---
title: heard a cat scratched a kid's face cos he kept stroking it while its… — Cats and dogs up close · tree and pragmatics
description: heard a cat scratched a kid's face cos he kept stroking it while its tail was going mad Test 17 · ★ of lesson 61 «Cats and dogs up close» 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 wrong.
---

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# Test 17 · ★ · Cats and dogs up close

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
heard a cat scratched a kid's face cos he kept stroking it while its tail was going mad

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 4 · **The right answer:** option 1 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** cat, tail · **What happens:** hear, scratch, keep, stroke, go · **To what, where:** face · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 17 · ★ of lesson 61 «Cats and dogs up close» 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/61-cats-and-dogs-up-close/#t17).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:61-cats-and-dogs-up-close:t17:1
# text = heard a cat scratched a kid's face cos he kept stroking it while its tail was going mad
1	heard	hear	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	cat	cat	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
4	scratched	scratch	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	1	ccomp	_	_
5	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	kid	kid	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	's	's	PART	POS	_	6	case	_	_
8	face	face	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
9	cos	cos	SCONJ	IN	_	11	mark	_	_
10	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	11	nsubj	_	_
11	kept	keep	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	1	advcl	_	_
12	stroking	stroke	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	11	xcomp	_	_
13	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	12	obj	_	_
14	while	while	SCONJ	IN	_	18	mark	_	_
15	its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	16	nmod:poss	_	_
16	tail	tail	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	18	nsubj	_	_
17	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	18	aux	_	_
18	going	go	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	12	advcl	_	_
19	mad	mad	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	18	xcomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **hear** | past |  | a kid's face |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **scratch** | past | a cat |  |  |  |  |  | vn scribble-25.2-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **keep** | past | cat |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 4 | **stroke** | gerund | cat *not said here* | face |  |  |  |  | vn touch-20-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent it=Theme |
| 5 | **go** | past · progressive | face's tail |  |  |  |  | mad *property* | vn disappearance-48.2-1 «NP V»: agent=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.

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 · ✓ the right answer {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Real lesson: a thumping tail means an annoyed cat, so stop

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:61-cats-and-dogs-up-close:t17:o1:1
# text = Real lesson: a thumping tail means an annoyed cat, so stop
1	Real	real	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	amod	_	_
2	lesson	lesson	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	:	:	PUNCT	:	_	7	punct	_	_
4	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
5	thumping	thump	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	6	amod	_	_
6	tail	tail	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nsubj	_	_
7	means	mean	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	2	parataxis	_	_
8	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
9	annoyed	annoyed	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	10	amod	_	_
10	cat	cat	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	13	punct	_	_
12	so	so	ADV	RB	_	13	advmod	_	_
13	stop	stop	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	2	parataxis	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **thump** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn bump-18.4-1 «NP V together»: agent=Theme |
| 2 | **mean** | present | a thumping tail | a annoyed cat |  |  |  |  | vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent cat=Topic |
| 3 | **stop** | infinitive |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn stop-55.4-1-1 «NP.eventuality V»: agent=Eventuality |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Real lesson: cats scratch for no reason

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:61-cats-and-dogs-up-close:t17:o2:1
# text = Real lesson: cats scratch for no reason
1	Real	real	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	amod	_	_
2	lesson	lesson	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	vocative	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	:	:	PUNCT	:	_	5	punct	_	_
4	cats	cat	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	nsubj	_	_
5	scratch	scratch	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
6	for	for	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	no	no	DET	DT	PronType=Neg	8	det	_	_
8	reason	reason	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **scratch** | present | cats |  |  |  |  | for no reason; Real lesson *vocative* | vn rummage-35.5 «NP V PP.location PP.theme»: agent=Agent for reason=Theme |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It is gossip, so tails mean nothing

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:61-cats-and-dogs-up-close:t17:o3:1
# text = It is gossip, so tails mean nothing
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	cop	_	_
3	gossip	gossip	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	7	punct	_	_
5	so	so	ADV	RB	_	7	advmod	_	_
6	tails	tail	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	nsubj	_	_
7	mean	mean	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	acl:relcl	_	_
8	nothing	nothing	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Neg	7	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | It | gossip |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **mean** | present | tails | nothing |  |  |  |  | vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent nothing=Topic |

### Option 4 · ← Mova's choice {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It proves cats only scratch boys

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:61-cats-and-dogs-up-close:t17:o4:1
# text = It proves cats only scratch boys
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	proves	prove	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	cats	cat	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obj	_	_
4	only	only	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
5	scratch	scratch	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=2|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	2	advcl	_	_
6	boys	boy	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **prove** | present | It | cats |  |  |  |  | vn deduce-97.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent cat=Theme |
| 2 | **scratch** | present |  | boys |  |  |  |  | vn scribble-25.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent boy=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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