Test 3 · ★ · A bit nippy and not ideal: British understatement

On the motorway hard shoulder at night, your little brother wants to get out «cos Dad said it's not ideal, so it's not that bad». What do you tell him?

Mova's choice: option 1 · The right answer: option 1 · right ✓ · Who acts: little brother, Dad, shoulder, you · What happens: want, get out, say, not be, tell · To what, where: hard shoulder, Dad · Speech: someone speaks here

This is test 3 · ★ of lesson 49 «A bit nippy and not ideal: British understatement» 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: On the motorway hard shoulder at night, your little brother wants to get out «cos Dad said it's not ideal, so it's not that bad».

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	On	on	ADP	_	5 shoulder	case
2	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	5 shoulder	det
3	motorway	motorway	NOUN	Number=Sing	4 hard	obl:unmarked
4	hard	hard	ADJ	Degree=Pos	5 shoulder	amod
5	shoulder	shoulder	NOUN	Number=Sing	12 wants	obl
6	at	at	ADP	_	7 night	case
7	night	night	NOUN	Number=Sing	5 shoulder	nmod
8	,	,	PUNCT	_	5 shoulder	punct
9	your	your	PRON	Case=Gen Person=2 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs	11 brother	nmod:poss
10	little	little	ADJ	Degree=Pos	11 brother	amod
11	brother	brother	NOUN	Number=Sing	12 wants	nsubj
12	wants	want	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
13	to	to	PART	_	14 get	mark
14	get	get	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	12 wants	xcomp
15	out	out	ADV	_	14 get	advmod
16	«	«	PUNCT	_	19 said	punct
17	cos	cos	SCONJ	_	19 said	mark
18	Dad	Dad	PROPN	Number=Sing	19 said	nsubj
19	said	say	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	14 get	advcl
20	it	it	PRON	Case=Nom Gender=Neut Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	23 ideal	nsubj
21	's	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	23 ideal	cop
22	not	not	PART	Polarity=Neg	23 ideal	advmod
23	ideal	ideal	ADJ	Degree=Pos	19 said	ccomp
24	,	,	PUNCT	_	30 bad	punct
25	so	so	ADV	_	30 bad	advmod
26	it	it	PRON	Case=Nom Gender=Neut Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	30 bad	nsubj
27	's	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	30 bad	cop
28	not	not	PART	Polarity=Neg	30 bad	advmod
29	that	that	ADV	_	30 bad	advmod
30	bad	bad	ADJ	Degree=Pos	12 wants	parataxis
31	»	»	PUNCT	_	30 bad	punct
32	.	.	PUNCT	_	12 wants	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	where	other	roles by
1	want	present	your little brother	the hard shoulder at night		vn want-32.1-1-1 «NP V NP S_INF»: agent=Pivot clause=Theme
2	get out not said to happen	to-infinitive	your little brother not said here		out property	vn withdraw-82-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent
3	say speech: assert in a quote	past	Dad			vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent
4	not is in a quote	present	shoulder		ideal property	tree rules
5	not is in a quote	present	shoulder		bad, that property	tree rules

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: What do you tell him?

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	What	what	PRON	PronType=Int	4 tell	obj
2	do	do	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=2 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	4 tell	aux
3	you	you	PRON	Case=Nom Person=2 PronType=Prs	4 tell	nsubj
4	tell	tell	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	root	root
5	him	he	PRON	Case=Acc Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	4 tell	iobj
6	?	?	PUNCT	_	4 tell	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	tell speech: assert	present · do-support	you		Dad				vn transfer_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP-Dative NP»: agent=Agent he=Recipient what=Topic

The options

Option 1 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer

«Not ideal» here means really bad; stay put and do what the grown-ups say

The tree, 15 words

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	«	«	PUNCT	_	3 ideal	punct
2	Not	not	PART	Polarity=Neg	3 ideal	advmod
3	ideal	ideal	ADJ	Degree=Pos	6 means	nsubj
4	»	»	PUNCT	_	3 ideal	punct
5	here	here	ADV	PronType=Dem	3 ideal	advmod
6	means	mean	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
7	really	really	ADV	_	8 bad	advmod
8	bad	bad	ADJ	Degree=Pos	6 means	xcomp
9	;	;	PUNCT	_	10 stay	punct
10	stay	stay	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	6 means	conj
11	put	put	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	10 stay	xcomp
12	and	and	CCONJ	_	13 do	cc
13	do	do	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	11 put	conj
14	what	what	PRON	PronType=Int	19 say	obj
15	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	18 ups	det
16	grown	grow	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	18 ups	amod
17	-	-	PUNCT	_	16 grown	punct
18	ups	up	NOUN	Number=Plur	19 say	nsubj
19	say	say	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	13 do	ccomp

#	verb	tense, mood	who	other	roles by
1	mean	present	ideal	bad property	vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V S»: agent=Agent
2	stay	infinitive	ideal not said here		tree rules
3	put	infinitive	ideal not said here		vn invest-13.5.4-1 «NP V PP»: agent=Agent
4	do	infinitive	ideal not said here		tree rules
5	grow	participle			vn appear-48.1.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme
6	say speech: assert	present	the grown ups		vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V NP.topic»: agent=Agent what=Topic

Option 2

He can get out, but only to play on the grass for a bit

The tree, 14 words

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	He	he	PRON	Case=Nom Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	3 get	nsubj
2	can	can	AUX	VerbForm=Fin	3 get	aux
3	get	get	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	root	root
4	out	out	ADV	_	3 get	advmod
5	,	,	PUNCT	_	9 play	punct
6	but	but	CCONJ	_	9 play	cc
7	only	only	ADV	_	9 play	advmod
8	to	to	PART	_	9 play	mark
9	play	play	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	3 get	conj
10	on	on	ADP	_	12 grass	case
11	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	12 grass	det
12	grass	grass	NOUN	Number=Sing	9 play	obl
13	for	for	ADP	_	15 bit	case
14	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	15 bit	det
15	bit	bit	NOUN	Number=Sing	9 play	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	get out	can	He					out property	vn withdraw-82-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent
2	play	to-infinitive	He not said here			the grass		for a bit	vn use-105.1 «NP V NP PP.predicate»: agent=Agent for bit=Eventuality

Option 3

He should wait until the rain stops, then go for a walk

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	He	he	PRON	Case=Nom Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	3 wait	nsubj
2	should	should	AUX	VerbForm=Fin	3 wait	aux
3	wait	wait	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	root	root
4	until	until	SCONJ	_	7 stops	mark
5	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	6 rain	det
6	rain	rain	NOUN	Number=Sing	7 stops	nsubj
7	stops	stop	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	3 wait	advcl
8	,	,	PUNCT	_	10 go	punct
9	then	then	ADV	PronType=Dem	10 go	advmod
10	go	go	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	3 wait	conj
11	for	for	ADP	_	13 walk	case
12	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	13 walk	det
13	walk	walk	NOUN	Number=Sing	10 go	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	when	other	roles by
1	wait	should	He			vn exist-47.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme
2	stop	present	the rain			vn stop-55.4-1-1 «NP.eventuality V»: agent=Eventuality
3	go	infinitive	He not said here	then	for a walk	vn help-72.1-2 «NP V PP.beneficiary»: agent=Agent for walk=Beneficiary

Option 4

He is right, «not ideal» means everything is fine and safe, so he can get out

The tree, 16 words

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	He	he	PRON	Case=Nom Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	3 right	nsubj
2	is	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	3 right	cop
3	right	right	ADJ	Degree=Pos	root	root
4	,	,	PUNCT	_	9 means	punct
5	«	«	PUNCT	_	7 ideal	punct
6	not	not	PART	Polarity=Neg	7 ideal	advmod
7	ideal	ideal	ADJ	Degree=Pos	9 means	nsubj
8	»	»	PUNCT	_	7 ideal	punct
9	means	mean	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	3 right	parataxis
10	everything	everything	PRON	Number=Sing PronType=Tot	12 fine	nsubj
11	is	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	12 fine	cop
12	fine	fine	ADJ	Degree=Pos	9 means	ccomp
13	and	and	CCONJ	_	14 safe	cc
14	safe	safe	ADJ	Degree=Pos	12 fine	conj
15	,	,	PUNCT	_	19 get	punct
16	so	so	ADV	_	19 get	advmod
17	he	he	PRON	Case=Nom Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	19 get	nsubj
18	can	can	AUX	VerbForm=Fin	19 get	aux
19	get	get	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	3 right	conj
20	out	out	ADV	_	19 get	advmod

#	verb	tense, mood	who	other	roles by
1	is	present	He	right property	tree rules
2	mean	present	ideal		vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V S»: agent=Agent
3	is	present	everything	fine property	tree rules
4	be		everything not said here		tree rules
5	get out	can	he	out property	vn withdraw-82-1 «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.

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