---
title: Overheard on the phone: "Look, I've only paid the minimum for two ye… — Borrowing and debt · tree and pragmatics
description: Overheard on the phone: "Look, I've only paid the minimum for two years and it's barely gone down!" Why? Test 2 · ★★ of lesson 8 «Borrowing and debt» 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 was wrong
---

<!-- md -->
[Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/adult-life/8-borrowing-and-debt/t2/)

<!-- 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/) / [Borrowing and debt](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/adult-life/8-borrowing-and-debt/) / t2

# Test 2 · ★★ · Borrowing and debt

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Overheard on the phone: "Look, I've only paid the minimum for two years and it's barely gone down!" Why?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 3 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** I, minimum · **What happens:** overhear, look, pay, go down · **To what, where:** phone, minimum · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 2 · ★★ of lesson 8 «Borrowing and debt» 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/8-borrowing-and-debt/#t2).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* Overheard on the phone: "Look, I've only paid the minimum for two years and it's barely gone down!"

```conllu
# sent_id = question:adult-life:8-borrowing-and-debt:t2:1
# text = Overheard on the phone: "Look, I've only paid the minimum for two years and it's barely gone down!"
1	Overheard	overhear	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
2	on	on	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	phone	phone	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	:	:	PUNCT	:	_	7	punct	_	_
6	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	7	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	Look	look	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	1	parataxis	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	12	punct	_	_
9	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	12	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	've	have	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	12	aux	_	_
11	only	only	ADV	RB	_	12	advmod	_	_
12	paid	pay	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	7	parataxis	_	_
13	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	14	det	_	_
14	minimum	minimum	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	obj	_	_
15	for	for	ADP	IN	_	17	case	_	_
16	two	two	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	17	nummod	_	_
17	years	year	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	12	obl	_	_
18	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	22	cc	_	_
19	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	22	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
20	's	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	22	aux	_	_
21	barely	barely	ADV	RB	_	22	advmod	_	_
22	gone	go	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	12	conj	_	_
23	down	down	ADP	RP	_	22	compound:prt	_	SpaceAfter=No
24	!	!	PUNCT	.	_	7	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
25	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	7	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **overhear** | participle |  |  |  | the phone |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **look** *in a quote* | infinitive |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn stimulus\_subject-30.4 «NP V PP.attribute»: agent=Stimulus |
| 3 | **pay** *in a quote* | present · perfect | I | the minimum |  |  | year |  | vn pay-68-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent minimum=Asset |
| 4 | **go down** *in a quote* | present · passive | minimum |  |  |  |  | barely *property* | vn calibratable\_cos-45.6.1-1 «NP.attribute V»: agent=Attribute |

<!-- .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:* Why?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:adult-life:8-borrowing-and-debt:t2:2
# text = Why?
1	Why	why	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .note -->
The frames reader finds no event or fact in this sentence.

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 · ← Mova's choice {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The bank forgot to take his payments for two whole years

```conllu
# sent_id = question:adult-life:8-borrowing-and-debt:t2:o1:1
# text = The bank forgot to take his payments for two whole years
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	bank	bank	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	forgot	forget	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	to	to	PART	TO	_	5	mark	_	_
5	take	take	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	xcomp	_	_
6	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	7	nmod:poss	_	_
7	payments	payment	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	obj	_	_
8	for	for	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
9	two	two	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	11	nummod	_	_
10	whole	whole	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	11	amod	_	_
11	years	year	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **forget** | past | the bank |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **not** **take** | to-infinitive | the bank *not said here* | bank's payments |  |  | year |  | vn bring-11.3 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent payment=Theme |
| 3 | **pay** |  | bank |  |  |  |  |  | nom payment «possession transitive»: poss=agent |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Minimum payments cancel each other out

```conllu
# sent_id = question:adult-life:8-borrowing-and-debt:t2:o2:1
# text = Minimum payments cancel each other out
1	Minimum	minimum	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	amod	_	_
2	payments	payment	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj	_	_
3	cancel	cancel	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	each	each	DET	DT	ExtPos=PRON|PronType=Rcp	3	obj	_	_
5	other	other	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	fixed	_	_
6	out	out	ADP	RP	_	3	compound:prt	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **cancel out** | present | Minimum payments | each |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The minimum mostly paid the interest, not the debt

```conllu
# sent_id = question:adult-life:8-borrowing-and-debt:t2:o3:1
# text = The minimum mostly paid the interest, not the debt
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	minimum	minimum	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
3	mostly	mostly	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
4	paid	pay	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	interest	interest	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	10	punct	_	_
8	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	10	advmod	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	debt	debt	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **pay** | past | the minimum | the interest |  |  |  | the debt *obl*; mostly *property* | vn pay-68-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent interest=Asset |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The debt grows only on weekends

```conllu
# sent_id = question:adult-life:8-borrowing-and-debt:t2:o4:1
# text = The debt grows only on weekends
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	debt	debt	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	grows	grow	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	only	only	ADV	RB	_	6	advmod	_	_
5	on	on	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	weekends	weekend	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **grow** | present | the debt |  |  |  | weekend |  | vn appear-48.1.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

<!-- 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: [Borrowing and debt, test 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/adult-life/8-borrowing-and-debt/t1/)
- next →: [Borrowing and debt, test 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/adult-life/8-borrowing-and-debt/t3/)
- ↑ back to [Borrowing and debt](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/adult-life/8-borrowing-and-debt/)