---
title: Why do they numb the skin before stitches? — Cuts, grazes, stitches and splinters · tree and pragmatics
description: Why do they numb the skin before stitches? Test 11 · ★★ of lesson 4 «Cuts, grazes, stitches and splinters» 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 wrong.
---

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# Test 11 · ★★ · Cuts, grazes, stitches and splinters

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Why do they numb the skin before stitches?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 2 · **The right answer:** option 1 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** they · **What happens:** numb · **To what, where:** skin

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 11 · ★★ of lesson 4 «Cuts, grazes, stitches and splinters» 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/4-cuts-grazes-stitches-and-splinters/#t11).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:medicine:4-cuts-grazes-stitches-and-splinters:t11:1
# text = Why do they numb the skin before stitches?
1	Why	why	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	4	advmod	_	_
2	do	do	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
3	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
4	numb	numb	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	skin	skin	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obj	_	_
7	before	before	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
8	stitches	stitch	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **numb** | present · do-support | they | the skin |  |  | before stitches |  | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Stimulus skin=Experiencer |

<!-- .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 -->
So putting in stitches does not hurt much

```conllu
# sent_id = question:medicine:4-cuts-grazes-stitches-and-splinters:t11:o1:1
# text = So putting in stitches does not hurt much
1	So	so	ADV	RB	_	7	advmod	_	_
2	putting	put	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	7	csubj	_	_
3	in	in	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
4	stitches	stitch	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obl	_	_
5	does	do	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	7	aux	_	_
6	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	7	advmod	_	_
7	hurt	hurt	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
8	much	much	ADV	RB	_	7	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **put** | gerund |  |  |  | stitches |  |  | vn put-9.1-2 «NP V NP PP.destination»: agent=Agent in stitch=Destination |
| 2 | **not** **hurt** | present · do-support | putting |  |  |  |  |  | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V ADV-Middle»: agent=Experiencer |

### Option 2 · ← Mova's choice {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
To make the cut close up by itself

```conllu
# sent_id = question:medicine:4-cuts-grazes-stitches-and-splinters:t11:o2:1
# text = To make the cut close up by itself
1	To	to	PART	TO	_	2	mark	_	_
2	make	make	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	advcl	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	cut	cut	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
5	close	close	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
6	up	up	ADP	RP	_	5	compound:prt	_	_
7	by	by	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
8	itself	itself	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs|Reflex=Yes	5	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **make** | to-infinitive |  | the cut |  |  |  |  | vn build-26.1-1 «NP.asset V NP»: agent=Asset cut=Product |
| 2 | **close up** | present |  |  |  |  |  | by cut | vn other\_cos-45.4 «NP.patient V»: agent=Patient |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
So you fall asleep while they sew

```conllu
# sent_id = question:medicine:4-cuts-grazes-stitches-and-splinters:t11:o3:1
# text = So you fall asleep while they sew
1	So	so	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	_
2	you	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Person=2|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
3	fall	fall	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=2|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	asleep	asleep	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	xcomp	_	_
5	while	while	SCONJ	IN	_	7	mark	_	_
6	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	7	nsubj	_	_
7	sew	sew	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	advcl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **fall** | present | you |  |  |  |  | asleep *property* | vn occur-48.3 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 2 | **sew** | present | they |  |  |  |  |  | vn shake-22.3-2 «NP V ADV-Middle»: agent=Patient |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
To kill all the germs inside the cut

```conllu
# sent_id = question:medicine:4-cuts-grazes-stitches-and-splinters:t11:o4:1
# text = To kill all the germs inside the cut
1	To	to	PART	TO	_	2	mark	_	_
2	kill	kill	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	all	all	DET	PDT	PronType=Tot	5	det:predet	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	germs	germ	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obj	_	_
6	inside	inside	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	cut	cut	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **kill** | to-infinitive |  | all germs |  | the cut |  |  | vn remove-10.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent germ=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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- ← previous: [Cuts, grazes, stitches and splinters, test 10](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/medicine/4-cuts-grazes-stitches-and-splinters/t10/)
- next →: [Cuts, grazes, stitches and splinters, exam 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/medicine/4-cuts-grazes-stitches-and-splinters/e1/)
- ↑ back to [Cuts, grazes, stitches and splinters](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/medicine/4-cuts-grazes-stitches-and-splinters/)