---
title: Your little brother cries "Mum said money's tight, are we gonna be h… — When money is tight · tree and pragmatics
description: Your little brother cries "Mum said money's tight, are we gonna be homeless?" What do you tell him? Test 1 · ★ of lesson 9 «When money is tight» 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.
---

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# Test 1 · ★ · When money is tight

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Your little brother cries "Mum said money's tight, are we gonna be homeless?" What do you tell him?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 4 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** little brother, Mum, we, you · **What happens:** cry, say, be, tell · **To what, where:** brother · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 1 · ★ of lesson 9 «When money is tight» 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/9-when-money-is-tight/#t1).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* Your little brother cries "Mum said money's tight, are we gonna be homeless?"

```conllu
# sent_id = question:adult-life:9-when-money-is-tight:t1:1
# text = Your little brother cries "Mum said money's tight, are we gonna be homeless?"
1	Your	your	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Person=2|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	3	nmod:poss	_	_
2	little	little	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	brother	brother	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
4	cries	cry	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	7	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	Mum	mum	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nsubj	_	_
7	said	say	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	ccomp	_	_
8	money	money	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	's	's	PART	POS	_	8	case	_	_
10	tight	tight	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	xcomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	4	punct	_	_
12	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=1|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	16	cop	_	_
13	we	we	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=1|PronType=Prs	16	nsubj	_	_
14	gonna	gonna	PART	TO	_	16	mark	_	_
15	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	16	cop	_	_
16	homeless	homeless	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	advcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	16	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
18	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	16	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **cry** *speech: express* | present | Your little brother |  |  |  |  |  | vn manner\_speaking-37.3 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 2 | **say** *speech: assert* *in a quote* | past | Mum |  |  |  |  | tight *property* | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **is** *in a quote* | present | we |  |  |  |  | homeless *property* | tree rules |

<!-- .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:* What do you tell him?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:adult-life:9-when-money-is-tight:t1:2
# text = What do you tell him?
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	4	obj	_	_
2	do	do	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=2|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
3	you	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Person=2|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
4	tell	tell	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
5	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	iobj	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **tell** *speech: assert* | present · do-support | you |  | brother |  |  |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP-Dative NP»: agent=Agent he=Recipient what=Topic |

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 · ← Mova's choice {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Yes, and we must pack our bags tonight

```conllu
# sent_id = question:adult-life:9-when-money-is-tight:t1:o1:1
# text = Yes, and we must pack our bags tonight
1	Yes	yes	INTJ	UH	Polarity=Pos	6	discourse	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	6	punct	_	_
3	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	6	cc	_	_
4	we	we	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=1|PronType=Prs	6	nsubj	_	_
5	must	must	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	6	aux	_	_
6	pack	pack	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
7	our	our	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=1|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	8	nmod:poss	_	_
8	bags	bag	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	obj	_	_
9	tonight	tonight	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obl:unmarked	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **pack** | must | we | our bags |  |  | tonight |  | vn spray-9.7-1-1 «NP V NP.theme»: agent=Agent bag=Theme |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
No, it means Mum has hidden lots of money under her bed

```conllu
# sent_id = question:adult-life:9-when-money-is-tight:t1:o2:1
# text = No, it means Mum has hidden lots of money under her bed
1	No	no	INTJ	UH	Polarity=Neg	4	discourse	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	4	punct	_	_
3	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
4	means	mean	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	Mum	mum	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nsubj	_	_
6	has	have	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	7	aux	_	_
7	hidden	hide	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	4	ccomp	_	_
8	lots	lot	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	obj	_	_
9	of	of	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
10	money	money	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nmod	_	_
11	under	under	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
12	her	her	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	13	nmod:poss	_	_
13	bed	bed	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **mean** | present | it |  |  |  |  |  | vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 2 | **hide** | present · perfect | Mum | lots of money |  | Mum's bed |  |  | vn concealment-16-1 «NP V NP PP.location»: agent=Agent lot=Patient under bed=Location |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Yes, tight money always means losing the house

```conllu
# sent_id = question:adult-life:9-when-money-is-tight:t1:o3:1
# text = Yes, tight money always means losing the house
1	Yes	yes	INTJ	UH	Polarity=Pos	3	discourse	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	1	punct	_	_
3	tight	tight	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	amod	_	_
4	money	money	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	_
5	always	always	ADV	RB	PronType=Tot	6	advmod	_	_
6	means	mean	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
7	losing	lose	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	6	xcomp	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	house	house	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **mean** | present | tight money |  |  |  |  | always *property* | vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 2 | **lose** *not said to happen* | gerund | tight money *not said here* | the house |  |  |  |  | vn succeed-74-3-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent house=Eventuality |

### Option 4 · ✓ the right answer {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
No, it means less for extras, not danger

```conllu
# sent_id = question:adult-life:9-when-money-is-tight:t1:o4:1
# text = No, it means less for extras, not danger
1	No	no	INTJ	UH	Polarity=Neg	4	discourse	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	4	punct	_	_
3	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
4	means	mean	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	less	less	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	4	obj	_	_
6	for	for	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	extras	extra	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	10	punct	_	_
9	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	10	advmod	_	_
10	danger	danger	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **mean** | present | it | less |  |  |  |  | vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent less=Topic |

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**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.

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- ← previous: [Borrowing and debt, exam 4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/adult-life/8-borrowing-and-debt/e4/)
- next →: [When money is tight, test 2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/adult-life/9-when-money-is-tight/t2/)
- ↑ back to [When money is tight](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/adult-life/9-when-money-is-tight/)