Hello and goodbye: the first words at the gate

Tests: 2 of 11 right · Exam: 1 of 4 right · Kind: plain · Understood: 8 of 15 · Run: 2026-10-18, commit f3c23ea72

Lesson 1 of the chinese street course of Mova's primary school, as Mova's small model took its tests: it had read this lesson and the ones before it and learned from their exercises. Each test shows the options in the order the student saw them, its choice, the right answer, the score of every option and why it chose. The lesson itself, sentence by sentence with trees and pragmatics: the lesson in the corpora.

Every question of this lesson and each of its options parsed by Mova, with trees and pragmatics: the lesson's questions in the corpora.

Test 1 · wrong ✗

«nee HOW means how are you, like english how» Which is right?

1. No, nǐ hǎo is hello, literally «you good» — ✓ the right answer · no support
2. No, it means goodbye — ← Mova's choice · score 8
3. Yes, it asks how you came here — no support
4. Yes, hǎo is just the English word «how» — no support

Why: It took the question to ask what something is like. It chose option 2 with score 8, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 1, line 12: «zàijiàn («dzye-JYEN», both falling) means goodbye, literally «again see»; it is fine for anyone, and if your voice rises at the end it sounds like a question.», reached through the remembered sentence the question matched. What matched: the same action «mean» (+4); the same thing acted on «goodbye» (+4). The right option, 1, found no support in what it remembers. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 2 · wrong ✗

You arrive at Ming's for a sleepover at 7 in the evening and say wǎn'ān to his mum. What went wrong?

1. Nothing, wǎn'ān is the usual good evening — score 5
2. wǎn'ān means «I'm hungry» — ← Mova's choice · score 7
3. wǎn'ān is only for babies — score 5
4. wǎn'ān is good night, for bedtime, not a hello — ✓ the right answer · score 5

Why: It took the question to ask who or what does it. It chose option 2 with score 7, against 5 for the next best. Its support: lesson 1, line 11: «wǎn'ān («wahn-AHN», two syllables wǎn and ān) means good night, only at bedtime or at the end of a late phone call, never as «good evening» when you arrive.», reached through the same lesson line as the sentence the question matched. What matched: it fills the role the question asks for (+3); the same action «mean» (+2); the same doer «wǎn'ān» (+2). The right option, 4, scored 5. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 3 · wrong ✗

What would happen if you said a big «hāi!» to Ming's grandad?

1. Nothing, hāi is the most polite hello — ← Mova's choice · score 4
2. It means «go away» in Chinese — score 2
3. It would sound a bit too cheeky; nín hǎo makes him beam — ✓ the right answer · score 2
4. He would not understand any English at all — score -4

Why: It took the question to ask what happens next. It chose option 1 with score 4, against 2 for the next best. Its support: lesson 1, line 8: «hāi, said high and level like English «hi», is borrowed from English and is for kids and young people, not for grandparents.», reached through what followed the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same doer «hāi» (+4). The right option, 3, scored 2. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 4 · right ✓

«ming said nǐ zǎo to me and i was already late lol» What could nǐ zǎo also mean?

1. You're early (or just morning!) — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · no support
2. You're in big trouble — no support
3. You're very late again — no support
4. You're tired — no support

Why: No option found support in what it remembers, so it guessed: it took the first option shown. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 5 · wrong ✗

It is Friday home time. Which is better than míngtiān jiàn?

1. wǎn'ān — no support
2. zǎoshang hǎo — no support
3. xīngqīyī jiàn (see you Monday) — ✓ the right answer · no support
4. huítóu jiàn lǎoshī (see you later) — ← Mova's choice · score 6

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 4 with score 6, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 1, line 15: «huítóu jiàn («HWAY-toe JYEN», literally «turn the head and see») is a friendly «see you later» for the same day, not for teachers.», reached through what was said in the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same action «see» (+4); the same property (+2). The right option, 3, found no support in what it remembers. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 6 · wrong ✗

You say zàijiàn with your voice going up at the end. How does it sound?

1. Like a very polite goodbye — ← Mova's choice · score 3
2. Like a question, «goodbye?» — ✓ the right answer · score 3
3. Like you are cross with them — no support
4. Like «good morning» — no support

Why: It took the question to ask what something is like. It chose option 1 with score 3, tied with another option at 3 (the first shown, or the one claiming less beyond what it knows, wins). Its support: lesson 1, line 12: «zàijiàn («dzye-JYEN», both falling) means goodbye, literally «again see»; it is fine for anyone, and if your voice rises at the end it sounds like a question.», reached through the same lesson line as the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same doer «zàijiàn» (+2); the same circumstance (+2). Against it: a different action (counts against) (-1). The right option, 2, scored 3. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 7 · wrong ✗

«his nan asked if i ate, i said no and now theres like 6 dishes» Why?

1. She thought you were rude — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. chī le ma is a greeting, but a «no» makes grannies feed you — ✓ the right answer · no support
3. Saying no means you want to stay overnight at their house — no support
4. It is a test of good manners at school — no support

Why: No option found support in what it remembers, so it guessed: it took the first option shown. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 8 · wrong ✗

A cartoon kid says zǎoshang hǎo at 4 in the afternoon. What would a real kid say?

1. míngtiān jiàn — ← Mova's choice · score 12
2. wǎn'ān — no support
3. nǐ hǎo — ✓ the right answer · no support
4. zǎo — no support

Why: It took the question to ask what it is done to. It chose option 1 with score 12, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 1, line 14: «míngtiān jiàn («MING-tyen JYEN») means see you tomorrow; míngtiān is tomorrow, so on a Friday people say xīngqīyī jiàn (see you Monday).», reached through the remembered sentence the question matched. What matched: it fills the role the question asks for (+6); the same action «say» (+4); the same thing acted on «xīngqīyī jiàn» (+4). Against it: a different doer (counts against) (-2). The right option, 3, found no support in what it remembers. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 9 · wrong ✗

«shut up, it's ní hǎo, not nǐ hǎo, you're saying it wrong» Who is right?

1. Only you; nǐ never ever changes, whatever comes next — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. Nobody; the word is nīn hǎo — no support
3. Only the grumpy kid; nǐ does not exist — no support
4. Both: it is written nǐ, but said rising before hǎo — ✓ the right answer · no support

Why: No option found support in what it remembers, so it guessed: it took the first option shown. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 10 · right ✓

Ming and you will meet again at the park after tea. What do you say at the gate?

1. wǎn'ān — no support
2. zǎoshang hǎo — no support
3. nín hǎo — score 8
4. huítóu jiàn — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 14

Why: It took the question to ask what it is done to. It chose option 4 with score 14, against 8 for the next best. Its support: lesson 1, line 14: «míngtiān jiàn («MING-tyen JYEN») means see you tomorrow; míngtiān is tomorrow, so on a Friday people say xīngqīyī jiàn (see you Monday).», reached through the remembered sentence the question matched. What matched: it fills the role the question asks for (+6); the same action «say» (+4); the same thing acted on «xīngqīyī jiàn» (+4). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 11 · wrong ✗

In a game a character greets the emperor with «hāi, bāibāi!». What is off?

1. Nothing, both are formal — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. bāibāi is the hello for emperors — no support
3. Both are casual English loans, and one of them is goodbye — ✓ the right answer · no support
4. hāi means «long live» — no support

Why: No option found support in what it remembers, so it guessed: it took the first option shown. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Exam question 1 · formal language · wrong ✗

Identify the greeting most appropriately addressed by a visiting child to the grandmother of his companion.

1. huítóu jiàn — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. hāi — no support
3. wǎn'ān — no support
4. nín hǎo — ✓ the right answer · no support

Why: Nothing it remembers matched the question, so it guessed: it took the first option shown. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Exam question 2 · formal language · right ✓

Select the response consistent with the established usage of the enquiry chī le ma.

1. It functions as a customary greeting rather than as an invitation to dine — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · no support
2. It is a valediction employed exclusively at night — no support
3. It is an enquiry regarding the hearer's state of health — no support
4. It constitutes a formal invitation to a banquet to be held that same evening — no support

Why: No option found support in what it remembers, so it guessed: it took the first option shown. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Exam question 3 · formal language · wrong ✗

Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the expression wǎn'ān?

1. It denotes the morning salutation of pupils — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. It is a valediction reserved for bedtime or the conclusion of a late conversation — ✓ the right answer · no support
3. It is an expression of gratitude for a meal — no support
4. It is the customary greeting upon arrival at the house of another in the evening hours — no support

Why: Nothing it remembers matched the question, so it guessed: it took the first option shown. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Exam question 4 · formal language · wrong ✗

Ascertain the phonetic phenomenon whereby the greeting nǐ hǎo is realised as ní hǎo in speech.

1. A dipping tone preceding another dipping tone is pronounced as a rising tone — ✓ the right answer · no support
2. The initial consonant is invariably omitted — no support
3. The second syllable is rendered in the neutral tone — no support
4. Interrogative intonation is applied to every greeting — ← Mova's choice · score 3

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 4 with score 3, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 1, line 16: «chī le ma? («CHR luh mah», the ch with the tongue curled back) means «have you eaten?»; grandparents and neighbours use it as a greeting, and the polite answer…», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same action «use» (+2); the same circumstance (+2). Against it: a different thing acted on (counts against) (-1). The right option, 1, found no support in what it remembers. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

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