---
title: In a cartoon a boy says the dog ate it, and the teacher believes him… — «The dog ate it»: excuses for homework · tree and pragmatics
description: In a cartoon a boy says the dog ate it, and the teacher believes him. What is closer to real life? Test 11 · ★ of lesson 426 ««The dog ate it»: excuses for homework» of the everyday course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each option; Mova's ch
---

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# Test 11 · ★ · «The dog ate it»: excuses for homework

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
In a cartoon a boy says the dog ate it, and the teacher believes him. What is closer to real life?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 2 · **The right answer:** option 3 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** boy, dog, teacher · **What happens:** say, eat, believe, be · **To what, where:** cartoon, dog · **Speech:** someone speaks here

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This is test 11 · ★ of lesson 426 ««The dog ate it»: excuses for homework» 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/426-the-dog-ate-it-excuses-for-homework/#t11).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* In a cartoon a boy says the dog ate it, and the teacher believes him.

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:426-the-dog-ate-it-excuses-for-homework:t11:1
# text = In a cartoon a boy says the dog ate it, and the teacher believes him.
1	In	in	ADP	IN	_	3	case	_	_
2	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	cartoon	cartoon	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obl	_	_
4	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	boy	boy	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	_
6	says	say	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	dog	dog	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	nsubj	_	_
9	ate	eat	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	6	ccomp	_	_
10	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	9	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	15	punct	_	_
12	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	15	cc	_	_
13	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	14	det	_	_
14	teacher	teacher	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	15	nsubj	_	_
15	believes	believe	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	conj	_	_
16	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	15	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	6	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **say** *speech: assert* | present | a boy |  |  | a cartoon |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 2 | **eat** | past | the dog | cartoon |  |  |  |  | vn eat-39.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent it=Patient |
| 3 | **believe** | present | the teacher | dog |  |  |  |  | vn admire-31.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer he=Stimulus |

<!-- .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 closer to real life?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:426-the-dog-ate-it-excuses-for-homework:t11:2
# text = What is closer to real life?
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	3	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	cop	_	_
3	closer	close	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	0	root	_	_
4	to	to	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	real	real	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	life	life	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present |  |  |  |  |  | to real life; close *property* | tree rules |

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Teachers always believe stories about dogs

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:426-the-dog-ate-it-excuses-for-homework:t11:o1:1
# text = Teachers always believe stories about dogs
1	Teachers	teacher	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj	_	_
2	always	always	ADV	RB	PronType=Tot	3	advmod	_	_
3	believe	believe	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	stories	story	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obj	_	_
5	about	about	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	dogs	dog	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **believe** | present | Teachers | stories |  |  |  | about dogs; always *property* | vn admire-31.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer story=Stimulus |

### Option 2 · ← Mova's choice {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The teacher would give him a dog

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:426-the-dog-ate-it-excuses-for-homework:t11:o2:1
# text = The teacher would give him a dog
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	teacher	teacher	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
3	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
4	give	give	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
5	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	iobj	_	_
6	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	dog	dog	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **give** | would | the teacher | a dog | him *= he* |  |  |  | vn give-13.1-1 «NP V NP-Dative NP»: agent=Agent he=Recipient dog=Theme |

### Option 3 · ✓ the right answer {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Teachers have heard it so often it's a joke

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:426-the-dog-ate-it-excuses-for-homework:t11:o3:1
# text = Teachers have heard it so often it's a joke
1	Teachers	teacher	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj	_	_
2	have	have	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux	_	_
3	heard	hear	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
4	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	obj	_	_
5	so	so	ADV	RB	_	6	advmod	_	_
6	often	often	ADV	RB	_	10	advmod	_	_
7	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	10	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	's	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	10	cop	_	_
9	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	joke	joke	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **hear** | present · perfect | Teachers | it |  |  |  |  | vn see-30.1-1-1 «NP V S»: agent=Experiencer it=Stimulus |
| 2 | **is a** | present | it | a joke |  |  |  | often *property* | tree rules |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Dogs eat homework most days

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:426-the-dog-ate-it-excuses-for-homework:t11:o4:1
# text = Dogs eat homework most days
1	Dogs	dog	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nsubj	_	_
2	eat	eat	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	homework	homework	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
4	most	most	ADJ	JJS	Degree=Sup	5	amod	_	_
5	days	day	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obl:unmarked	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **eat** | present | Dogs | homework |  |  | day |  | vn eat-39.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent homework=Patient |

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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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- next →: [«The dog ate it»: excuses for homework, exam 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/everyday/426-the-dog-ate-it-excuses-for-homework/e1/)
- ↑ back to [«The dog ate it»: excuses for homework](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/everyday/426-the-dog-ate-it-excuses-for-homework/)