Test 9 · ★ · Stories that change
In a TV detective show, the liar always sweats and stammers. In real life what's a better clue?
Mova's choice: option 4 · The right answer: option 4 · right ✓ · Who acts: liar · What happens: sweat, stammer, be · To what, where: detective show, better clue, real life
This is test 9 · ★ of lesson 449 «Stories that change» of the everyday 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: In a TV detective show, the liar always sweats and stammers.
The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)
| # | word | lemma | UPOS | features | head | relation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | In | in | ADP | _ | 5 show | case |
| 2 | a | a | DET | Definite=Ind PronType=Art | 5 show | det |
| 3 | TV | TV | NOUN | Number=Sing | 4 detective | compound |
| 4 | detective | detective | NOUN | Number=Sing | 5 show | compound |
| 5 | show | show | NOUN | Number=Sing | 10 sweats | obl |
| 6 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 5 show | punct |
| 7 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 8 liar | det |
| 8 | liar | liar | NOUN | Number=Sing | 10 sweats | nsubj |
| 9 | always | always | ADV | PronType=Tot | 10 sweats | advmod |
| 10 | sweats | sweat | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | root | root |
| 11 | and | and | CCONJ | _ | 12 stammers | cc |
| 12 | stammers | stammer | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | 10 sweats | conj |
| 13 | . | . | PUNCT | _ | 10 sweats | punct |
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | sweat | present | the liar | a detective show | always property | vn breathe-40.1.2 «NP V»: agent=Agent | |||
| 2 | stammer speech: other | present | the liar not said here | vn manner_speaking-37.3 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
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: In real life what's a better clue?
The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)
| # | word | lemma | UPOS | features | head | relation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | In | in | ADP | _ | 3 life | case |
| 2 | real | real | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 3 life | amod |
| 3 | life | life | NOUN | Number=Sing | 8 clue | obl |
| 4 | what | what | PRON | PronType=Int | 8 clue | nsubj |
| 5 | 's | be | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | 8 clue | cop |
| 6 | a | a | DET | Definite=Ind PronType=Art | 8 clue | det |
| 7 | better | good | ADJ | Degree=Cmp | 8 clue | amod |
| 8 | clue | clue | NOUN | Number=Sing | root | root |
| 9 | ? | ? | PUNCT | _ | 8 clue | punct |
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | is a | present | a better clue | real life | tree rules |
The options
Option 1
People who sweat are lying
The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)
| # | word | lemma | UPOS | features | head | relation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | People | people | NOUN | Number=Plur | 5 lying | nsubj |
| 2 | who | who | PRON | PronType=Rel | 3 sweat | nsubj |
| 3 | sweat | sweat | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | 1 People | acl:relcl |
| 4 | are | be | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | 5 lying | aux |
| 5 | lying | lie | VERB | Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part | root | root |
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | sweat | present | People | vn breathe-40.1.2 «NP V»: agent=Agent | |||||
| 2 | lie | present · progressive | People | vn assuming_position-50 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
Option 2
Stammering or going red always means someone is lying
The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)
| # | word | lemma | UPOS | features | head | relation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Stammering | stammer | VERB | VerbForm=Ger | 6 means | csubj |
| 2 | or | or | CCONJ | _ | 3 going | cc |
| 3 | going | go | VERB | VerbForm=Ger | 1 Stammering | conj |
| 4 | red | red | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 3 going | xcomp |
| 5 | always | always | ADV | PronType=Tot | 6 means | advmod |
| 6 | means | mean | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | root | root |
| 7 | someone | someone | PRON | Number=Sing PronType=Ind | 9 lying | nsubj |
| 8 | is | be | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | 9 lying | aux |
| 9 | lying | lie | VERB | VerbForm=Ger | 6 means | ccomp |
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | stammer speech: other | gerund | vn manner_speaking-37.3 «NP V»: agent=Agent | ||||||
| 2 | go | gerund | red property | vn disappearance-48.2-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme | |||||
| 3 | mean | present | Stammering | always property | vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic | ||||
| 4 | lie | present · progressive | someone | vn assuming_position-50 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
Option 3
Liars always look at the floor
The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)
| # | word | lemma | UPOS | features | head | relation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Liars | liar | NOUN | Number=Plur | 3 look | nsubj |
| 2 | always | always | ADV | PronType=Tot | 3 look | advmod |
| 3 | look | look | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | root | root |
| 4 | at | at | ADP | _ | 6 floor | case |
| 5 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 6 floor | det |
| 6 | floor | floor | NOUN | Number=Sing | 3 look | obl |
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | look | present | Liars | at the floor; always property | vn peer-30.3 «NP V PP.theme»: agent=Agent at floor=Theme |
Option 4 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer
Details that change or don't fit the facts
The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)
| # | word | lemma | UPOS | features | head | relation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Details | detail | NOUN | Number=Plur | root | root |
| 2 | that | that | PRON | PronType=Rel | 3 change | nsubj |
| 3 | change | change | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | 1 Details | acl:relcl |
| 4 | or | or | CCONJ | _ | 7 fit | cc |
| 5 | do | do | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | 7 fit | aux |
| 6 | n't | not | PART | Polarity=Neg | 7 fit | advmod |
| 7 | fit | fit | VERB | VerbForm=Inf | 3 change | conj |
| 8 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 9 facts | det |
| 9 | facts | fact | NOUN | Number=Plur | 7 fit | obj |
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | change | present | Details | vn dress-41.1.1-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent | |||||
| 2 | not fit | present · do-support | Details not said here | the facts | vn adjust-26.9 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent fact=Patient |
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/everyday/449-stories-that-change/t9/