---
title: Identify the meaning ordinarily conveyed by a tail held tucked betwe… — Reading a dog's body language · tree and pragmatics
description: Identify the meaning ordinarily conveyed by a tail held tucked between the hind legs. Exam question 2 of lesson 21 «Reading a dog's body language» 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 right.
---

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# Exam question 2 · Reading a dog's body language

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Identify the meaning ordinarily conveyed by a tail held tucked between the hind legs.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 4 · **The right answer:** option 4 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** you · **What happens:** identify, convey, hold, tuck · **To what, where:** meaning, tail, hind legs

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 2 of lesson 21 «Reading a dog's body language» of the everyday course of Mova's primary school, asked in stiff, formal language. 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/21-reading-a-dog/#e2).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:21-reading-a-dog:e2:1
# text = Identify the meaning ordinarily conveyed by a tail held tucked between the hind legs.
1	Identify	identify	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	meaning	meaning	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
4	ordinarily	ordinarily	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
5	conveyed	convey	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	3	acl	_	_
6	by	by	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	tail	tail	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	_
9	held	hold	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	8	acl	_	_
10	tucked	tuck	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	9	xcomp	_	_
11	between	between	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
12	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	14	det	_	_
13	hind	hind	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	14	amod	_	_
14	legs	leg	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	10	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **identify** | imperative | you *not said here* | the meaning |  |  |  |  | vn characterize-29.2-1-1 «NP V NP S\_ING»: agent=Agent meaning=Theme |
| 2 | **convey** | participle |  | the meaning *not said here* |  |  |  | by a tail; ordinarily *property* | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **hold** | participle |  | a tail *not said here* |  |  |  |  | vn conjecture-29.5 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Theme |
| 4 | **tuck** | participle |  |  |  | the hind legs |  |  | vn funnel-9.3-1 «NP V NP PP.destination»: agent=Agent between leg=Destination |

<!-- .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 -->
That the dog is about to fetch a ball

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:21-reading-a-dog:e2:o1:1
# text = That the dog is about to fetch a ball
1	That	that	DET	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	3	det	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	dog	dog	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
4	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
5	about	about	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
6	to	to	PART	TO	_	7	mark	_	_
7	fetch	fetch	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	xcomp	_	_
8	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	ball	ball	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | that dog |  |  |  |  | about *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **fetch** | to-infinitive | that dog *not said here* | a ball |  |  |  |  | vn get-13.5.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent ball=Theme |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
That the dog is hungry

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:21-reading-a-dog:e2:o2:1
# text = That the dog is hungry
1	That	that	DET	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	3	det	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	dog	dog	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
4	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
5	hungry	hungry	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | that dog |  |  |  |  | hungry *property* | tree rules |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
That the dog is relaxed and friendly

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:21-reading-a-dog:e2:o3:1
# text = That the dog is relaxed and friendly
1	That	that	DET	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	3	det	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	dog	dog	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
4	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
5	relaxed	relaxed	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
6	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	7	cc	_	_
7	friendly	friendly	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | that dog |  |  |  |  | relaxed *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **be** |  | that dog *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

### Option 4 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
That the dog is frightened

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:21-reading-a-dog:e2:o4:1
# text = That the dog is frightened
1	That	that	DET	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	3	det	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	dog	dog	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj:pass	_	_
4	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	aux:pass	_	_
5	frightened	frighten	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **frighten** | present · passive |  | that dog |  |  |  |  | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V NP»: subject=Experiencer |

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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: [Reading a dog's body language, exam 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/everyday/21-reading-a-dog/e1/)
- next →: [Reading a dog's body language, exam 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/everyday/21-reading-a-dog/e3/)
- ↑ back to [Reading a dog's body language](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/everyday/21-reading-a-dog/)