--- title: Ruby says cats only scratch when they're mean. right? — Understanding cats · tree and pragmatics description: Ruby says cats only scratch when they're mean. right? Test 16 of lesson 23 «Understanding cats» 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. --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/everyday/23-understanding-cats/t16/) [home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/) / [questions](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/) / [Everyday](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/everyday/) / [Understanding cats](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/everyday/23-understanding-cats/) / t16 # Test 16 · Understanding cats Ruby says cats only scratch when they're mean. right? **Mova's choice:** option 2 · **The right answer:** option 2 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** Ruby, cats · **What happens:** say, scratch, be · **Speech:** someone speaks here This is test 16 of lesson 23 «Understanding cats» 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/23-understanding-cats/#t16). ## The question {#question} ```conllu # sent_id = question:everyday:23-understanding-cats:t16:1 # text = Ruby says cats only scratch when they're mean. right? 1 Ruby Ruby PROPN NNP Number=Sing 2 nsubj _ _ 2 says say VERB VBZ Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 0 root _ _ 3 cats cat NOUN NNS Number=Plur 5 nsubj _ _ 4 only only ADV RB _ 5 advmod _ _ 5 scratch scratch VERB VBP Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 2 ccomp _ _ 6 when when SCONJ WRB _ 9 mark _ _ 7 they they PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs 9 nsubj _ SpaceAfter=No 8 're be AUX VBP Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 9 cop _ _ 9 mean mean ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 5 advcl _ SpaceAfter=No 10 . . PUNCT . _ 2 punct _ _ 11 right right INTJ UH _ 2 discourse _ SpaceAfter=No 12 ? ? PUNCT . _ 2 punct _ _ ``` | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **say** *speech: assert* | present | Ruby | | | | | | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic | | 2 | **scratch** | present | cats | | | | | | vn scribble-25.2-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent | | 3 | **is** | present | cats *= cat* | | | | | mean *property* | tree rules | 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} Yes, only street cats scratch ```conllu # sent_id = question:everyday:23-understanding-cats:t16:o1:1 # text = Yes, only street cats scratch 1 Yes yes INTJ UH Polarity=Pos 6 discourse _ SpaceAfter=No 2 , , PUNCT , _ 1 punct _ _ 3 only only ADV RB _ 4 advmod _ _ 4 street street NOUN NN Number=Sing 5 compound _ _ 5 cats cat NOUN NNS Number=Plur 6 nsubj _ _ 6 scratch scratch VERB VBP Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 0 root _ _ ``` | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **scratch** | present | street cats | | | | | | vn scribble-25.2-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent | ### Option 2 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer {#o2} No, cats scratch when scared, hurt or handled too much ```conllu # sent_id = question:everyday:23-understanding-cats:t16:o2:1 # text = No, cats scratch when scared, hurt or handled too much 1 No no INTJ UH Polarity=Neg 4 discourse _ SpaceAfter=No 2 , , PUNCT , _ 1 punct _ _ 3 cats cat NOUN NNS Number=Plur 4 nsubj _ _ 4 scratch scratch VERB VBP Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 0 root _ _ 5 when when SCONJ WRB _ 6 mark _ _ 6 scared scared ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 4 advcl _ SpaceAfter=No 7 , , PUNCT , _ 8 punct _ _ 8 hurt hurt VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass 4 conj _ _ 9 or or CCONJ CC _ 10 cc _ _ 10 handled handle VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass 8 conj _ _ 11 too too ADV RB _ 12 advmod _ _ 12 much much ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 10 obj _ _ ``` | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **scratch** | present | cats | | | | | | vn scribble-25.2-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent | | 2 | **hurt** | participle | cats *not said here* | | | | | | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V ADV-Middle»: agent=Experiencer | | 3 | **handle** | participle | cats *not said here* | much | | | | | vn hold-15.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent much=Theme | ### Option 3 {#o3} Yes, unless they are kittens ```conllu # sent_id = question:everyday:23-understanding-cats:t16:o3:1 # text = Yes, unless they are kittens 1 Yes yes INTJ UH Polarity=Pos 6 discourse _ SpaceAfter=No 2 , , PUNCT , _ 1 punct _ _ 3 unless unless SCONJ IN _ 6 case _ _ 4 they they PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs 6 nsubj _ _ 5 are be AUX VBP Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 6 cop _ _ 6 kittens kitten NOUN NNS Number=Plur 0 root _ _ ``` | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **is** | present | they | | | | | unless kittens | tree rules | ### Option 4 {#o4} Yes, nice cats never scratch anyone, only mean ones do ```conllu # sent_id = question:everyday:23-understanding-cats:t16:o4:1 # text = Yes, nice cats never scratch anyone, only mean ones do 1 Yes yes INTJ UH Polarity=Pos 3 discourse _ SpaceAfter=No 2 , , PUNCT , _ 1 punct _ _ 3 nice nice ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 4 amod _ _ 4 cats cat NOUN NNS Number=Plur 6 nsubj _ _ 5 never never ADV RB PronType=Neg 6 advmod _ _ 6 scratch scratch VERB VBP Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 0 root _ _ 7 anyone anyone PRON NN Number=Sing|PronType=Ind 6 obj _ SpaceAfter=No 8 , , PUNCT , _ 12 punct _ _ 9 only only ADV RB _ 11 advmod _ _ 10 mean mean ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 11 amod _ _ 11 ones one NOUN NNS Number=Plur 12 nsubj _ _ 12 do do VERB VBP Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 6 conj _ _ ``` | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **not** **scratch** | present | nice cats | anyone | | | | | vn scribble-25.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent anyone=Theme | | 2 | **do** | present | mean ones | | | | | | vn act-114-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent | **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. - ← previous: [Understanding cats, test 15](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/everyday/23-understanding-cats/t15/) - next →: [Understanding cats, test 17](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/everyday/23-understanding-cats/t17/) - ↑ back to [Understanding cats](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/everyday/23-understanding-cats/)