---
title: Jack strokes his cat on the head. Its tail begins to swish and its e… — Understanding cats · tree and pragmatics
description: Jack strokes his cat on the head. Its tail begins to swish and its ears turn back. What has the cat decided? Test 4 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.
---

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# Test 4 · Understanding cats

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Jack strokes his cat on the head. Its tail begins to swish and its ears turn back. What has the cat decided?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 2 · **The right answer:** option 2 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** Jack, tail, ears · **What happens:** stroke, begin, swish, turn back, have, decide · **To what, where:** cat

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 4 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/#t4).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* Jack strokes his cat on the head.

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:23-understanding-cats:t4:1
# text = Jack strokes his cat on the head.
1	Jack	Jack	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	2	nsubj	_	_
2	strokes	stroke	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	4	nmod:poss	_	_
4	cat	cat	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
5	on	on	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	head	head	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **stroke** | present | Jack | Jack's cat |  |  |  | on the head | vn touch-20-1 «NP V NP PP.theme PP.instrument»: agent=Agent cat=Experiencer on head=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.

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 2:* Its tail begins to swish and its ears turn back.

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:23-understanding-cats:t4:2
# text = Its tail begins to swish and its ears turn back.
1	Its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	2	nmod:poss	_	_
2	tail	tail	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	begins	begin	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	to	to	PART	TO	_	5	mark	_	_
5	swish	swish	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	xcomp	_	_
6	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	9	cc	_	_
7	its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	8	nmod:poss	_	_
8	ears	ear	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	9	nsubj	_	_
9	turn	turn	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	conj	_	_
10	back	back	ADV	RB	_	9	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **begin** | present | head's tail |  |  |  |  |  | vn begin-55.1-1-1 «NP V S\_INF»: agent=Agent clause=Eventuality |
| 2 | **swish** | to-infinitive | head's tail *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn sound\_emission-43.2 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 3 | **turn back** | present | head's ears |  |  |  |  |  | vn banish-10.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent |

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 3:* What has the cat decided?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:23-understanding-cats:t4:3
# text = What has the cat decided?
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	2	nsubj	_	_
2	has	have	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	cat	cat	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
5	decided	decide	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	4	acl	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **have** | present |  | the cat |  |  |  |  | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent cat=Patient |
| 2 | **decide** | participle |  | the cat *not said here* |  |  |  |  | vn correspond-36.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It wants more strokes, and harder ones too

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:23-understanding-cats:t4:o1:1
# text = It wants more strokes, and harder ones too
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	wants	want	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	more	more	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	4	amod	_	_
4	strokes	stroke	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	8	punct	_	_
6	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	8	cc	_	_
7	harder	hard	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	8	amod	_	_
8	ones	one	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	parataxis	_	_
9	too	too	ADV	RB	_	2	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **want** | present | It | more strokes |  |  |  |  | vn want-32.1-1-1 «NP V NP ADV»: agent=Pivot stroke=Theme |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It has had enough and wants him to stop

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:23-understanding-cats:t4:o2:1
# text = It has had enough and wants him to stop
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	has	have	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux	_	_
3	had	have	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
4	enough	enough	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	_
5	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	6	cc	_	_
6	wants	want	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	conj	_	_
7	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	6	obj	_	_
8	to	to	PART	TO	_	9	mark	_	_
9	stop	stop	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	6	xcomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **have** | present · perfect | It |  |  |  |  | enough *property* | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **want** | present |  | him *= he* |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 3 | **stop** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive | him *= he* *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn stop-55.4-1-1 «NP.eventuality V»: agent=Eventuality |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It wants to be picked up

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:23-understanding-cats:t4:o3:1
# text = It wants to be picked up
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	wants	want	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	to	to	PART	TO	_	5	mark	_	_
4	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	aux:pass	_	_
5	picked	pick	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	2	xcomp	_	_
6	up	up	ADP	RP	_	5	compound:prt	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **want** | present | It |  |  |  |  |  | vn want-32.1-1-1 «NP V NP S\_INF»: agent=Pivot clause=Theme |
| 2 | **pick up** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive · passive |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn discover-84-1 «NP V PP.topic S\_ING» |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It is falling asleep happily

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:23-understanding-cats:t4:o4:1
# text = It is falling asleep happily
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux	_	_
3	falling	fall	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
4	asleep	asleep	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	xcomp	_	_
5	happily	happily	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **fall** | present · progressive | It |  |  |  |  | asleep, happily *property* | vn occur-48.3 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

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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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