Nouns: the names of things, people, places and ideas

Tests: 6 of 11 right · Exam: 3 of 4 right · Kind: plain · Understood: 8 of 15 · Run: 2026-10-18, commit f3c23ea72

Lesson 2 of the language 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 ✗

Your mate goes "fear isn't a noun bro, you can't pick it up." What's the best reply?

1. Fear is only a verb, like "I fear" — no support
2. He's right, nouns must be solid things you can pick up — no support
3. It names a feeling, so it is an abstract noun — ✓ the right answer · no support
4. Fear is a proper noun with a capital F — ← Mova's choice · score 4

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 4 with score 4, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 2, line 3: «A good test: can you put "the" or "some" in front of it, and does it name something? "The happiness", "some fear" work, so happiness and fear are nouns, even t…», reached through the remembered sentence the question matched. What matched: the same doer «happiness» (+2); the same thing acted on «nouns» (+2). The right option, 3, found no support in what it remembers. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 2 · right ✓

Nan texts "meet u in leeds on friday x". If you wrote it up properly for school, which words would you capitalise?

1. Leeds and Friday — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · no support
2. none, texts and school are the same — no support
3. Friday only — no support
4. meet and leeds — 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 · right ✓

A lad from Liverpool says "our kid's sound, he made me a chip butty." ("Sound" means nice, decent.) What happened?

1. His brother, a nice lad, made him a chip sandwich — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · no support
2. His friend made a loud noise with chips — no support
3. His kid made him a chip shop — no support
4. His brother sold him some chips from a sandwich shop — 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 · wrong ✗

Your sister rolls her eyes: "less sweets, fewer sweets, who cares, innit?" What's the fair answer?

1. Fewer is only used for money — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. Less is always right and fewer is old-fashioned — no support
3. In school writing say fewer for things you count, and don't bully people over it — ✓ the right answer · no support
4. It's a terrible mistake that makes you sound stupid, so always correct people loudly — 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

Test 5 · wrong ✗

What would happen if a word could never change its class?

1. All nouns would turn into verbs — ← Mova's choice · score 2
2. Nothing at all would change in English — no support
3. Sentences would lose their capital letters — no support
4. "Run" couldn't be both a thing and an action, so we'd need more words — ✓ the right answer · score 2

Why: It took the question to ask what happens next. It chose option 1 with score 2, tied with another option at 2 (the first shown, or the one claiming less beyond what it knows, wins). Its support: lesson 2, line 4: «The same word can change jobs: in "I run fast" run is a verb, but in "The run was long" it is a noun, because now it names a thing.», reached through what followed the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same doer «noun» (+4). Against it: a different action (counts against) (-2). The right option, 4, scored 2. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 6 · wrong ✗

A cartoon narrator says "Look, a murder of crows!" and everyone in the park nods. Is that how people really talk?

1. No, it's an old fun name; most people just say "a lot of crows" — ✓ the right answer · no support
2. Yes, everyone uses it every day — ← Mova's choice · score 3
3. No, the right name is "a flock of murders", as every bird book says — no support
4. Yes, it is the only correct word — no support

Why: It took the question to ask what something is like. It chose option 2 with score 3, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 1, line 9: «Grammar is the set of rules for how words fit together; everyone who speaks a language already uses its grammar.», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same action «use» (+2); the same doer «everyone» (+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

Test 7 · right ✓

A Gen Alpha kid says "new words? no cap, that's sus, all words are mega old." ("Sus" means suspicious, doubtful.) What's true?

1. He's right, nobody can make new words — score 8
2. New words are made all the time, like spork and brunch — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 10
3. New words only come into English from other languages now — score 4
4. Only teachers are allowed to make new words — score 5

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 2 with score 10, against 8 for the next best. Its support: lesson 2, line 17: «A blend is a new word made from parts of two words, like spork, brunch and smog.», reached through the remembered sentence the question matched. What matched: the same action «make» (+4); the same circumstance (+4); the same thing acted on «new word» (+2). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 8 · wrong ✗

Rory says "maths ends in s, so it's 'maths are hard'." What's the right reply?

1. Maths takes a singular verb: "maths is hard" — ✓ the right answer · score 3
2. He's right, every word ending in s is plural — ← Mova's choice · score 10
3. Maths has no verb at all — no support
4. It should be "math are hard" — no support

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 2 with score 10, against 3 for the next best. Its support: lesson 2, line 15: «Some nouns end in s but take a singular verb, like "the news is" and "maths is"; some are always plural, like trousers, scissors and glasses, because they have…», reached through the remembered sentence the question matched. What matched: the same action «end» (+4); the same place «s» (+4); the same doer «nouns» (+2). The right option, 1, scored 3. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 9 · right ✓

An American gran says "Your family are lovely" sounds weird. Is the British version wrong?

1. Yes, family can never take "are" — no support
2. No, but only in poems — no support
3. No, both forms are correct in their own country — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 3
4. Yes, British English is always wrong — no support

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 3 with score 3, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 2, line 16: «With group nouns like team or family, British English often says "the team are" and American English usually says "the team is"; both are correct in their own…», reached through the same lesson line as the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same place «own country» (+2); the same property (+1); the same light verb (be, have, do, get, go) (+1). Against it: a different doer (counts against) (-1). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 10 · right ✓

Grace says "scissors is sharp". Which is the usual form?

1. The scissors are sharp — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · no support
2. The scissor are sharp — no support
3. The scissors is sharp — no support
4. The scissor is sharps — 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 11 · right ✓

Is "smog" a noun?

1. Yes, a blend of smoke and fog — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · no support
2. No, it is a verb meaning to smoke — no support
3. No, it is a made-up spelling mistake — no support
4. Yes, a proper noun, the name of a city — 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 · right ✓

Select the response that correctly enumerates the nouns contained in the sentence "The cat sat on the mat in the kitchen".

1. cat, mat and kitchen — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · no support
2. cat, sat and in — no support
3. the, sat and on — no support
4. mat, on and the — 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 2 · formal language · wrong ✗

Which of the following statements most accurately characterises an abstract noun?

1. A noun designating a particular person or locality within a nation — score 8
2. A noun employed exclusively in scientific discourse — no support
3. A noun designating an idea or emotion not perceptible by touch — ✓ the right answer · score 8
4. A noun designating a particular person or locality — ← Mova's choice · score 8

Why: It took the question to ask who or what does it. It chose option 4 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 2, line 4: «The same word can change jobs: in "I run fast" run is a verb, but in "The run was long" it is a noun, because now it names a thing.», reached through the remembered sentence the question matched. What matched: it fills the role the question asks for (+6); the same doer «word» (+4). Against it: a different thing acted on (counts against) (-2). The right option, 3, scored 8. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Exam question 3 · formal language · right ✓

Pursuant to the conventions of careful written English, identify the correctly formulated expression.

1. Fewer sweets and less sugar — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · no support
2. Fewer sugar and fewer sweets — no support
3. Less sweets and fewer sugar — no support
4. Less sweets and less sugars — 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 · right ✓

In respect of the expressions "the team are" and "the team is", which statement is consistent with the established facts?

1. The former is common in British usage and the latter in American usage, and both are acceptable — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 6
2. The former is invariably erroneous in every variety of English — no support
3. The latter is invariably erroneous in every variety of English — no support
4. Both expressions are erroneous and ought to be avoided — no support

Why: It took the question to ask who or what does it. It chose option 1 with score 6, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 2, line 16: «With group nouns like team or family, British English often says "the team are" and American English usually says "the team is"; both are correct in their own…», 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 doer «both» (+2); the same light verb (be, have, do, get, go) (+1). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

This page in Markdown → https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/school-run/language/2-nouns-names-of-things-people-places-ideas/