---
title: Dad, laughing on the phone: "Gaz! Twenty years, mate, it's like we n… — Being a good grown-up · tree and pragmatics
description: Dad, laughing on the phone: "Gaz! Twenty years, mate, it's like we never stopped talking!" What is happening? Test 4 · ★★ of lesson 40 «Being a good grown-up» of the adult life course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each option; Mova's choice 
---

<!-- md -->
[Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/adult-life/40-being-a-good-grown-up/t4/)

<!-- crumbs -->
[home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/) / [questions](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/) / [Adult life](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/adult-life/) / [Being a good grown-up](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/adult-life/40-being-a-good-grown-up/) / t4

# Test 4 · ★★ · Being a good grown-up

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Dad, laughing on the phone: "Gaz! Twenty years, mate, it's like we never stopped talking!" What is happening?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 3 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** mate · **What happens:** laugh, not be, talk, happen · **To what, where:** phone

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 4 · ★★ of lesson 40 «Being a good grown-up» of the adult life 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](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/school-run/adult-life/40-being-a-good-grown-up/#t4).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* Dad, laughing on the phone: "Gaz!

```conllu
# sent_id = question:adult-life:40-being-a-good-grown-up:t4:1
# text = Dad, laughing on the phone: "Gaz!
1	Dad	dad	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	3	punct	_	_
3	laughing	laugh	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	1	conj	_	_
4	on	on	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	phone	phone	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	:	:	PUNCT	:	_	9	punct	_	_
8	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	9	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	Gaz	Gaz	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	!	!	PUNCT	.	_	9	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **laugh** | gerund |  |  |  | the phone |  |  | vn nonverbal\_expression-40.2 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

<!-- .note -->
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.

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 2:* Twenty years, mate, it's like we never stopped talking!"

```conllu
# sent_id = question:adult-life:40-being-a-good-grown-up:t4:2
# text = Twenty years, mate, it's like we never stopped talking!"
1	Twenty	twenty	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	2	nummod	_	_
2	years	year	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	11	obl:unmarked	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	4	punct	_	_
4	mate	mate	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	2	punct	_	_
6	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	11	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	's	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	11	cop	_	_
8	like	like	SCONJ	IN	_	11	mark	_	_
9	we	we	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=1|PronType=Prs	11	nsubj	_	_
10	never	never	ADV	RB	PronType=Neg	11	advmod	_	_
11	stopped	stop	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
12	talking	talk	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	11	xcomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	!	!	PUNCT	.	_	12	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	11	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **is** | present | mate |  |  |  | year | stop *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **talk** | gerund | mate *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn talk-37.5 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 3:* What is happening?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:adult-life:40-being-a-good-grown-up:t4:3
# text = What is happening?
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	3	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux	_	_
3	happening	happen	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **happen** | present · progressive |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn occur-48.3-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 · ← Mova's choice {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Dad being told off by his boss

```conllu
# sent_id = question:adult-life:40-being-a-good-grown-up:t4:o1:1
# text = Dad being told off by his boss
1	Dad	dad	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj:pass	_	_
2	being	be	AUX	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	3	aux:pass	_	_
3	told	tell	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
4	off	off	ADP	RP	_	3	compound:prt	_	_
5	by	by	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	7	nmod:poss	_	_
7	boss	boss	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **tell off** *speech: assert* | gerund · passive | his boss | Dad |  |  |  |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP.recipient»: agent=Agent subject=Recipient |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A stranger on the phone pretending to know Dad

```conllu
# sent_id = question:adult-life:40-being-a-good-grown-up:t4:o2:1
# text = A stranger on the phone pretending to know Dad
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	stranger	stranger	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	on	on	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	phone	phone	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	_
6	pretending	pretend	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	2	acl	_	_
7	to	to	PART	TO	_	8	mark	_	_
8	know	know	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	6	xcomp	_	_
9	Dad	dad	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **pretend** | gerund | a stranger on the phone *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **know** | to-infinitive | a stranger on the phone *not said here* | Dad |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1-1 «NP V NP PP.attribute»: agent=Experiencer dad=Stimulus |

### Option 3 · ✓ the right answer {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
An old friend picking up again after years apart

```conllu
# sent_id = question:adult-life:40-being-a-good-grown-up:t4:o3:1
# text = An old friend picking up again after years apart
1	An	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	old	old	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	friend	friend	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
4	picking	pick	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	3	acl	_	_
5	up	up	ADP	RP	_	4	compound:prt	_	_
6	again	again	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
7	after	after	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
8	years	year	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obl	_	_
9	apart	apart	ADV	RB	_	8	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **pick up** | gerund | a old friend *not said here* |  |  |  | again; year |  | vn discover-84-1 «NP V PP.topic S\_ING»: agent=Agent |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A scam call trying to steal money from Dad's bank account

```conllu
# sent_id = question:adult-life:40-being-a-good-grown-up:t4:o4:1
# text = A scam call trying to steal money from Dad's bank account
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	scam	scam	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	compound	_	_
3	call	call	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
4	trying	try	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	3	acl	_	_
5	to	to	PART	TO	_	6	mark	_	_
6	steal	steal	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	xcomp	_	_
7	money	money	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obj	_	_
8	from	from	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
9	Dad	Dad	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	12	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	's	's	PART	POS	_	9	case	_	_
11	bank	bank	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	compound	_	_
12	account	account	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **try** | gerund | a scam call *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn try-61.1 «NP V S\_INF»: agent=Agent clause=Eventuality |
| 2 | **steal** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive | a scam call *not said here* | money |  | Dad's bank account |  |  | vn steal-10.5-1 «NP V NP PP.source»: agent=Agent money=Theme from account=Source |
| 3 | **account** |  | Dad |  |  |  |  |  | nom account «communication transitive»: poss=agent |

<!-- div src -->

**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.

<!-- /div -->

<!-- pn -->
- ← previous: [Being a good grown-up, test 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/adult-life/40-being-a-good-grown-up/t3/)
- next →: [Being a good grown-up, test 5](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/adult-life/40-being-a-good-grown-up/t5/)
- ↑ back to [Being a good grown-up](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/adult-life/40-being-a-good-grown-up/)