---
title: Why is it useful to watch a dog's whole body, not just its tail? — Reading a dog's body language · tree and pragmatics
description: Why is it useful to watch a dog's whole body, not just its tail? Test 8 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 wrong.
---

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# Test 8 · Reading a dog's body language

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Why is it useful to watch a dog's whole body, not just its tail?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 4 · **The right answer:** option 1 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** it · **What happens:** be, watch · **To what, where:** whole body

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 8 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/#t8).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:21-reading-a-dog:t8:1
# text = Why is it useful to watch a dog's whole body, not just its tail?
1	Why	why	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	4	advmod	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
3	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
4	useful	useful	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
5	to	to	PART	TO	_	6	mark	_	_
6	watch	watch	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	advcl	_	_
7	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	dog	dog	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	's	's	PART	POS	_	8	case	_	_
10	whole	whole	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	11	amod	_	_
11	body	body	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	16	punct	_	_
13	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	16	advmod	_	_
14	just	just	ADV	RB	_	16	advmod	_	_
15	its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	16	nmod:poss	_	_
16	tail	tail	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | it |  |  |  |  | useful *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **watch** | to-infinitive |  | a dog's whole body and dog's tail |  |  |  |  | vn assessment-34.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent body=Theme |

<!-- .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 -->
The tail alone can fool you about its mood

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:21-reading-a-dog:t8:o1:1
# text = The tail alone can fool you about its mood
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	tail	tail	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
3	alone	alone	ADV	RB	_	2	advmod	_	_
4	can	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	5	aux	_	_
5	fool	fool	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
6	you	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Person=2|PronType=Prs	5	obj	_	_
7	about	about	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	9	nmod:poss	_	_
9	mood	mood	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **fool** | can | the tail | you |  |  |  | about tail's mood | vn trick-59.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent you=Patient |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The body never changes when a dog feels scared

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:21-reading-a-dog:t8:o2:1
# text = The body never changes when a dog feels scared
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	body	body	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
3	never	never	ADV	RB	PronType=Neg	4	advmod	_	_
4	changes	change	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	when	when	SCONJ	WRB	_	8	mark	_	_
6	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	dog	dog	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nsubj	_	_
8	feels	feel	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	ccomp	_	_
9	scared	scared	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	xcomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **change** | present | the body |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **feel** | present | a dog |  |  |  |  | scared *property* | vn stimulus\_subject-30.4 «NP V ADJ»: agent=Stimulus |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Only the tail ever shows a dog's mood

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:21-reading-a-dog:t8:o3:1
# text = Only the tail ever shows a dog's mood
1	Only	only	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	tail	tail	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
4	ever	ever	ADV	RB	PronType=Ind	5	advmod	_	_
5	shows	show	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
6	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	dog	dog	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	's	's	PART	POS	_	7	case	_	_
9	mood	mood	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **show** | present | the tail | a dog's mood |  |  | ever |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP.recipient»: agent=Agent mood=Recipient |

### Option 4 · ← Mova's choice {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Dogs keep their tails still when they are angry

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:21-reading-a-dog:t8:o4:1
# text = Dogs keep their tails still when they are angry
1	Dogs	dog	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nsubj	_	_
2	keep	keep	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	4	nmod:poss	_	_
4	tails	tail	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obj	_	_
5	still	still	ADV	RB	_	2	advmod	_	_
6	when	when	SCONJ	WRB	_	9	mark	_	_
7	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	9	nsubj	_	_
8	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	9	cop	_	_
9	angry	angry	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	advcl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **keep** | present | Dogs | Dogs's tails |  |  | still |  | vn keep-15.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent tail=Theme |
| 2 | **is** | present | Dogs *= dog* |  |  |  |  | angry *property* | tree rules |

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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.

<!-- /div -->

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- ← previous: [Reading a dog's body language, test 7](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/everyday/21-reading-a-dog/t7/)
- next →: [Reading a dog's body language, test 9](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/everyday/21-reading-a-dog/t9/)
- ↑ back to [Reading a dog's body language](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/everyday/21-reading-a-dog/)