---
title: «my new stepdad says the dog hates him». What's most likely true? — The cat that only likes Dad, and other… · tree and pragmatics
description: «my new stepdad says the dog hates him». What's most likely true? Test 6 · ★ of lesson 457 «The cat that only likes Dad, and other choosy pets» 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 6 · ★ · The cat that only likes Dad, and other choosy pets

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
«my new stepdad says the dog hates him». What's most likely true?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 2 · **The right answer:** option 2 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** new stepdad, dog · **What happens:** say, hate, be · **To what, where:** stepdad · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 6 · ★ of lesson 457 «The cat that only likes Dad, and other choosy pets» 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/457-the-cat-that-only-likes-dad-and-other-choosy-pets/#t6).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* «my new stepdad says the dog hates him».

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:457-the-cat-that-only-likes-dad-and-other-choosy-pets:t6:1
# text = «my new stepdad says the dog hates him».
1	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	5	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	my	my	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Sing|Person=1|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	4	nmod:poss	_	_
3	new	new	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	amod	_	_
4	stepdad	stepdad	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
5	says	say	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	dog	dog	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nsubj	_	_
8	hates	hate	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	ccomp	_	_
9	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	8	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	8	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **say** *speech: assert* *in a quote* | present | my new stepdad |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 2 | **hate** *in a quote* | present | the dog | stepdad |  |  |  |  | vn admire-31.2-1 «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's most likely true?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:457-the-cat-that-only-likes-dad-and-other-choosy-pets:t6:2
# text = What's most likely true?
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	5	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	's	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
3	most	most	ADV	RBS	Degree=Sup	4	advmod	_	_
4	likely	likely	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
5	true	true	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

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

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The stepdad should get rid of it

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:457-the-cat-that-only-likes-dad-and-other-choosy-pets:t6:o1:1
# text = The stepdad should get rid of it
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	stepdad	stepdad	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
3	should	should	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
4	get	get	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
5	rid	rid	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	xcomp	_	_
6	of	of	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	5	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **get** | should | the stepdad |  |  |  |  | rid *property* | vn comprehend-87.2-1 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Experiencer |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The dog needs time to get used to him

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:457-the-cat-that-only-likes-dad-and-other-choosy-pets:t6:o2:1
# text = The dog needs time to get used to him
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	dog	dog	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	needs	need	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	time	time	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
5	to	to	PART	TO	_	7	mark	_	_
6	get	get	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	7	aux:pass	_	_
7	used	use	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	4	acl	_	_
8	to	to	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
9	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	7	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **need** | present | the dog |  |  |  | time |  | vn want-32.1-1-1 «NP V NP S\_INF»: agent=Pivot |
| 2 | **use** | to-infinitive · passive | the dog *not said here* |  | dog |  |  |  | vn eat-39.1 «NP V» |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Dogs know who they hate from birth

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:457-the-cat-that-only-likes-dad-and-other-choosy-pets:t6:o3:1
# text = Dogs know who they hate from birth
1	Dogs	dog	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nsubj	_	_
2	know	know	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	who	who	PRON	WP	PronType=Rel	5	nsubj	_	_
4	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	5	nsubj	_	_
5	hate	hate	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	2	ccomp	_	_
6	from	from	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	birth	birth	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **know** | present | Dogs |  |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1-1 «NP V how S\_INF»: agent=Experiencer clause=Stimulus |
| 2 | **hate** | present |  |  |  | birth |  |  | vn admire-31.2-1 «NP V S\_INF»: agent=Experiencer |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The dog will never change its mind about him

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:457-the-cat-that-only-likes-dad-and-other-choosy-pets:t6:o4:1
# text = The dog will never change its mind about him
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	dog	dog	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
3	will	will	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	5	aux	_	_
4	never	never	ADV	RB	PronType=Neg	5	advmod	_	_
5	change	change	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
6	its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	7	nmod:poss	_	_
7	mind	mind	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obj	_	_
8	about	about	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
9	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	5	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **change** | future | the dog | dog's mind |  |  |  | about him *= he* | vn dress-41.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent mind=Patient |
| 2 | **mind** |  | dog |  |  |  |  |  | nom mind «cognition transitive»: poss=agent |

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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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