Test 6 · ★★ · Grammar puzzles, part one
A wee lad from Edinburgh says "Ken how mony verbs in 'I can swim'? Jist the wan, aye?" ("Ken" means do you know, "wan" means one.) Is he right?
Mova's choice: option 3 · The right answer: option 4 · wrong ✗ · Who acts: wee lad, mony verbs, Ken, you, wan · What happens: say, swim, mean, know, be · To what, where: Ken, one · Speech: someone speaks here
This is test 6 · ★★ of lesson 11 «Grammar puzzles, part one» of the language 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: A wee lad from Edinburgh says "Ken how mony verbs in 'I can swim'?
The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)
| # | word | lemma | UPOS | features | head | relation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | A | a | DET | Definite=Ind PronType=Art | 3 lad | det |
| 2 | wee | wee | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 3 lad | amod |
| 3 | lad | lad | NOUN | Number=Sing | 6 says | nsubj |
| 4 | from | from | ADP | _ | 5 Edinburgh | case |
| 5 | Edinburgh | Edinburgh | PROPN | Number=Sing | 3 lad | nmod |
| 6 | says | say | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | root | root |
| 7 | " | " | PUNCT | _ | 8 Ken | punct |
| 8 | Ken | Ken | PROPN | Number=Sing | 6 says | obl |
| 9 | how | how | ADV | PronType=Int | 16 swim | advmod |
| 10 | mony | mony | NOUN | Number=Sing | 11 verbs | compound |
| 11 | verbs | verb | NOUN | Number=Plur | 16 swim | nsubj |
| 12 | in | in | SCONJ | _ | 16 swim | mark |
| 13 | ' | ' | PUNCT | _ | 16 swim | punct |
| 14 | I | I | PRON | Case=Nom Number=Sing Person=1 PronType=Prs | 16 swim | nsubj |
| 15 | can | can | AUX | VerbForm=Fin | 16 swim | aux |
| 16 | swim | swim | VERB | VerbForm=Inf | 6 says | ccomp |
| 17 | ' | ' | PUNCT | _ | 16 swim | punct |
| 18 | ? | ? | PUNCT | _ | 6 says | punct |
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | say speech: ask | present | a wee lad from Edinburgh | Ken | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic | ||||
| 2 | swim in a quote | can | mony verbs | vn run-51.3.2-1 «NP V»: agent=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: Jist the wan, aye?"
The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)
| # | word | lemma | UPOS | features | head | relation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jist | Jist | PROPN | Number=Sing | root | root |
| 2 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 3 wan | det |
| 3 | wan | wan | NOUN | Number=Sing | 1 Jist | appos |
| 4 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 5 aye | punct |
| 5 | aye | aye | NOUN | Number=Sing | 1 Jist | appos |
| 6 | ? | ? | PUNCT | _ | 5 aye | punct |
| 7 | " | " | PUNCT | _ | 5 aye | punct |
The frames reader finds no event or fact in this sentence.
Sentence 3: ("Ken" means do you know, "wan" means one.)
The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)
| # | word | lemma | UPOS | features | head | relation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ( | ( | PUNCT | _ | 5 means | punct |
| 2 | " | " | PUNCT | _ | 3 Ken | punct |
| 3 | Ken | Ken | PROPN | Number=Sing | 5 means | nsubj |
| 4 | " | " | PUNCT | _ | 3 Ken | punct |
| 5 | means | mean | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | root | root |
| 6 | do | do | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=2 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | 8 know | aux |
| 7 | you | you | PRON | Case=Nom Person=2 PronType=Prs | 8 know | nsubj |
| 8 | know | know | VERB | VerbForm=Inf | 5 means | ccomp |
| 9 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 13 means | punct |
| 10 | " | " | PUNCT | _ | 11 wan | punct |
| 11 | wan | wan | NOUN | Number=Sing | 13 means | nsubj |
| 12 | " | " | PUNCT | _ | 11 wan | punct |
| 13 | means | mean | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | 5 means | conj |
| 14 | one | one | NUM | NumForm=Word NumType=Card | 13 means | obj |
| 15 | . | . | PUNCT | _ | 5 means | punct |
| 16 | ) | ) | PUNCT | _ | 5 means | punct |
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | mean | present | Ken | vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic | |||||
| 2 | know | present · do-support | you | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Experiencer | |||||
| 3 | mean | present | wan | one | vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent one=Topic |
Sentence 4: Is he right?
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 right | cop |
| 2 | he | he | PRON | Case=Nom Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 3 right | nsubj |
| 3 | right | right | ADJ | Degree=Pos | root | root |
| 4 | ? | ? | PUNCT | _ | 3 right | punct |
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | is | present | wan | right property | tree rules |
The options
Option 1
Yes, only swim
The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)
| # | word | lemma | UPOS | features | head | relation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Yes | yes | INTJ | Polarity=Pos | 4 swim | discourse |
| 2 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 1 Yes | punct |
| 3 | only | only | ADV | _ | 4 swim | advmod |
| 4 | swim | swim | VERB | Mood=Imp VerbForm=Fin | root | root |
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | swim | imperative | you not said here | vn run-51.3.2-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
Option 2
Yes, only can
The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)
| # | word | lemma | UPOS | features | head | relation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Yes | yes | INTJ | Polarity=Pos | 4 can | discourse |
| 2 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 1 Yes | punct |
| 3 | only | only | ADV | _ | 4 can | advmod |
| 4 | can | can | AUX | VerbForm=Fin | root | root |
The frames reader finds no event or fact in this sentence.
Option 3 · ← Mova's choice
No, there are three: I, can, swim
The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)
| # | word | lemma | UPOS | features | head | relation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | No | no | INTJ | Polarity=Neg | 4 are | discourse |
| 2 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 1 No | punct |
| 3 | there | there | PRON | PronType=Dem | 4 are | expl |
| 4 | are | be | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | 11 swim | advcl |
| 5 | three | three | NUM | NumForm=Word NumType=Card | 4 are | nsubj |
| 6 | : | : | PUNCT | _ | 9 can | punct |
| 7 | I | I | PRON | Case=Nom Number=Sing Person=1 PronType=Prs | 9 can | nsubj |
| 8 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 7 I | punct |
| 9 | can | can | AUX | VerbForm=Fin | 11 swim | aux |
| 10 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 9 can | punct |
| 11 | swim | swim | VERB | Mood=Imp VerbForm=Fin | root | root |
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | be | present | three | there | vn exist-47.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme | ||||
| 2 | swim | can | vn run-51.3.2-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
Option 4 · ✓ the right answer
No, there are two: can and swim
The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)
| # | word | lemma | UPOS | features | head | relation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | No | no | INTJ | Polarity=Neg | 4 are | discourse |
| 2 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 1 No | punct |
| 3 | there | there | PRON | PronType=Dem | 4 are | expl |
| 4 | are | be | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | 7 can | cop |
| 5 | two | two | NUM | NumForm=Word NumType=Card | 4 are | nsubj |
| 6 | : | : | PUNCT | _ | 7 can | punct |
| 7 | can | can | AUX | VerbForm=Fin | root | root |
| 8 | and | and | CCONJ | _ | 9 swim | cc |
| 9 | swim | swim | VERB | VerbForm=Inf | 7 can | conj |
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | swim | infinitive | vn run-51.3.2-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
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/language/11-grammar-puzzles-part-one/t6/