---
title: Your dog barks at the front door, though you heard nothing. What is… — Thinking about noticing · tree and pragmatics
description: Your dog barks at the front door, though you heard nothing. What is the best explanation? Test 4 · ★★★ of lesson 20 «Thinking about noticing» of the everyday course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each option; Mova's choice was wrong.
---

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# Test 4 · ★★★ · Thinking about noticing

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Your dog barks at the front door, though you heard nothing. What is the best explanation?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 2 · **The right answer:** option 1 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** dog, you, best explanation · **What happens:** bark, hear, be · **To what, where:** nothing

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This is test 4 · ★★★ of lesson 20 «Thinking about noticing» of the everyday 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/everyday/20-noticing-like-a-cat/#t4).

## The question {#question}

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*Sentence 1:* Your dog barks at the front door, though you heard nothing.

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:20-noticing-like-a-cat:t4:1
# text = Your dog barks at the front door, though you heard nothing.
1	Your	your	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Person=2|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	2	nmod:poss	_	_
2	dog	dog	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	barks	bark	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	at	at	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
6	front	front	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
7	door	door	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	11	punct	_	_
9	though	though	SCONJ	IN	_	11	mark	_	_
10	you	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Person=2|PronType=Prs	11	nsubj	_	_
11	heard	hear	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=2|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	parataxis	_	_
12	nothing	nothing	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Neg	11	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **bark** | present | Your dog |  |  |  |  | at the front door | vn animal\_sounds-38 «NP V PP.stimulus»: agent=Agent at door=Stimulus |
| 2 | **hear** | past | you | nothing |  |  |  |  | vn see-30.1-1-1 «NP V S»: agent=Experiencer nothing=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.

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 2:* What is the best explanation?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:20-noticing-like-a-cat:t4:2
# text = What is the best explanation?
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	0	root	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	1	cop	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	best	good	ADJ	JJS	Degree=Sup	5	amod	_	_
5	explanation	explanation	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | the best explanation |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 · ✓ the right answer {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The dog heard or smelled something you could not

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:20-noticing-like-a-cat:t4:o1:1
# text = The dog heard or smelled something you could not
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	dog	dog	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	_
3	heard	hear	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	6	amod	_	_
4	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	5	cc	_	_
5	smelled	smell	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	3	conj	_	_
6	something	something	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Ind	0	root	_	_
7	you	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Person=2|PronType=Prs	8	nsubj	_	_
8	could	could	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	6	acl:relcl	_	_
9	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	8	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **hear** | participle |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn see-30.1-1-1 «NP V PP.stimulus»: agent=Experiencer |
| 2 | **smell** | participle |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn smell\_emission-43.3 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

### Option 2 · ← Mova's choice {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The dog can see right through the door with its sharp eyes

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:20-noticing-like-a-cat:t4:o2:1
# text = The dog can see right through the door with its sharp eyes
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	dog	dog	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
3	can	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
4	see	see	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
5	right	right	ADV	RB	_	8	advmod	_	_
6	through	through	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	door	door	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obj	_	_
9	with	with	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
10	its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	12	nmod:poss	_	_
11	sharp	sharp	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	12	amod	_	_
12	eyes	eye	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **see** | can | the dog | the door |  |  |  | with dog's sharp eyes | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer door=Stimulus |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The dog is barking at nothing at all

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:20-noticing-like-a-cat:t4:o3:1
# text = The dog is barking at nothing at all
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	dog	dog	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
3	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
4	barking	bark	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
5	at	at	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	nothing	nothing	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Neg	4	obl	_	_
7	at	at	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
8	all	all	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	4	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **bark** | present · progressive | the dog |  |  |  |  | at all; at nothing | vn animal\_sounds-38 «NP V PP.stimulus»: agent=Agent at nothing=Stimulus |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The dog is able to predict the future

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:20-noticing-like-a-cat:t4:o4:1
# text = The dog is able to predict the future
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	dog	dog	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
3	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
4	able	able	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
5	to	to	PART	TO	_	6	mark	_	_
6	predict	predict	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	xcomp	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	future	future	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | the dog |  |  |  |  | able *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **predict** | to-infinitive | the dog *not said here* | the future |  |  |  |  | vn indicate-78 «NP V NP»: agent=Pivot future=Topic |

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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: [Thinking about noticing, test 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/everyday/20-noticing-like-a-cat/t3/)
- next →: [Thinking about noticing, test 5](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/everyday/20-noticing-like-a-cat/t5/)
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