Where English came from

Tests: 3 of 11 right · Exam: 1 of 4 right · Kind: ★ · Understood: 10 of 15 · Run: 2026-10-18, commit f3c23ea72

Lesson 22 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 · ★ · right ✓

Your mate goes "English has always been in England, it's English, innit." What's true?

1. It arrived over the sea with Germanic settlers about 1,500 years ago — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 2
2. It came with the Vikings first — no support
3. He's right, it has been spoken in England since the very first people — no support
4. It came from Latin-speaking Romans, who brought it about 2,000 years ago — no support

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 1 with score 2, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 22, line 1: «English was not always in England: about 1,500 years ago Angles, Saxons and Jutes sailed over the North Sea from what is now Denmark, northern Germany and the…», reached through the same lesson line as the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same property (+3); the same place «north sea» (+2). Against it: a different action (counts against) (-1); a different doer (counts against) (-2). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 2 · ★ · wrong ✗

Ollie reckons "the Normans banned English, that's why we talk French words". What's true?

1. English was banned, but came back secretly in 1100 — score 1
2. The Normans spoke English already — ← Mova's choice · score 5
3. English survived and borrowed many French words — ✓ the right answer · score 1
4. He's right, English was banned for about 300 years by law — score 1

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 2 with score 5, against 1 for the next best. Its support: lesson 22, line 11: «The Normans did not ban English; it lived on and took in thousands of French words, becoming Middle English, spoken from about 1100 to 1500.», reached through the same lesson line as the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same action «speak» (+4); the same thing acted on «middle english» (+1). The right option, 3, scored 1. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 3 · ★ · wrong ✗

What would happen if you went back 1,000 years and chatted to an English farmer?

1. You would both speak modern English with no trouble — no support
2. He would only use sign language — score 2
3. You would understand every single word he said — ← Mova's choice · score 3
4. You would struggle to understand each other — ✓ the right answer · no support

Why: It took the question to ask what happens next. It chose option 3 with score 3, against 2 for the next best. Its support: lesson 17, line 4: «Slang is often silly taken word by word: "the bee's knees" (1920s, excellent), "don't have a cow" (calm down), "skibidi" (often just a fun nonsense word); you…», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same action «read» (+2); the same thing acted on «whole phrase» (+2). Against it: a different doer (counts against) (-1). The right option, 4, found no support in what it remembers. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 4 · ★ · wrong ✗

Rosa's bro ("bro" means brother) says Middle English is "impossible, it's a different language". What's fairer?

1. With patience and some help you can guess a lot of it — ✓ the right answer · no support
2. It's just modern English with typos — score 1
3. He's right, nobody can read it — ← Mova's choice · score 4
4. It's actually just Latin — no support

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 3 with score 4, against 1 for the next best. Its support: lesson 13, line 7: «Middle English is English from about 1100 to 1500; in it the k in knight was said, and gh was a throaty sound like the ch in Scottish "loch".», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same action «say» (+3); the same thing acted on «english english» (+1). The right option, 1, found no support in what it remembers. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 5 · ★ · wrong ✗

Grandad says "back in my day words meant what they meant, forever." What's true?

1. Only slang words change, and proper dictionary words always stay the same — ← Mova's choice · score 7
2. He's right, words never change their meaning once they are in a dictionary — score 6
3. Words change meaning over time, like "meat" once meaning any food — ✓ the right answer · score 7
4. Words change only when a king orders it — score 4

Why: It took the question to ask what it is done to. It chose option 1 with score 7, tied with another option at 7 (the first shown, or the one claiming less beyond what it knows, wins). Its support: lesson 2, line 10: «The word "I" always has a capital letter in English.», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same property (+5); the same doer «word» (+2). The right option, 3, scored 7. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 6 · ★ · wrong ✗

In a game, a knight in 1300 says "bite" exactly like we do. What's off?

1. Knights could not speak, they only wrote — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. In 1300 "bite" sounded a bit like "beet" — ✓ the right answer · no support
3. Knights only spoke Latin — no support
4. Nothing, the sounds of words never change over time — 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 · ★ · right ✓

A tea shop sign says "Ye Olde Sweete Shoppe" and a lad laughs "they said YE back then lol". What's true?

1. The Y was just a decoration that sign painters liked to add — no support
2. He's right, people really said "ye" when they meant "the" — score 2
3. "Ye" meant "yes" in old times — no support
4. They said "the"; the Y stood for the old letter thorn — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 7

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 4 with score 7, against 2 for the next best. Its support: lesson 22, line 16: «In "Ye Olde Tea Shoppe" the Y stands for an old letter called thorn (þ), which made a "th" sound, so people always said "the".», reached through the same lesson line as the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same action «stand» (+4); the same doer «y» (+3). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 8 · ★ · right ✓

Your cousin from Yorkshire says "Shakespeare made up every word, he's mint." ("Mint" means great.) What's fairer?

1. He was very creative, but some of his "first" words were probably already spoken — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · no support
2. Yes, he invented all English words — no support
3. Yes, and he invented the alphabet too — no support
4. No, he never wrote any new words — 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 ✗

Dad says English is "the biggest language on Earth, end of." Which is true?

1. Spanish is the biggest by every measure, native speakers and learners alike — no support
2. French has the most speakers overall — no support
3. It depends: Mandarin has most native speakers, English most speakers overall — ✓ the right answer · no support
4. Dad is right: English has the most native speakers and the most speakers overall — ← Mova's choice · score 1

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 4 with score 1, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 22, line 18: «Mandarin Chinese has the most native speakers (people who learned it from birth); English has the most speakers in total if you count people who learned it lat…», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same thing acted on «most speakers» (+1); the same light verb (be, have, do, get, go) (+1). Against it: the same doer «english» (-1). The right option, 3, found no support in what it remembers. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 10 · ★ · wrong ✗

Why might English spelling be so weird today?

1. Printers chose new spellings at random every single day, just for fun — ← Mova's choice · score 5
2. Spelling got stuck by printers while the sounds kept changing — ✓ the right answer · score 4
3. English never had any rules at all, so everyone spelled however they wanted — score 2
4. Children changed the spellings for fun — score 4

Why: It took the question to ask why something happens (its cause). It chose option 1 with score 5, against 4 for the next best. Its support: lesson 22, line 15: «William Caxton brought the printing press to England in 1476; printers had to choose spellings, and many of their choices stuck.», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same action «choose» (+3); the same doer «printers» (+1); the same thing acted on «spellings» (+1). The right option, 2, scored 4. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 11 · ★ · wrong ✗

What would English be like if the Normans had never come?

1. It would be French — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. It would have no words at all for food, law or kings — no support
3. It would be exactly the same as it is today, word for word — no support
4. It would probably have far fewer French words — ✓ 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 1 · formal language · wrong ✗

Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the origins of the English language?

1. It was introduced by the Vikings in the eleventh century — ← Mova's choice · score 12
2. It derives directly and solely from Latin as spoken by the Roman garrisons stationed in Britain — score 9
3. It derives from the speech of Germanic settlers who arrived in Britain in the fifth century — ✓ the right answer · score 9
4. It was the original language of the indigenous Britons since the most remote ages of prehistory — score 9

Why: It took the question to ask who or what does it. It chose option 1 with score 12, against 9 for the next best. Its support: lesson 20, line 4: «English has no boss: unlike French, which has an official Académie Française, nobody in London decides what is proper; dictionaries record how people use words…», reached through the same lesson line as the sentence the question matched. What matched: it fills the role the question asks for (+5); the same doer «people» (+4); the same thing acted on «language» (+4). Against it: a different action (counts against) (-1). The right option, 3, scored 9. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Exam question 2 · formal language · wrong ✗

Identify the principal consequence for the English language of the Norman Conquest of 1066.

1. The adoption of French as the sole language of the populace — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. The disappearance of all Germanic vocabulary — no support
3. The incorporation of a very great number of French words — ✓ the right answer · no support
4. The total prohibition and extinction of English — 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 ✗

In respect of the inscription "Ye Olde Tea Shoppe", select the response consistent with the established facts.

1. The initial letter represents the obsolete character thorn and the word is pronounced "the" — ✓ the right answer · no support
2. The letter Y was a purely decorative addition of no significance, much favoured by sign painters — no support
3. The word was pronounced "ye" by all mediaeval speakers, precisely as the spelling plainly indicates — ← Mova's choice · score 5
4. The word signifies the pronoun "you" — no support

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 3 with score 5, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 5, line 13: «In parts of Yorkshire and the North some older speakers still say "tha" for you and "thine" for yours; these come from the old thou and thee.», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same action «say» (+3); the same circumstance (+3). 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

Exam question 4 · formal language · right ✓

Determine which language possesses the greatest number of native speakers.

1. Mandarin Chinese — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · no support
2. Spanish — no support
3. English — no support
4. Hindi — 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

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