Names and "how old are you?"

Tests: 4 of 11 right · Exam: 2 of 4 right · Kind: plain · Understood: 7 of 15 · Run: 2026-10-18, commit f3c23ea72

Lesson 5 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 ✗

«ask his nan nǐ jǐ suì le, it's how you ask age» What is wrong?

1. Nothing, it is the perfect way to ask any granny her age — ← Mova's choice · score 8
2. You must never ask age in Chinese — score 2
3. It means «what's your name» — no support
4. That form is for kids; to her it's nín duō dà niánjì le? — ✓ the right answer · no support

Why: It took the question to ask what something is like. It chose option 1 with score 8, against 2 for the next best. Its support: lesson 5, line 4: «Asking ages is different too. Kids ask «nǐ jǐ suì le?» but to a granny people say the very polite «nín duō dà niánjì le?», and in Chinese culture she may be pr…», reached through the remembered sentence the question matched. What matched: the same action «ask» (+4); the same thing acted on «ages» (+4). The right option, 4, found no support in what it remembers. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 2 · right ✓

You answer «nín guì xìng?» with «wǒ guì xìng Smith». Why do adults smile?

1. You called your own name honourable — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · no support
2. You said goodbye — no support
3. You said «Smith» with a tone — no support
4. You told them your age instead of your name — 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 3 · wrong ✗

«Wáng Míng, nǐ guò lái!» his mum shouts. What is likely?

1. She forgot his name — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. He's in trouble — the full name! — ✓ the right answer · no support
3. She is introducing him to you and your mum — no support
4. She is calling his dad — 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 4 · right ✓

Ming says «my dad, she's at work». What is going on?

1. Mandarin tā is he and she, so he slipped — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · no support
2. Ming means his mum — no support
3. It's a rude joke — no support
4. Ming doesn't really know who his dad is — 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 · right ✓

«his name's Míng Wáng innit, Míng first» Which is right?

1. No, the family name Wáng comes first: Wáng Míng — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 10
2. Yes, Chinese names always go given name first, like ours — score 10
3. Yes, Míng is the family name — score 8
4. No, it's Wang-Ming-Wang — no support

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 1 with score 10, tied with another option at 10 (the first shown, or the one claiming less beyond what it knows, wins). Its support: lesson 5, line 16: «In Wáng Míng the family name Wáng comes first and the given name Míng second.», reached through the remembered sentence the question matched. What matched: the same action «come» (+4); the same doer «family name» (+4); the same property (+2). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 6 · wrong ✗

What would happen if you called Ming's grandad «Xiǎo Wáng»?

1. It means «grandad» — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. He would be delighted to feel so young again — no support
3. It means «hello» — no support
4. It would sound very wrong; Xiǎo is for younger people — ✓ 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 7 · wrong ✗

Ming says «wǒ jiù suì» with a falling jiù. What did you hear?

1. He is nine, it's the very same thing — no support
2. He said his name — ← Mova's choice · score 5
3. jiù is «just/then», not nine (jiǔ) — ✓ the right answer · no support
4. He is ten — no support

Why: It took the question to ask what it is done to. It chose option 2 with score 5, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 5, line 6: «wǒ jiào ... («waw JYOW») means my name is ...; jiào falls, while jiǎo (foot) and the jiǎo in jiǎozi (dumplings) dip.», reached through a sentence linked to the one the question matched. What matched: it fills the role the question asks for (+4); the same thing acted on «name» (+3). Against it: a different action (counts against) (-1); a different doer (counts against) (-1). The right option, 3, found no support in what it remembers. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 8 · wrong ✗

At the park a lady calls a man «Lǎo Lǐ!». Is she being rude?

1. Yes, it's a swear word — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. Yes, she's calling him old and ugly — no support
3. No, she is his granddaughter — no support
4. No, lǎo here is warm, like «mate» — ✓ 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 9 · wrong ✗

In a cartoon an English boy asks a teacher «nǐ jiào shénme míngzi?». What is off?

1. Nothing, it's the most polite way to ask a teacher — no support
2. He said goodbye — no support
3. He asked her age — ← Mova's choice · score 4
4. Too direct to a grown-up; adults ask you — ✓ the right answer · no support

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 3 with score 4, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 5, line 4: «Asking ages is different too. Kids ask «nǐ jǐ suì le?» but to a granny people say the very polite «nín duō dà niánjì le?», and in Chinese culture she may be pr…», reached through the same lesson line as the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same action «ask» (+2); the same thing acted on «ages» (+2). The right option, 4, found no support in what it remembers. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 10 · wrong ✗

«wǒ jiǎo Sam» with a dip — what does Ming tease you about?

1. Dipping jiǎo is foot, not «am called» — ✓ the right answer · no support
2. You said goodbye — no support
3. You said your age — no support
4. Sam is not a Chinese name — ← Mova's choice · score 2

Why: It took the question to ask what it is done to. It chose option 4 with score 2, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 5, line 2: «Chinese names put the family name first. Ming's full name is Wáng Míng: Wáng is the whole family's name, Míng is his own, and when his mum shouts «Wáng Míng!»…», reached through the same lesson line as the sentence the question matched. What matched: it fills the role the question asks for (+2); the same thing acted on «family name» (+1). Against it: a different doer (counts against) (-1). The right option, 1, found no support in what it remembers. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 11 · right ✓

Ming's granny proudly says «bāshí le!». What did she tell you?

1. She is eighty — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 8
2. She is only eight — no support
3. She's very hungry — no support
4. She's going out — no support

Why: It took the question to ask what it is done to. It chose option 1 with score 8, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 5, line 4: «Asking ages is different too. Kids ask «nǐ jǐ suì le?» but to a granny people say the very polite «nín duō dà niánjì le?», and in Chinese culture she may be pr…», reached through the remembered sentence the question matched. What matched: it fills the role the question asks for (+6); the same thing acted on «bāshí le» (+4). Against it: a different doer (counts against) (-2). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Exam question 1 · formal language · right ✓

Identify the order in which the components of the name Wáng Míng are presented.

1. The names are interchangeable without distinction — no support
2. The family name precedes the given name — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 8
3. The given name precedes the family name — score 8
4. The order is determined by the season — no support

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 2 with score 8, tied with another option at 8 (the first shown, or the one claiming less beyond what it knows, wins). Its support: lesson 5, line 2: «Chinese names put the family name first. Ming's full name is Wáng Míng: Wáng is the whole family's name, Míng is his own, and when his mum shouts «Wáng Míng!»…», reached through the remembered sentence the question matched. What matched: the same doer «wáng» (+4); the same thing acted on «name» (+4). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Exam question 2 · formal language · wrong ✗

Ascertain the appropriate reply of a person asked nín guì xìng.

1. wǒ jiǔ suì — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. wǒ guì xìng followed by the surname — no support
3. nǐ jiào shénme míngzi — no support
4. wǒ xìng followed by the surname — ✓ 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

Exam question 3 · formal language · right ✓

Select the response consistent with the established usage of the enquiry nǐ jǐ suì le.

1. It is employed in enquiring the age of children and young persons — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · no support
2. It is the most deferential enquiry addressed to elders — no support
3. It is an enquiry regarding a person's surname — no support
4. It is a valediction among adults — 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 4 · formal language · wrong ✗

Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the appellation Lǎo Lǐ?

1. It is an insult concerning the age of the addressee — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. It is an affectionate form employed by adults for a man of comparable or greater age — ✓ the right answer · no support
3. It is the customary form by which children address adults — no support
4. It designates a man younger than the speaker — 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

This page in Markdown → https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/school-run/chinese-street/5-names-and-how-old/