---
title: Connor: «my uncle says u stare it down, show it who's boss». Who's r… — The bulldog next door who never likes… · tree and pragmatics
description: Connor: «my uncle says u stare it down, show it who's boss». Who's right, Connor or Sam's dad? Test 3 · ★★ of lesson 456 «The bulldog next door who never likes you» of the everyday course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each option; Mova's cho
---

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# Test 3 · ★★ · The bulldog next door who never likes you

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Connor: «my uncle says u stare it down, show it who's boss». Who's right, Connor or Sam's dad?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 4 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** Connor · **What happens:** say, stare down, show, be · **To what, where:** it, boss · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 3 · ★★ of lesson 456 «The bulldog next door who never likes you» 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/456-the-bulldog-next-door-who-never-likes-you/#t3).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* Connor: «my uncle says u stare it down, show it who's boss».

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:456-the-bulldog-next-door-who-never-likes-you:t3:1
# text = Connor: «my uncle says u stare it down, show it who's boss».
1	Connor	Connor	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	:	:	PUNCT	:	_	6	punct	_	_
3	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	6	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	my	my	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Sing|Person=1|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	5	nmod:poss	_	_
5	uncle	uncle	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	_
6	says	say	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
7	u	u	PART	TO	_	8	mark	_	_
8	stare	stare	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	6	xcomp	_	_
9	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	8	obj	_	_
10	down	down	ADP	RP	_	8	compound:prt	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	12	punct	_	_
12	show	show	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	6	advcl	_	_
13	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	12	obj	_	_
14	who	who	PRON	WP	PronType=Rel	16	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	's	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	16	cop	_	_
16	boss	boss	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	ccomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	16	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
18	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	6	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **say** *speech: assert* *in a quote* | present | Connor |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 2 | **stare down** *in a quote* | infinitive | Connor *not said here* | it |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 3 | **show** *in a quote* | infinitive | Connor *not said here* | it |  |  |  |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP.recipient»: agent=Agent it=Recipient |
| 4 | **is a** *in a quote* | present |  | boss |  |  |  |  | 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:* Who's right, Connor or Sam's dad?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:456-the-bulldog-next-door-who-never-likes-you:t3:2
# text = Who's right, Connor or Sam's dad?
1	Who	who	PRON	WP	PronType=Rel	3	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	's	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	cop	_	_
3	right	right	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	5	punct	_	_
5	Connor	Connor	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
6	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	9	cc	_	_
7	Sam	Sam	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	9	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	's	's	PART	POS	_	7	case	_	_
9	dad	dad	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present |  |  |  |  |  | Connor or Sam's dad *obl*; right *property* | tree rules |

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 · ← Mova's choice {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Connor: stare it down hard till it backs off

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:456-the-bulldog-next-door-who-never-likes-you:t3:o1:1
# text = Connor: stare it down hard till it backs off
1	Connor	Connor	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	:	:	PUNCT	:	_	3	punct	_	_
3	stare	stare	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	obj	_	_
5	down	down	ADP	RP	_	3	compound:prt	_	_
6	hard	hard	ADV	RB	Degree=Pos	3	advmod	_	_
7	till	till	SCONJ	IN	_	9	mark	_	_
8	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	9	nsubj	_	_
9	backs	back	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	advcl	_	_
10	off	off	ADP	RP	_	9	compound:prt	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **stare down** | infinitive | Connor | it |  |  |  | hard *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **back off** | present | it |  |  |  |  |  | vn withdraw-82-2 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Neither, lie flat and scream

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:456-the-bulldog-next-door-who-never-likes-you:t3:o2:1
# text = Neither, lie flat and scream
1	Neither	neither	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	1	punct	_	_
3	lie	lie	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	flat	flat	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	_
5	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	6	cc	_	_
6	scream	scream	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	3	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **lie** | imperative | you *not said here* |  |  |  |  | flat, neither *property* | vn assuming\_position-50 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **scream** *speech: express* | infinitive | you *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn manner\_speaking-37.3 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Both, stare then run

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:456-the-bulldog-next-door-who-never-likes-you:t3:o3:1
# text = Both, stare then run
1	Both	both	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	3	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	1	punct	_	_
3	stare	stare	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
4	then	then	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	5	advmod	_	_
5	run	run	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	xcomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **stare** | infinitive | Both |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **run** | infinitive | Both *not said here* |  |  |  | then |  | vn run-51.3.2-2-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

### Option 4 · ✓ the right answer {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Sam's dad: stand still and look away

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:456-the-bulldog-next-door-who-never-likes-you:t3:o4:1
# text = Sam's dad: stand still and look away
1	Sam	Sam	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	3	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	's	's	PART	POS	_	1	case	_	_
3	dad	dad	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	:	:	PUNCT	:	_	5	punct	_	_
5	stand	stand	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	3	parataxis	_	_
6	still	still	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
7	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	8	cc	_	_
8	look	look	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	5	conj	_	_
9	away	away	ADV	RB	_	8	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **stand** | infinitive |  |  |  |  | still |  | vn assuming\_position-50 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **look away** | infinitive |  |  |  |  |  | away *property* | vn stimulus\_subject-30.4 «NP V PP.attribute»: agent=Stimulus |

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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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