---
title: A Texan uncle says, «Y'all, that old dog's fixin' to sleep the whole… — Getting old: how long people and anima… · tree and pragmatics
description: A Texan uncle says, «Y'all, that old dog's fixin' to sleep the whole day again.» («Fixin' to» means «about to».) Why is the dog sleeping so much? Test 8 of lesson 52 «Getting old: how long people and animals live» of the religion ethics course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and p
---

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# Test 8 · Getting old: how long people and animals live

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A Texan uncle says, «Y'all, that old dog's fixin' to sleep the whole day again.» («Fixin' to» means «about to».) Why is the dog sleeping so much?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 2 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** Texan uncle, Fixin, dog · **What happens:** say, sleep, mean · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 8 of lesson 52 «Getting old: how long people and animals live» of the religion ethics 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/religion-ethics/52-getting-old-how-long-people-and-animals-live/#t8).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* A Texan uncle says, «Y'all, that old dog's fixin' to sleep the whole day again.»

```conllu
# sent_id = question:religion-ethics:52-getting-old-how-long-people-and-animals-live:t8:1
# text = A Texan uncle says, «Y'all, that old dog's fixin' to sleep the whole day again.»
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	Texan	texan	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	uncle	uncle	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
4	says	say	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	7	punct	_	_
6	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	7	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	Y'all	y'all	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Person=2|PronType=Prs	4	ccomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	13	punct	_	_
9	that	that	DET	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	11	det	_	_
10	old	old	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	11	amod	_	_
11	dog	dog	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	's	's	PART	POS	_	11	case	_	_
13	fixin	fixin	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	appos	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	'	'	PUNCT	''	_	13	punct	_	_
15	to	to	PART	TO	_	16	mark	_	_
16	sleep	sleep	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	advcl	_	_
17	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	19	det	_	_
18	whole	whole	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	19	amod	_	_
19	day	day	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	16	obl:unmarked	_	_
20	again	again	ADV	RB	_	16	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
21	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
22	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **say** *speech: assert* | present | a Texan uncle |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **sleep** *in a quote* | to-infinitive | a Texan uncle *not said here* |  |  |  | again; day |  | vn snooze-40.4-1 «NP V»: 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:* («Fixin' to» means «about to».)

```conllu
# sent_id = question:religion-ethics:52-getting-old-how-long-people-and-animals-live:t8:2
# text = («Fixin' to» means «about to».)
1	(	(	PUNCT	-LRB-	_	7	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	3	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	Fixin	Fixin	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	7	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	'	'	PUNCT	''	_	3	punct	_	_
5	to	to	PART	TO	_	3	flat	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	3	punct	_	_
7	means	mean	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
8	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	9	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	about	about	ADV	RB	_	7	obj	_	_
10	to	to	PART	TO	_	9	fixed	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	9	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	7	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	)	)	PUNCT	-RRB-	_	7	punct	_	_
```

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

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 3:* Why is the dog sleeping so much?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:religion-ethics:52-getting-old-how-long-people-and-animals-live:t8:3
# text = Why is the dog sleeping so much?
1	Why	why	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	5	advmod	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	aux	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	dog	dog	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
5	sleeping	sleep	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
6	so	so	ADV	RB	_	7	advmod	_	_
7	much	much	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **sleep** | present · progressive | the dog |  |  |  |  |  | vn snooze-40.4-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 · ← Mova's choice {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Old dogs sleep because they are bored of people

```conllu
# sent_id = question:religion-ethics:52-getting-old-how-long-people-and-animals-live:t8:o1:1
# text = Old dogs sleep because they are bored of people
1	Old	old	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	amod	_	_
2	dogs	dog	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj	_	_
3	sleep	sleep	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	because	because	SCONJ	IN	_	7	mark	_	_
5	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	7	nsubj:pass	_	_
6	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	7	aux:pass	_	_
7	bored	bore	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	3	advcl	_	_
8	of	of	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
9	people	people	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **sleep** | present | Old dogs |  |  |  |  |  | vn snooze-40.4-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **bore** | present · passive |  | dogs *= dog* |  |  |  | of people | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V NP»: subject=Experiencer |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Old dogs sleep more and slow down as they age

```conllu
# sent_id = question:religion-ethics:52-getting-old-how-long-people-and-animals-live:t8:o2:1
# text = Old dogs sleep more and slow down as they age
1	Old	old	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	amod	_	_
2	dogs	dog	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj	_	_
3	sleep	sleep	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	more	more	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	3	obj	_	_
5	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	6	cc	_	_
6	slow	slow	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	conj	_	_
7	down	down	ADP	RP	_	6	compound:prt	_	_
8	as	as	SCONJ	IN	_	10	mark	_	_
9	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	10	nsubj	_	_
10	age	age	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	advcl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **sleep** | present | Old dogs | more |  |  |  |  | vn snooze-40.4-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent more=Theme |
| 2 | **slow down** | present | Old dogs *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn other\_cos-45.4 «NP.patient V»: agent=Patient |
| 3 | **age** | present | dogs *= dog* |  |  |  |  |  | vn other\_cos-45.4 «NP.patient V»: agent=Patient |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Sleeping makes dogs grow younger

```conllu
# sent_id = question:religion-ethics:52-getting-old-how-long-people-and-animals-live:t8:o3:1
# text = Sleeping makes dogs grow younger
1	Sleeping	sleeping	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nsubj	_	_
2	makes	make	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	dogs	dog	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obj	_	_
4	grow	grow	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	2	xcomp	_	_
5	younger	young	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	4	xcomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **make** | present | Sleeping | dogs |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **grow** | infinitive | dogs *not said here* |  |  |  |  | young *property* | vn appear-48.1.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The dog is lazy and needs a telling-off

```conllu
# sent_id = question:religion-ethics:52-getting-old-how-long-people-and-animals-live:t8:o4:1
# text = The dog is lazy and needs a telling-off
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	dog	dog	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
3	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
4	lazy	lazy	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
5	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	6	cc	_	_
6	needs	need	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	conj	_	_
7	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
8	telling	telling	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	compound	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	8	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	off	off	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | the dog |  |  |  |  | lazy *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **need** | present | the dog *not said here* | a telling off |  |  |  |  | vn want-32.1-1-1 «NP V NP ADV»: agent=Pivot off=Theme |

<!-- 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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