Test 3 · ★ · Tense consistency and verb forms Freya writes a whole story in the present: "I open the door. A fox stares at me." Is that allowed?
Mova's choice: option 1 · The right answer: option 2 · wrong ✗ · Who acts: Freya, I, fox · What happens: write, open, stare, allow · To what, where: whole story, present, door, that
This is test 3 · ★ of lesson 31 «Tense consistency and verb forms» of the English 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: Freya writes a whole story in the present: "I open the door.
nsubj det amod obj case det nmod punct punct nsubj conj det obj punct root Freya PROPN writes VERB a DET whole ADJ story NOUN in ADP the DET present NOUN : PUNCT " PUNCT I PRON open VERB the DET door NOUN . PUNCT The words, one row each (CoNLL-U) # word lemma UPOS features head relation 1 Freya Freya PROPN Number=Sing 2 writes nsubj 2 writes write VERB Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin root root 3 a a DET Definite=Ind PronType=Art 5 story det 4 whole whole ADJ Degree=Pos 5 story amod 5 story story NOUN Number=Sing 2 writes obj 6 in in ADP _ 8 present case 7 the the DET Definite=Def PronType=Art 8 present det 8 present present NOUN Number=Sing 5 story nmod 9 : : PUNCT _ 12 open punct 10 " " PUNCT _ 12 open punct 11 I I PRON Case=Nom Number=Sing Person=1 PronType=Prs 12 open nsubj 12 open open VERB Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=1 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin 2 writes conj 13 the the DET Definite=Def PronType=Art 14 door det 14 door door NOUN Number=Sing 12 open obj 15 . . PUNCT _ 2 writes punct
# verb tense, mood who what, whom to whom where when other roles by
1 write present Freya a whole story the present vn scribble-25.2-1 «NP V NP PP.destination»: agent=Agent story=Theme in present=Destination 2 open in a quote present I the door vn spatial_configuration-47.6-1 «PP.location V NP»: agent=Location door=Theme
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: A fox stares at me."
det nsubj case obl punct punct root A DET fox NOUN stares VERB at ADP me PRON . PUNCT " PUNCT The words, one row each (CoNLL-U) # word lemma UPOS features head relation 1 A a DET Definite=Ind PronType=Art 2 fox det 2 fox fox NOUN Number=Sing 3 stares nsubj 3 stares stare VERB Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin root root 4 at at ADP _ 5 me case 5 me I PRON Case=Acc Number=Sing Person=1 PronType=Prs 3 stares obl 6 . . PUNCT _ 3 stares punct 7 " " PUNCT _ 3 stares punct
# verb tense, mood who what, whom to whom where when other roles by
1 stare present a fox at me vn peer-30.3 «NP V PP.theme»: agent=Agent at i=Theme
Sentence 3: Is that allowed?
aux:pass nsubj:pass punct root Is AUX that PRON allowed VERB ? PUNCT The words, one row each (CoNLL-U) # word lemma UPOS features head relation 1 Is be AUX Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin 3 allowed aux:pass 2 that that PRON Number=Sing PronType=Dem 3 allowed nsubj:pass 3 allowed allow VERB Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass root root 4 ? ? PUNCT _ 3 allowed punct
# verb tense, mood who what, whom to whom where when other roles by
1 allow present · passive that vn allow-64.1-1 «NP V NP»: subject=Beneficiary
The options Option 1 · ← Mova's choice Yes, but only if a fox is in it
discourse punct cc advmod mark det cop case nmod root Yes INTJ , PUNCT but CCONJ only ADV if SCONJ a DET fox NOUN is AUX in ADP it PRON The words, one row each (CoNLL-U) # word lemma UPOS features head relation 1 Yes yes INTJ Polarity=Pos 7 fox discourse 2 , , PUNCT _ 1 Yes punct 3 but but CCONJ _ 7 fox cc 4 only only ADV _ 7 fox advmod 5 if if SCONJ _ 7 fox mark 6 a a DET Definite=Ind PronType=Art 7 fox det 7 fox fox NOUN Number=Sing root root 8 is be AUX Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin 7 fox cop 9 in in ADP _ 10 it case 10 it it PRON Case=Acc Gender=Neut Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs 7 fox nmod
# verb tense, mood who what, whom to whom where when other roles by
1 is a present a fox in fox tree rules
Option 2 · ✓ the right answer Yes, a story can be in the present if it stays there
discourse punct det nsubj aux cop case det mark nsubj advcl advmod root Yes INTJ , PUNCT a DET story NOUN can AUX be AUX in ADP the DET present NOUN if SCONJ it PRON stays VERB there ADV The words, one row each (CoNLL-U) # word lemma UPOS features head relation 1 Yes yes INTJ Polarity=Pos 9 present discourse 2 , , PUNCT _ 1 Yes punct 3 a a DET Definite=Ind PronType=Art 4 story det 4 story story NOUN Number=Sing 9 present nsubj 5 can can AUX VerbForm=Fin 9 present aux 6 be be AUX VerbForm=Inf 9 present cop 7 in in ADP _ 9 present case 8 the the DET Definite=Def PronType=Art 9 present det 9 present present NOUN Number=Sing root root 10 if if SCONJ _ 12 stays mark 11 it it PRON Case=Nom Gender=Neut Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs 12 stays nsubj 12 stays stay VERB Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin 9 present advcl 13 there there ADV PronType=Dem 12 stays advmod
# verb tense, mood who what, whom to whom where when other roles by
1 is can a story the present tree rules 2 stay a condition, not said to happen present story there vn exist-47.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme
Option 3 No, every story must be in the past tense
discourse punct det nsubj aux cop case det amod root No INTJ , PUNCT every DET story NOUN must AUX be AUX in ADP the DET past ADJ tense NOUN The words, one row each (CoNLL-U) # word lemma UPOS features head relation 1 No no INTJ Polarity=Neg 10 tense discourse 2 , , PUNCT _ 1 No punct 3 every every DET PronType=Tot 4 story det 4 story story NOUN Number=Sing 10 tense nsubj 5 must must AUX VerbForm=Fin 10 tense aux 6 be be AUX VerbForm=Inf 10 tense cop 7 in in ADP _ 10 tense case 8 the the DET Definite=Def PronType=Art 10 tense det 9 past past ADJ Degree=Pos 10 tense amod 10 tense tense NOUN Number=Sing root root
# verb tense, mood who what, whom to whom where when other roles by
1 is must every story the past tense tree rules
Option 4 No, the present is only for diaries and texts
discourse punct det nsubj cop advmod case cc conj root No INTJ , PUNCT the DET present NOUN is AUX only ADV for ADP diaries NOUN and CCONJ texts NOUN The words, one row each (CoNLL-U) # word lemma UPOS features head relation 1 No no INTJ Polarity=Neg 8 diaries discourse 2 , , PUNCT _ 1 No punct 3 the the DET Definite=Def PronType=Art 4 present det 4 present present NOUN Number=Sing 8 diaries nsubj 5 is be AUX Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin 8 diaries cop 6 only only ADV _ 8 diaries advmod 7 for for ADP _ 8 diaries case 8 diaries diary NOUN Number=Plur root root 9 and and CCONJ _ 10 texts cc 10 texts text NOUN Number=Plur 8 diaries conj
# verb tense, mood who what, whom to whom where when other roles by
1 is present the present for diaries and texts tree rules
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.
← previous Tense consistency and verb forms, test 2next → Tense consistency and verb forms, test 4↑ back to Tense consistency and verb forms This page in Markdown → https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/english/31-tense-consistency-and-verb-forms/t3/