Test 5 · ★ · Just So Stories (Rudyard Kipling), 5: The Elephant's Child…

Nana, Kerry: "Ah, the poor craythur, sure he only wanted to know." ("craythur" = creature.) Why did everybody say "Hush!" to his question?

Mova's choice: option 1 · The right answer: option 4 · wrong ✗ · Who acts: Kerry, everybody · What happens: want, know, say, question · To what, where: Hush, question · Speech: someone speaks here

This is test 5 · ★ of lesson 79 «Just So Stories (Rudyard Kipling), 5: The Elephant's Child, part 1 (What does the Crocodile have for dinner?)» of the books 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.

The question

Sentence 1: Nana, Kerry: "Ah, the poor craythur, sure he only wanted to know."

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	Nana	Nana	PROPN	Number=Sing	root	root
2	,	,	PUNCT	_	3 Kerry	punct
3	Kerry	Kerry	PROPN	Number=Sing	1 Nana	conj
4	:	:	PUNCT	_	10 craythur	punct
5	"	"	PUNCT	_	10 craythur	punct
6	Ah	ah	INTJ	_	10 craythur	discourse
7	,	,	PUNCT	_	6 Ah	punct
8	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	10 craythur	det
9	poor	poor	ADJ	Degree=Pos	10 craythur	amod
10	craythur	craythur	NOUN	Number=Sing	1 Nana	appos
11	,	,	PUNCT	_	12 sure	punct
12	sure	sure	ADJ	Degree=Pos	10 craythur	amod
13	he	he	PRON	Case=Nom Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	15 wanted	nsubj
14	only	only	ADV	_	15 wanted	advmod
15	wanted	want	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	12 sure	ccomp
16	to	to	PART	_	17 know	mark
17	know	know	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	15 wanted	xcomp
18	.	.	PUNCT	_	10 craythur	punct
19	"	"	PUNCT	_	10 craythur	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	want in a quote	past	Kerry						vn want-32.1-1-1 «NP V NP S_INF»: agent=Pivot clause=Theme
2	know not said to happen, in a quote	to-infinitive	Kerry not said here						vn comprehend-87.2-1-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Experiencer

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.

Sentence 2: ("craythur" = creature.)

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	(	(	PUNCT	_	6 creature	punct
2	"	"	PUNCT	_	3 craythur	punct
3	craythur	craythur	NOUN	Number=Sing	6 creature	compound
4	"	"	PUNCT	_	3 craythur	punct
5	=	=	SYM	_	6 creature	punct
6	creature	creature	NOUN	Number=Sing	root	root
7	.	.	PUNCT	_	6 creature	punct
8	)	)	PUNCT	_	6 creature	punct

The frames reader finds no event or fact in this sentence.

Sentence 3: Why did everybody say "Hush!" to his question?

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	Why	why	ADV	PronType=Int	4 say	advmod
2	did	do	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	4 say	aux
3	everybody	everybody	PRON	Number=Sing PronType=Tot	4 say	nsubj
4	say	say	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	root	root
5	"	"	PUNCT	_	6 Hush	punct
6	Hush	hush	NOUN	Number=Sing	4 say	obj
7	!	!	PUNCT	_	6 Hush	punct
8	"	"	PUNCT	_	6 Hush	punct
9	to	to	ADP	_	11 question	case
10	his	his	PRON	Case=Gen Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs	11 question	nmod:poss
11	question	question	NOUN	Number=Sing	4 say	obl
12	?	?	PUNCT	_	4 say	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	say speech: assert	past · do-support	everybody	Hush	Kerry's question				vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V NP PP.recipient»: agent=Agent hush=Topic to question=Recipient
2	question		Kerry						nom question «communication transitive»: poss=agent

The options

Option 1 · ← Mova's choice

It was a scary, dangerous question to ask, and his aunts had already decided he must be spanked again for it

The tree, 21 words

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	It	it	PRON	Case=Nom Gender=Neut Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	7 question	nsubj
2	was	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	7 question	cop
3	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	7 question	det
4	scary	scary	ADJ	Degree=Pos	7 question	amod
5	,	,	PUNCT	_	4 scary	punct
6	dangerous	dangerous	ADJ	Degree=Pos	7 question	amod
7	question	question	NOUN	Number=Sing	root	root
8	to	to	PART	_	9 ask	mark
9	ask	ask	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	7 question	acl
10	,	,	PUNCT	_	16 decided	punct
11	and	and	CCONJ	_	16 decided	cc
12	his	his	PRON	Case=Gen Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs	13 aunts	nmod:poss
13	aunts	aunt	NOUN	Number=Plur	16 decided	nsubj:pass
14	had	have	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	16 decided	aux
15	already	already	ADV	_	16 decided	advmod
16	decided	decide	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	7 question	acl:relcl
17	he	he	PRON	Case=Nom Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	20 spanked	nsubj
18	must	must	AUX	VerbForm=Fin	20 spanked	aux
19	be	be	AUX	VerbForm=Inf	20 spanked	aux:pass
20	spanked	spank	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	16 decided	acl:relcl
21	again	again	ADV	_	20 spanked	advmod
22	for	for	ADP	_	23 it	case
23	it	it	PRON	Case=Acc Gender=Neut Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	20 spanked	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	when	other	roles by
1	is a	past	It	a scary dangerous question			tree rules
2	ask speech: ask	to-infinitive					vn inquire-37.1.2 «NP V»: agent=Agent
3	decide	past · perfect · passive	a scary dangerous question not said here	his aunts			vn correspond-36.1-1 «NP V S»: subject=Topic
4	spank	must · passive		he	again	for question	vn spank-18.3 «NP V NP»: subject=Patient

Option 2

They thought he was too young to ask

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	They	they	PRON	Case=Nom Number=Plur Person=3 PronType=Prs	2 thought	nsubj
2	thought	think	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	he	he	PRON	Case=Nom Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	6 young	nsubj
4	was	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	6 young	cop
5	too	too	ADV	_	6 young	advmod
6	young	young	ADJ	Degree=Pos	2 thought	ccomp
7	to	to	PART	_	8 ask	mark
8	ask	ask	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	6 young	xcomp

#	verb	tense, mood	who	other	roles by
1	think speech: other	past	They		vn focus-87.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent
2	is	past	he	young property	tree rules
3	ask speech: ask	to-infinitive	he not said here		vn inquire-37.1.2 «NP V»: agent=Agent

Option 3

It was a scary, dangerous question to ask, because it could get a child into trouble with the crocodile

The tree, 19 words

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	It	it	PRON	Case=Nom Gender=Neut Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	7 question	nsubj
2	was	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	7 question	cop
3	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	7 question	det
4	scary	scary	ADJ	Degree=Pos	7 question	amod
5	,	,	PUNCT	_	4 scary	punct
6	dangerous	dangerous	ADJ	Degree=Pos	7 question	amod
7	question	question	NOUN	Number=Sing	root	root
8	to	to	PART	_	9 ask	mark
9	ask	ask	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	7 question	acl
10	,	,	PUNCT	_	14 get	punct
11	because	because	SCONJ	_	14 get	mark
12	it	it	PRON	Case=Nom Gender=Neut Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	14 get	nsubj
13	could	could	AUX	VerbForm=Fin	14 get	aux
14	get	get	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	9 ask	ccomp
15	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	16 child	det
16	child	child	NOUN	Number=Sing	14 get	obj
17	into	into	ADP	_	18 trouble	case
18	trouble	trouble	NOUN	Number=Sing	14 get	obl
19	with	with	ADP	_	21 crocodile	case
20	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	21 crocodile	det
21	crocodile	crocodile	NOUN	Number=Sing	18 trouble	nmod

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	where	roles by
1	is a	past	It	a scary dangerous question		tree rules
2	ask speech: ask	to-infinitive				vn inquire-37.1.2 «NP V how S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic
3	get	could	question	a child	trouble with the crocodile	vn comprehend-87.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer child=Stimulus

Option 4 · ✓ the right answer

It was a scary, dangerous question to ask

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	It	it	PRON	Case=Nom Gender=Neut Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	7 question	nsubj
2	was	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	7 question	cop
3	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	7 question	det
4	scary	scary	ADJ	Degree=Pos	7 question	amod
5	,	,	PUNCT	_	4 scary	punct
6	dangerous	dangerous	ADJ	Degree=Pos	7 question	amod
7	question	question	NOUN	Number=Sing	root	root
8	to	to	PART	_	9 ask	mark
9	ask	ask	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	7 question	acl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	is a	past	It	a scary dangerous question					tree rules
2	ask speech: ask	to-infinitive							vn inquire-37.1.2 «NP V»: agent=Agent

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.

This page in Markdown → https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/79-justso-elephants-child-1/t5/