Test 11 · ★★ · Idioms taken literally
Sam laughs "you've only got two ears, Mum!" Which idiom works the same way, by picturing body parts?
Mova's choice: option 2 · The right answer: option 2 · right ✓ · Who acts: Sam, you, idiom · What happens: laugh, get, work, picture · To what, where: two ears, same way, body parts · Speech: someone speaks here
This is test 11 · ★★ of lesson 25 «Idioms taken literally» 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: Sam laughs "you've only got two ears, Mum!"
The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)
| # | word | lemma | UPOS | features | head | relation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sam | Sam | PROPN | Number=Sing | 2 laughs | nsubj |
| 2 | laughs | laugh | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | root | root |
| 3 | " | " | PUNCT | _ | 7 got | punct |
| 4 | you | you | PRON | Case=Nom Person=2 PronType=Prs | 7 got | nsubj |
| 5 | 've | have | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=2 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | 7 got | aux |
| 6 | only | only | ADV | _ | 7 got | advmod |
| 7 | got | get | VERB | Tense=Past VerbForm=Part | 2 laughs | ccomp |
| 8 | two | two | NUM | NumForm=Word NumType=Card | 9 ears | nummod |
| 9 | ears | ear | NOUN | Number=Plur | 7 got | obj |
| 10 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 11 Mum | punct |
| 11 | Mum | mum | NOUN | Number=Sing | 9 ears | conj |
| 12 | ! | ! | PUNCT | _ | 7 got | punct |
| 13 | " | " | PUNCT | _ | 7 got | punct |
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | laugh | present | Sam | tree rules | |||||
| 2 | get in a quote | present · perfect | you | two ears and Mum | vn comprehend-87.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer ear=Stimulus |
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: Which idiom works the same way, by picturing body parts?
The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)
| # | word | lemma | UPOS | features | head | relation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Which | which | DET | PronType=Int | 2 idiom | det |
| 2 | idiom | idiom | NOUN | Number=Sing | 3 works | nsubj |
| 3 | works | work | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | root | root |
| 4 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 6 way | det |
| 5 | same | same | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 6 way | amod |
| 6 | way | way | NOUN | Number=Sing | 3 works | obl |
| 7 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 9 picturing | punct |
| 8 | by | by | SCONJ | _ | 9 picturing | mark |
| 9 | picturing | picture | VERB | Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part | 3 works | advcl |
| 10 | body | body | NOUN | Number=Sing | 11 parts | compound |
| 11 | parts | part | NOUN | Number=Plur | 9 picturing | obj |
| 12 | ? | ? | PUNCT | _ | 3 works | punct |
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | work | present | which idiom | the same way | vn employment-95.3 «NP V»: agent=Agent | ||||
| 2 | picture | gerund | which idiom not said here | body parts | vn characterize-29.2 «NP V NP S_ING»: agent=Agent part=Theme |
The options
Option 1
Raining cats and dogs
The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)
| # | word | lemma | UPOS | features | head | relation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Raining | rain | VERB | Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part | root | root |
| 2 | cats | cat | NOUN | Number=Plur | 1 Raining | obj |
| 3 | and | and | CCONJ | _ | 4 dogs | cc |
| 4 | dogs | dog | NOUN | Number=Plur | 2 cats | conj |
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | rain | gerund | cats and dogs | tree rules |
Option 2 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer
Give someone a hand
The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)
| # | word | lemma | UPOS | features | head | relation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Give | give | VERB | Mood=Imp VerbForm=Fin | root | root |
| 2 | someone | someone | PRON | Number=Sing PronType=Ind | 1 Give | obj |
| 3 | a | a | DET | Definite=Ind PronType=Art | 4 hand | det |
| 4 | hand | hand | NOUN | Number=Sing | 1 Give | obj |
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | give | imperative | you not said here | a hand | someone | vn give-13.1-1 «NP V NP-Dative NP»: agent=Agent someone=Recipient hand=Theme |
Option 3
Over the moon
The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)
| # | word | lemma | UPOS | features | head | relation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Over | over | ADP | _ | 3 moon | case |
| 2 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 3 moon | det |
| 3 | moon | moon | NOUN | Number=Sing | root | root |
The frames reader finds no event or fact in this sentence.
Option 4
Sick as a parrot
The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)
| # | word | lemma | UPOS | features | head | relation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sick | sick | ADJ | Degree=Pos | root | root |
| 2 | as | as | ADP | _ | 4 parrot | case |
| 3 | a | a | DET | Definite=Ind PronType=Art | 4 parrot | det |
| 4 | parrot | parrot | NOUN | Number=Sing | 1 Sick | obl |
The frames reader finds no event or fact in this sentence.
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/25-idioms-taken-literally/t11/