat say «looking like a gentleman if you can»?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 2 · **The right answer:** option 1 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** Rat · **What happens:** do, say, look · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 2 · ★★ of lesson 65 «The Wind in the Willows, chapter XI, part 1: «Like Summer Tempests Came His Tears» (home at the Rat's, a telling-off, and bad news)» 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/65-willows-ch11-part1-why-steal-them/#t2).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:65-willows-ch11-part1-why-steal-them:t2:1
# text = Why does the Rat say «looking like a gentleman if you can»?
1	Why	why	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	2	advmod	_	_
2	does	do	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	advcl	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	Rat	Rat	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
5	say	say	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
6	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	7	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	looking	look	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	5	ccomp	_	_
8	like	like	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	gentleman	gentleman	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obl	_	_
11	if	if	SCONJ	IN	_	13	mark	_	_
12	you	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Person=2|PronType=Prs	13	nsubj	_	_
13	can	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	7	advcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	7	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **do** | present | the Rat *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn act-114-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **say** *speech: assert* | present | the Rat |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 3 | **look** *in a quote* | gerund |  |  |  |  |  | like a gentleman | vn stimulus\_subject-30.4 «NP V PP.attribute»: agent=Stimulus |

<!-- .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 -->
Toad, a rich gentleman, looks a shabby, muddy, dripping mess

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:65-willows-ch11-part1-why-steal-them:t2:o1:1
# text = Toad, a rich gentleman, looks a shabby, muddy, dripping mess
1	Toad	Toad	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	7	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	5	punct	_	_
3	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	rich	rich	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	gentleman	gentleman	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	appos	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	1	punct	_	_
7	looks	look	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
8	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	14	det	_	_
9	shabby	shabby	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	14	amod	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	9	punct	_	_
11	muddy	muddy	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	14	amod	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	13	punct	_	_
13	dripping	drip	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	14	amod	_	_
14	mess	mess	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **look** | present | Toad | a shabby muddy dripping mess |  |  |  |  | vn seem-109-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Theme mess=Attribute |
| 2 | **drip** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn substance\_emission-43.4-1 «NP V»: agent=Source |

### Option 2 · ← Mova's choice {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Toad, who is normally a rich and fashionable gentleman, looks like a wet washerwoman in a dress

<!-- fold The tree, 17 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:65-willows-ch11-part1-why-steal-them:t2:o2:1
# text = Toad, who is normally a rich and fashionable gentleman, looks like a wet washerwoman in a dress
1	Toad	Toad	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	12	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	10	punct	_	_
3	who	who	PRON	WP	PronType=Rel	10	nsubj	_	_
4	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	10	cop	_	_
5	normally	normally	ADV	RB	_	10	advmod	_	_
6	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
7	rich	rich	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	10	amod	_	_
8	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	9	cc	_	_
9	fashionable	fashionable	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	conj	_	_
10	gentleman	gentleman	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	appos	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	1	punct	_	_
12	looks	look	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
13	like	like	ADP	IN	_	16	case	_	_
14	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	16	det	_	_
15	wet	wet	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	16	amod	_	_
16	washerwoman	washerwoman	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	obl	_	_
17	in	in	ADP	IN	_	19	case	_	_
18	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	19	det	_	_
19	dress	dress	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | Toad | a rich gentleman |  |  |  | normally *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **look** | present | Toad |  |  |  |  | like a wet washerwoman; in a dress | vn peer-30.3 «NP V PP.theme»: agent=Agent in dress=Theme |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Toad always dresses well and has a fine coat

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:65-willows-ch11-part1-why-steal-them:t2:o3:1
# text = Toad always dresses well and has a fine coat
1	Toad	Toad	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
2	always	always	ADV	RB	PronType=Tot	3	advmod	_	_
3	dresses	dress	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	well	well	ADV	RB	Degree=Pos	3	advmod	_	_
5	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	6	cc	_	_
6	has	have	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	conj	_	_
7	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
8	fine	fine	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	amod	_	_
9	coat	coat	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **dress** | present | Toad |  |  |  |  | always, well *property* | vn dress-41.1.1-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **have** | present | Toad *not said here* | a fine coat |  |  |  |  | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent coat=Patient |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Toad is a gentleman who never wears clothes at all

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:65-willows-ch11-part1-why-steal-them:t2:o4:1
# text = Toad is a gentleman who never wears clothes at all
1	Toad	Toad	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
3	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	gentleman	gentleman	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
5	who	who	PRON	WP	PronType=Rel	7	nsubj	_	_
6	never	never	ADV	RB	PronType=Neg	7	advmod	_	_
7	wears	wear	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	acl:relcl	_	_
8	clothes	clothes	NOUN	NNS	Number=Ptan	7	obj	_	_
9	at	at	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
10	all	all	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	7	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | Toad | a gentleman |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **not** **wear** | present | a gentleman | clothes |  | all |  |  | vn wipe\_manner-10.4.1-1 «NP V NP.source»: agent=Agent clothes=Source |

<!-- div src -->

**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: [The Wind in the Willows, chapter XI, p…, test 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/65-willows-ch11-part1-why-steal-them/t1/)
- next →: [The Wind in the Willows, chapter XI, p…, test 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/65-willows-ch11-part1-why-steal-them/t3/)
- ↑ back to [The Wind in the Willows, chapter XI, part 1: «Like Summer Tempests Came His Tears» (home at the Rat's, a telling-off, and bad news)](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/65-willows-ch11-part1-why-steal-them/)