---
title: Mum, sweeping soil: «The cat's been asleep on my bed all morning». W… — Putting the blame on someone else · tree and pragmatics
description: Mum, sweeping soil: «The cat's been asleep on my bed all morning». What does that tell the girl? Test 10 of lesson 344 «Putting the blame on someone else» 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 ri
---

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# Test 10 · Putting the blame on someone else

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Mum, sweeping soil: «The cat's been asleep on my bed all morning». What does that tell the girl?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 2 · **The right answer:** option 2 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** cat, that · **What happens:** be, tell · **To what, where:** bed, girl · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 10 of lesson 344 «Putting the blame on someone else» 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/344-putting-the-blame-on-someone-else/#t10).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* Mum, sweeping soil: «The cat's been asleep on my bed all morning».

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:344-putting-the-blame-on-someone-else:t10:1
# text = Mum, sweeping soil: «The cat's been asleep on my bed all morning».
1	Mum	mum	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	4	punct	_	_
3	sweeping	sweeping	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	amod	_	_
4	soil	soil	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	:	:	PUNCT	:	_	11	punct	_	_
6	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	11	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	cat	cat	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	's	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	11	cop	_	_
10	been	be	AUX	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	11	cop	_	_
11	asleep	asleep	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	1	parataxis	_	_
12	on	on	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
13	my	my	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Sing|Person=1|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	14	nmod:poss	_	_
14	bed	bed	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	obl	_	_
15	all	all	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	16	det	_	_
16	morning	morning	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	obl:unmarked	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	11	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
18	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** *in a quote* | present | the cat |  |  | my bed | morning | asleep *property* | tree rules |

<!-- .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 does that tell the girl?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:344-putting-the-blame-on-someone-else:t10:2
# text = What does that tell the girl?
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	4	obj	_	_
2	does	do	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
3	that	that	PRON	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	4	nsubj	_	_
4	tell	tell	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	girl	girl	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **tell** *speech: assert* | present · do-support | that |  | the girl |  |  |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP-Dative NP»: agent=Agent what=Recipient girl=Topic |

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The cat can sleepwalk and knock plants over in the night

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:344-putting-the-blame-on-someone-else:t10:o1:1
# text = The cat can sleepwalk and knock plants over in the night
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	cat	cat	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
3	can	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
4	sleepwalk	sleepwalk	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
5	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	6	cc	_	_
6	knock	knock	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	conj	_	_
7	plants	plant	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	obj	_	_
8	over	over	ADV	RB	_	6	compound:prt	_	_
9	in	in	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
10	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	night	night	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **sleepwalk** | can | the cat |  |  |  |  |  | vn run-51.3.2 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 2 | **knock over** | infinitive | the cat *not said here* | plants |  |  | night |  | vn split-23.2 «NP V NP apart»: agent=Agent plant=Patient |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Her blame on the cat didn't work; owning up is best

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:344-putting-the-blame-on-someone-else:t10:o2:1
# text = Her blame on the cat didn't work; owning up is best
1	Her	her	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	2	nmod:poss	_	_
2	blame	blame	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nsubj	_	_
3	on	on	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	cat	cat	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	_
6	did	do	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	8	aux	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	n't	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	8	advmod	_	_
8	work	work	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	;	;	PUNCT	:	_	13	punct	_	_
10	owning	own	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	13	csubj	_	_
11	up	up	ADP	RP	_	10	compound:prt	_	_
12	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	13	cop	_	_
13	best	good	ADJ	JJS	Degree=Sup	8	parataxis	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **work** | past · do-support | Her blame on the cat |  |  |  |  |  | vn employment-95.3 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **own up** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn own-100.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Pivot |
| 3 | **is** | present | owning |  |  |  |  | good *property* | tree rules |
| 4 | **blame** |  | Her *= she* |  |  |  |  | on the cat | nom blame «communication transitive»: poss=agent on=obl |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Mum is guessing

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:344-putting-the-blame-on-someone-else:t10:o3:1
# text = Mum is guessing
1	Mum	mum	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux	_	_
3	guessing	guess	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **guess** | present · progressive | Mum |  |  |  |  |  | vn conjecture-29.5-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The plant fell by itself

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:344-putting-the-blame-on-someone-else:t10:o4:1
# text = The plant fell by itself
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	plant	plant	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	fell	fall	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	by	by	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	itself	itself	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs|Reflex=Yes	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **fall** | past | the plant |  |  |  |  | by plant | vn occur-48.3 «NP V PP»: agent=Theme by itself=Location |

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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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