---
title: Max, a dog in Texas, is lying very still with his ears back and his… — Reading a dog's body language · tree and pragmatics
description: Max, a dog in Texas, is lying very still with his ears back and his tail tucked under. What is Max saying? Test 1 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 wa
---

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# Test 1 · Reading a dog's body language

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Max, a dog in Texas, is lying very still with his ears back and his tail tucked under. What is Max saying?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 2 · **The right answer:** option 2 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** Max · **What happens:** lie, tuck, say · **To what, where:** tail · **Speech:** someone speaks here

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This is test 1 of lesson 21 «Reading a dog's body language» 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/21-reading-a-dog/#t1).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* Max, a dog in Texas, is lying very still with his ears back and his tail tucked under.

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:21-reading-a-dog:t1:1
# text = Max, a dog in Texas, is lying very still with his ears back and his tail tucked under.
1	Max	Max	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	9	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	4	punct	_	_
3	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	dog	dog	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	appos	_	_
5	in	in	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	Texas	Texas	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	4	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	1	punct	_	_
8	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	9	aux	_	_
9	lying	lie	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
10	very	very	ADV	RB	_	11	advmod	_	_
11	still	still	ADV	RB	_	9	advmod	_	_
12	with	with	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
13	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	14	nmod:poss	_	_
14	ears	ear	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	9	obl	_	_
15	back	back	ADV	RB	_	14	advmod	_	_
16	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	18	cc	_	_
17	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	18	nmod:poss	_	_
18	tail	tail	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	conj	_	_
19	tucked	tuck	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	18	acl	_	_
20	under	under	ADP	IN	_	19	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
21	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	9	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **lie** | present · progressive | Max |  |  |  | still | with Max's ears and Max's tail | vn assuming\_position-50 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **tuck** | participle |  | Max's tail *not said here* |  |  |  |  | vn funnel-9.3-1 «NP V NP PP.destination»: agent=Agent |

<!-- .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 Max saying?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:21-reading-a-dog:t1:2
# text = What is Max saying?
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	4	obj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
3	Max	Max	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
4	saying	say	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **say** *speech: assert* | present · progressive | Max |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V NP.topic»: agent=Agent what=Topic |

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
I am happy to see you

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:21-reading-a-dog:t1:o1:1
# text = I am happy to see you
1	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	am	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	cop	_	_
3	happy	happy	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
4	to	to	PART	TO	_	5	mark	_	_
5	see	see	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	xcomp	_	_
6	you	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Person=2|PronType=Prs	5	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | I |  |  |  |  | happy *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **see** | to-infinitive | I *not said here* | you |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer you=Stimulus |

### Option 2 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
I am scared, leave me alone

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:21-reading-a-dog:t1:o2:1
# text = I am scared, leave me alone
1	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	am	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	cop	_	_
3	scared	scared	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	5	punct	_	_
5	leave	leave	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	parataxis	_	_
6	me	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	5	obj	_	_
7	alone	alone	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | I |  |  |  |  | scared *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **leave** | infinitive |  | me |  |  |  | alone *property* | vn keep-15.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent i=Theme |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Please give me a big hug

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:21-reading-a-dog:t1:o3:1
# text = Please give me a big hug
1	Please	please	INTJ	UH	_	2	discourse	_	_
2	give	give	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	me	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	2	iobj	_	_
4	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
5	big	big	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	hug	hug	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **give** | imperative | you *not said here* | a big hug | me |  |  |  | vn give-13.1-1 «NP V NP-Dative NP»: agent=Agent i=Recipient hug=Theme |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Come and play with me now

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:21-reading-a-dog:t1:o4:1
# text = Come and play with me now
1	Come	come	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	3	cc	_	_
3	play	play	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	1	conj	_	_
4	with	with	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	me	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	3	obl	_	_
6	now	now	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	1	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **come** | imperative | you *not said here* |  |  |  | now |  | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 2 | **play** | infinitive | you *not said here* |  |  |  |  | with me | vn play-114.2-1 «NP V PP.co-agent»: agent=Agent with i=Co-Agent |

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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, exam 4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/everyday/20-noticing-like-a-cat/e4/)
- next →: [Reading a dog's body language, test 2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/everyday/21-reading-a-dog/t2/)
- ↑ back to [Reading a dog's body language](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/everyday/21-reading-a-dog/)