---
title: Nana, Kerry: "Ah, the poor craythur, sure he only wanted to know." (… — Just So Stories (Rudyard Kipling), 5:… · tree and pragmatics
description: Nana, Kerry: "Ah, the poor craythur, sure he only wanted to know." ("craythur" = creature.) Why did everybody say "Hush!" to his question? Test 5 · ★ of lesson 79 «Just So Stories (Rudyard Kipling), 5: The Elephant's Child, part 1 (What does the Crocodile have for dinner?)» of the books course of Mo
---

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# Test 5 · ★ · Just So Stories (Rudyard Kipling), 5: The Elephant's Child…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Nana, Kerry: "Ah, the poor craythur, sure he only wanted to know." ("craythur" = creature.) Why did everybody say "Hush!" to his question?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 4 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** Kerry, everybody · **What happens:** want, know, say, question · **To what, where:** Hush, question · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 5 · ★ of lesson 79 «Just So Stories (Rudyard Kipling), 5: The Elephant's Child, part 1 (What does the Crocodile have for dinner?)» 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/79-justso-elephants-child-1/#t5).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* Nana, Kerry: "Ah, the poor craythur, sure he only wanted to know."

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:79-justso-elephants-child-1:t5:1
# text = Nana, Kerry: "Ah, the poor craythur, sure he only wanted to know."
1	Nana	Nana	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	3	punct	_	_
3	Kerry	Kerry	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	1	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	:	:	PUNCT	:	_	10	punct	_	_
5	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	10	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	Ah	ah	INTJ	UH	_	10	discourse	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	6	punct	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
9	poor	poor	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	10	amod	_	_
10	craythur	craythur	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	appos	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	12	punct	_	_
12	sure	sure	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	10	amod	_	_
13	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	15	nsubj	_	_
14	only	only	ADV	RB	_	15	advmod	_	_
15	wanted	want	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	12	ccomp	_	_
16	to	to	PART	TO	_	17	mark	_	_
17	know	know	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	15	xcomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
18	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	10	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
19	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	10	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **want** *in a quote* | past | Kerry |  |  |  |  |  | vn want-32.1-1-1 «NP V NP S\_INF»: agent=Pivot clause=Theme |
| 2 | **know** *not said to happen, in a quote* | to-infinitive | Kerry *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Experiencer |

<!-- .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:* ("craythur" = creature.)

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:79-justso-elephants-child-1:t5:2
# text = ("craythur" = creature.)
1	(	(	PUNCT	-LRB-	_	6	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	3	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	craythur	craythur	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	compound	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	3	punct	_	_
5	=	=	SYM	SYM	_	6	punct	_	_
6	creature	creature	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	6	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	)	)	PUNCT	-RRB-	_	6	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .note -->
The frames reader finds no event or fact in this sentence.

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 3:* Why did everybody say "Hush!" to his question?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:79-justso-elephants-child-1:t5:3
# text = Why did everybody say "Hush!" to his question?
1	Why	why	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	4	advmod	_	_
2	did	do	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
3	everybody	everybody	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Tot	4	nsubj	_	_
4	say	say	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
5	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	6	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	Hush	hush	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	!	!	PUNCT	.	_	6	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	6	punct	_	_
9	to	to	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
10	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	11	nmod:poss	_	_
11	question	question	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **say** *speech: assert* | past · do-support | everybody | Hush | Kerry's question |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V NP PP.recipient»: agent=Agent hush=Topic to question=Recipient |
| 2 | **question** |  | Kerry |  |  |  |  |  | nom question «communication transitive»: poss=agent |

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 · ← Mova's choice {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It was a scary, dangerous question to ask, and his aunts had already decided he must be spanked again for it

<!-- fold The tree, 21 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:79-justso-elephants-child-1:t5:o1:1
# text = It was a scary, dangerous question to ask, and his aunts had already decided he must be spanked again for it
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	7	nsubj	_	_
2	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	7	cop	_	_
3	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
4	scary	scary	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	4	punct	_	_
6	dangerous	dangerous	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
7	question	question	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
8	to	to	PART	TO	_	9	mark	_	_
9	ask	ask	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	7	acl	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	16	punct	_	_
11	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	16	cc	_	_
12	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	13	nmod:poss	_	_
13	aunts	aunt	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	16	nsubj:pass	_	_
14	had	have	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	16	aux	_	_
15	already	already	ADV	RB	_	16	advmod	_	_
16	decided	decide	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	7	acl:relcl	_	_
17	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	20	nsubj	_	_
18	must	must	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	20	aux	_	_
19	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	20	aux:pass	_	_
20	spanked	spank	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	16	acl:relcl	_	_
21	again	again	ADV	RB	_	20	advmod	_	_
22	for	for	ADP	IN	_	23	case	_	_
23	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	20	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | past | It | a scary dangerous question |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **ask** *speech: ask* | to-infinitive |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn inquire-37.1.2 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **decide** | past · perfect · passive | a scary dangerous question *not said here* | his aunts |  |  |  |  | vn correspond-36.1-1 «NP V S»: subject=Topic |
| 4 | **spank** | must · passive |  | he |  |  | again | for question | vn spank-18.3 «NP V NP»: subject=Patient |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
They thought he was too young to ask

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:79-justso-elephants-child-1:t5:o2:1
# text = They thought he was too young to ask
1	They	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	thought	think	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	6	nsubj	_	_
4	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	6	cop	_	_
5	too	too	ADV	RB	_	6	advmod	_	_
6	young	young	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	ccomp	_	_
7	to	to	PART	TO	_	8	mark	_	_
8	ask	ask	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	6	xcomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **think** *speech: other* | past | They |  |  |  |  |  | vn focus-87.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **is** | past | he |  |  |  |  | young *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **ask** *speech: ask* | to-infinitive | he *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn inquire-37.1.2 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It was a scary, dangerous question to ask, because it could get a child into trouble with the crocodile

<!-- fold The tree, 19 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:79-justso-elephants-child-1:t5:o3:1
# text = It was a scary, dangerous question to ask, because it could get a child into trouble with the crocodile
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	7	nsubj	_	_
2	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	7	cop	_	_
3	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
4	scary	scary	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	4	punct	_	_
6	dangerous	dangerous	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
7	question	question	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
8	to	to	PART	TO	_	9	mark	_	_
9	ask	ask	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	7	acl	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	14	punct	_	_
11	because	because	SCONJ	IN	_	14	mark	_	_
12	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	14	nsubj	_	_
13	could	could	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	14	aux	_	_
14	get	get	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	9	ccomp	_	_
15	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	16	det	_	_
16	child	child	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	obj	_	_
17	into	into	ADP	IN	_	18	case	_	_
18	trouble	trouble	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	obl	_	_
19	with	with	ADP	IN	_	21	case	_	_
20	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	21	det	_	_
21	crocodile	crocodile	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	18	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | past | It | a scary dangerous question |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **ask** *speech: ask* | to-infinitive |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn inquire-37.1.2 «NP V how S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 3 | **get** | could | question | a child |  | trouble with the crocodile |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer child=Stimulus |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It was a scary, dangerous question to ask

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:79-justso-elephants-child-1:t5:o4:1
# text = It was a scary, dangerous question to ask
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	7	nsubj	_	_
2	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	7	cop	_	_
3	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
4	scary	scary	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	4	punct	_	_
6	dangerous	dangerous	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
7	question	question	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
8	to	to	PART	TO	_	9	mark	_	_
9	ask	ask	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	7	acl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | past | It | a scary dangerous question |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **ask** *speech: ask* | to-infinitive |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn inquire-37.1.2 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

<!-- 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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