---
title: Why is the numbing cream put on an hour before the cannula, not just… — The hospital ward, operations and anae… · tree and pragmatics
description: Why is the numbing cream put on an hour before the cannula, not just before? Test 11 · ★ of lesson 28 «The hospital ward, operations and anaesthetic» of the medicine 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 11 · ★ · The hospital ward, operations and anaesthetic

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Why is the numbing cream put on an hour before the cannula, not just before?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 3 · **The right answer:** option 3 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** numbing cream · **What happens:** be, numb, put · **To what, where:** numbing cream, cannula

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 11 · ★ of lesson 28 «The hospital ward, operations and anaesthetic» of the medicine 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/medicine/28-the-hospital-ward-operations-and-anaesthetic/#t11).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:medicine:28-the-hospital-ward-operations-and-anaesthetic:t11:1
# text = Why is the numbing cream put on an hour before the cannula, not just before?
1	Why	why	ADV	WRB	PronType=Rel	0	root	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	1	cop	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	numbing	numb	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	5	amod	_	_
5	cream	cream	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	nsubj	_	_
6	put	put	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	5	acl	_	_
7	on	on	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	hour	hour	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obl	_	_
10	before	before	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
11	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
12	cannula	cannula	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	16	punct	_	_
14	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	16	advmod	_	_
15	just	just	ADV	RB	_	16	advmod	_	_
16	before	before	ADV	RB	_	12	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | the numbing cream |  |  |  |  | why *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **numb** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V ADV-Middle»: agent=Experiencer |
| 3 | **put** | participle |  | the numbing cream *not said here* |  | the cannula | hour |  | vn put-9.1-2 «NP V NP PP.destination»: agent=Agent before cannula=Destination |

<!-- .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 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The cream only works on cold skin

```conllu
# sent_id = question:medicine:28-the-hospital-ward-operations-and-anaesthetic:t11:o1:1
# text = The cream only works on cold skin
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	cream	cream	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
3	only	only	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
4	works	work	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	on	on	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	cold	cold	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
7	skin	skin	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **work** | present | the cream |  |  |  |  | on cold skin | vn employment-95.3 «NP V PP.theme»: agent=Agent on skin=Theme |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The cannula must go in first to guide it

```conllu
# sent_id = question:medicine:28-the-hospital-ward-operations-and-anaesthetic:t11:o2:1
# text = The cannula must go in first to guide it
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	cannula	cannula	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
3	must	must	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
4	go	go	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
5	in	in	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
6	first	first	ADV	RB	NumForm=Word|NumType=Ord	4	advmod	_	_
7	to	to	PART	TO	_	8	mark	_	_
8	guide	guide	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	advcl	_	_
9	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	8	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **go in** | must | the cannula |  |  |  |  | first *property* | vn disappearance-48.2-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 2 | **guide** | to-infinitive | the cannula *not said here* | cannula |  |  |  |  | vn accompany-51.7 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent it=Theme |

### Option 3 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The cream needs time to numb the skin

```conllu
# sent_id = question:medicine:28-the-hospital-ward-operations-and-anaesthetic:t11:o3:1
# text = The cream needs time to numb the skin
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	cream	cream	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	_	6	mark	_	_
6	numb	numb	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	xcomp	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	skin	skin	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **need** | present | the cream |  |  |  | time |  | vn want-32.1-1-1 «NP V NP S\_INF»: agent=Pivot clause=Theme |
| 2 | **numb** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive | the cream *not said here* | the skin |  |  |  |  | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Stimulus skin=Experiencer |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The cream is really for healing the hole afterwards

```conllu
# sent_id = question:medicine:28-the-hospital-ward-operations-and-anaesthetic:t11:o4:1
# text = The cream is really for healing the hole afterwards
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	cream	cream	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	_
3	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	aux	_	_
4	really	really	ADV	RB	_	6	advmod	_	_
5	for	for	SCONJ	IN	_	6	mark	_	_
6	healing	heal	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	hole	hole	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obj	_	_
9	afterwards	afterwards	ADV	RB	_	6	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **heal** | present · progressive | the cream | the hole |  |  |  | afterwards *property* | vn other\_cos-45.4 «NP V NP.patient»: agent=Agent hole=Patient |

<!-- div src -->

**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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