---
title: A dog in the park is wagging stiffly, staring, with ears flat. Is it… — Cats, dogs and animal 'facts' at home · tree and pragmatics
description: A dog in the park is wagging stiffly, staring, with ears flat. Is it safe to stroke? Test 2 · ★★ of lesson 12 «Cats, dogs and animal 'facts' at home» of the myths 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 2 · ★★ · Cats, dogs and animal 'facts' at home

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A dog in the park is wagging stiffly, staring, with ears flat. Is it safe to stroke?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 2 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** dog, it · **What happens:** wag, stare, be, stroke

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This is test 2 · ★★ of lesson 12 «Cats, dogs and animal 'facts' at home» of the myths 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/myths/12-cats-dogs-and-animal-facts-at-home/#t2).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* A dog in the park is wagging stiffly, staring, with ears flat.

```conllu
# sent_id = question:myths:12-cats-dogs-and-animal-facts-at-home:t2:1
# text = A dog in the park is wagging stiffly, staring, with ears flat.
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	dog	dog	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nsubj	_	_
3	in	in	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	park	park	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	_
6	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	7	aux	_	_
7	wagging	wag	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
8	stiffly	stiffly	ADV	RB	_	7	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	10	punct	_	_
10	staring	stare	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	7	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	13	punct	_	_
12	with	with	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
13	ears	ear	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	10	obl	_	_
14	flat	flat	ADV	RB	_	10	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	7	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **wag** | present · progressive | a dog in the park |  |  |  |  | stiffly *property* | vn crane-40.3.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **stare** | gerund | a dog in the park *not said here* |  |  |  |  | with ears; flat *property* | vn peer-30.3 «NP V PP.theme»: agent=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.

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 2:* Is it safe to stroke?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:myths:12-cats-dogs-and-animal-facts-at-home:t2:2
# text = Is it safe to stroke?
1	Is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	cop	_	_
2	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
3	safe	safe	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
4	to	to	PART	TO	_	5	mark	_	_
5	stroke	stroke	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	xcomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | it |  |  |  |  | safe *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **stroke** | to-infinitive |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn touch-20-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent |

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 · ← Mova's choice {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Only if you stroke its tail

```conllu
# sent_id = question:myths:12-cats-dogs-and-animal-facts-at-home:t2:o1:1
# text = Only if you stroke its tail
1	Only	only	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
2	if	if	SCONJ	IN	_	4	mark	_	_
3	you	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Person=2|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
4	stroke	stroke	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=2|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	6	nmod:poss	_	_
6	tail	tail	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **stroke** | present | you | its tail |  |  |  |  | vn touch-20-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent tail=Experiencer |

### Option 2 · ✓ the right answer {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Not without asking; a wag with tense body can mean nervous or warning

```conllu
# sent_id = question:myths:12-cats-dogs-and-animal-facts-at-home:t2:o2:1
# text = Not without asking; a wag with tense body can mean nervous or warning
1	Not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	3	advmod	_	_
2	without	without	SCONJ	IN	_	3	mark	_	_
3	asking	ask	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	11	csubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	;	;	PUNCT	:	_	6	punct	_	_
5	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	wag	wag	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
7	with	with	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	tense	tense	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	amod	_	_
9	body	body	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nmod	_	_
10	can	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	11	aux	_	_
11	mean	mean	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
12	nervous	nervous	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	11	xcomp	_	_
13	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	14	cc	_	_
14	warning	warning	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **ask** *speech: ask* | gerund |  | a wag with tense body |  |  |  |  | vn inquire-37.1.2 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **mean** | can | asking |  |  |  |  | nervous *property* | vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V S»: agent=Agent |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Yes, any wag means happy

```conllu
# sent_id = question:myths:12-cats-dogs-and-animal-facts-at-home:t2:o3:1
# text = Yes, any wag means happy
1	Yes	yes	INTJ	UH	Polarity=Pos	5	discourse	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	1	punct	_	_
3	any	any	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	4	det	_	_
4	wag	wag	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
5	means	mean	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
6	happy	happy	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	xcomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **mean** | present | any wag |  |  |  |  | happy *property* | vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V S»: agent=Agent |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Yes, if you run at it quickly

```conllu
# sent_id = question:myths:12-cats-dogs-and-animal-facts-at-home:t2:o4:1
# text = Yes, if you run at it quickly
1	Yes	yes	INTJ	UH	Polarity=Pos	5	discourse	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	5	punct	_	_
3	if	if	SCONJ	IN	_	5	mark	_	_
4	you	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Person=2|PronType=Prs	5	nsubj	_	_
5	run	run	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=2|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
6	at	at	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	5	obl	_	_
8	quickly	quickly	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **run** | present | you |  |  | it |  | quickly *property* | vn run-51.3.2-2-1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme at it=Trajectory |

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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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- next →: [Cats, dogs and animal 'facts' at home, test 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/myths/12-cats-dogs-and-animal-facts-at-home/t3/)
- ↑ back to [Cats, dogs and animal 'facts' at home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/myths/12-cats-dogs-and-animal-facts-at-home/)