---
title: Ascertain the purpose of the Water Rat's question «What's a little w… — Off with her head and the finest house… · tree and pragmatics
description: Ascertain the purpose of the Water Rat's question «What's a little wet to a Water Rat?», addressed to the Mole after the upsetting of the boat. Exam question 4 of lesson 54 «Off with her head and the finest house on the river: Alice and Toad» of the language course of Mova's primary school, with the
---

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# Exam question 4 · Off with her head and the finest house on the river: Alice…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Ascertain the purpose of the Water Rat's question «What's a little wet to a Water Rat?», addressed to the Mole after the upsetting of the boat.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 3 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** you, question, Water Rat · **What happens:** ascertain, be, address, purpose, question · **To what, where:** purpose, question · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 4 of lesson 54 «Off with her head and the finest house on the river: Alice and Toad» of the language course of Mova's primary school, asked in stiff, formal language. 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/language/54-off-with-her-head-and-the-finest-house-on-the-river-alice-and-toad/#e4).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:54-off-with-her-head-and-the-finest-house-on-the-river-alice-and-toad:e4:1
# text = Ascertain the purpose of the Water Rat's question «What's a little wet to a Water Rat?», addressed to the Mole after the upsetting of the boat.
1	Ascertain	ascertain	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	purpose	purpose	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
4	of	of	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
6	Water	Water	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	7	compound	_	_
7	Rat	Rat	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	9	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	's	's	PART	POS	_	7	case	_	_
9	question	question	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nmod	_	_
10	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	15	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	15	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	's	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	15	cop	_	_
13	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	14	det	_	_
14	little	little	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	15	advmod	_	_
15	wet	wet	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	parataxis	_	_
16	to	to	ADP	IN	_	19	case	_	_
17	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	19	det	_	_
18	Water	Water	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	19	compound	_	_
19	Rat	Rat	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	15	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
20	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	15	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
21	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	15	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
22	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	23	punct	_	_
23	addressed	address	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	9	acl	_	_
24	to	to	ADP	IN	_	26	case	_	_
25	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	26	det	_	_
26	Mole	mole	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	23	obl	_	_
27	after	after	ADP	IN	_	29	case	_	_
28	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	29	det	_	_
29	upsetting	upsetting	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	23	obl	_	_
30	of	of	ADP	IN	_	32	case	_	_
31	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	32	det	_	_
32	boat	boat	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	29	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
33	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **ascertain** | imperative | you *not said here* | the purpose of the Water Rat's question |  |  |  |  | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent purpose=Topic |
| 2 | **is** *in a quote* | present | the Water Rat's question |  |  |  |  | to a Water Rat; wet *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **address** | participle |  | the Water Rat's question *not said here* |  |  | after the upsetting of the boat | to the Mole | vn illustrate-25.3 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent |
| 4 | **purpose** |  | the Water Rat's question |  |  |  |  |  | nom purpose «cognition intransitive»: of=agent |
| 5 | **question** |  | the Water Rat |  |  |  |  |  | nom question «communication transitive»: poss=agent |

<!-- .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 · ← Mova's choice {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
To reproach the Mole severely for his carelessness

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:54-off-with-her-head-and-the-finest-house-on-the-river-alice-and-toad:e4:o1:1
# text = To reproach the Mole severely for his carelessness
1	To	to	PART	TO	_	2	mark	_	_
2	reproach	reproach	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	Mole	mole	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
5	severely	severely	ADV	RB	_	2	advmod	_	_
6	for	for	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	8	nmod:poss	_	_
8	carelessness	carelessness	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **reproach** | to-infinitive |  | the Mole |  |  |  | for his carelessness; severely *property* | vn judgment-33.1-1 «NP V NP PP.attribute»: agent=Agent mole=Theme for carelessness=Attribute |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
To boast of his own powers of swimming

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:54-off-with-her-head-and-the-finest-house-on-the-river-alice-and-toad:e4:o2:1
# text = To boast of his own powers of swimming
1	To	to	PART	TO	_	2	mark	_	_
2	boast	boast	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	of	of	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
4	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	6	nmod:poss	_	_
5	own	own	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	powers	power	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obl	_	_
7	of	of	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
8	swimming	swimming	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **boast** *speech: other* | to-infinitive |  |  |  |  |  | of his own powers of swimming | vn complain-37.8 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
To diminish the misfortune kindly, that the Mole may be comforted

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:54-off-with-her-head-and-the-finest-house-on-the-river-alice-and-toad:e4:o3:1
# text = To diminish the misfortune kindly, that the Mole may be comforted
1	To	to	PART	TO	_	2	mark	_	_
2	diminish	diminish	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	misfortune	misfortune	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
5	kindly	kindly	ADV	RB	_	2	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	12	punct	_	_
7	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	12	mark	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	Mole	mole	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	nsubj:pass	_	_
10	may	may	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	12	aux	_	_
11	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	12	aux:pass	_	_
12	comforted	comfort	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	2	advcl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **diminish** | to-infinitive |  | the misfortune |  |  |  | kindly *property* | vn caused\_calibratable\_cos-45.6.2-1 «NP V NP.patient»: agent=Causer misfortune=Patient |
| 2 | **comfort** | may · passive |  | the Mole |  |  |  |  | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V NP»: subject=Experiencer |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
To complain of the coldness of the river

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:54-off-with-her-head-and-the-finest-house-on-the-river-alice-and-toad:e4:o4:1
# text = To complain of the coldness of the river
1	To	to	PART	TO	_	2	mark	_	_
2	complain	complain	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	of	of	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	coldness	coldness	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
6	of	of	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	river	river	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **complain** *speech: other* | to-infinitive |  |  |  |  |  | of the coldness of the river | vn complain-37.8 «NP V»: agent=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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- ← previous: [Off with her head and the finest house…, exam 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/language/54-off-with-her-head-and-the-finest-house-on-the-river-alice-and-toad/e3/)
- next →: [★★★ Olympiad: hyperbole and downplayin…, test 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/language/55-olympiad-hyperbole-and-downplaying-puzzles/t1/)
- ↑ back to [Off with her head and the finest house on the river: Alice and Toad](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/language/54-off-with-her-head-and-the-finest-house-on-the-river-alice-and-toad/)