---
title: Your brother asks for new trainers; Dad says "can't afford it right… — When money is tight · tree and pragmatics
description: Your brother asks for new trainers; Dad says "can't afford it right now, maybe save towards it?" What's a good response? Test 9 · ★ 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 
---

<!-- md -->
[Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/adult-life/9-when-money-is-tight/t9/)

<!-- 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/) / [When money is tight](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/adult-life/9-when-money-is-tight/) / t9

# Test 9 · ★ · When money is tight

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Your brother asks for new trainers; Dad says "can't afford it right now, maybe save towards it?" What's a good response?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 2 · **The right answer:** option 2 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** brother, Dad, good response · **What happens:** ask, say, not afford, save, be · **To what, where:** it · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 9 · ★ 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/#t9).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* Your brother asks for new trainers; Dad says "can't afford it right now, maybe save towards it?"

```conllu
# sent_id = question:adult-life:9-when-money-is-tight:t9:1
# text = Your brother asks for new trainers; Dad says "can't afford it right now, maybe save towards it?"
1	Your	your	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Person=2|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	2	nmod:poss	_	_
2	brother	brother	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	asks	ask	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	for	for	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	new	new	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	trainers	trainer	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	;	;	PUNCT	:	_	9	punct	_	_
8	Dad	dad	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	nsubj	_	_
9	says	say	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	conj	_	_
10	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	13	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	ca	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	13	aux	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	n't	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	13	advmod	_	_
13	afford	afford	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	9	ccomp	_	_
14	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	13	obj	_	_
15	right	right	ADV	RB	_	16	advmod	_	_
16	now	now	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	13	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	19	punct	_	_
18	maybe	maybe	ADV	RB	_	19	advmod	_	_
19	save	save	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	13	conj	_	_
20	towards	towards	ADP	IN	_	21	case	_	_
21	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	19	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
22	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	13	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
23	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	13	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **ask** *speech: ask* | present | Your brother |  |  |  |  | for new trainers | vn inquire-37.1.2 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **say** *speech: ask* | present | Dad |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 3 | **not** **afford** *in a quote* | can |  | it |  |  | now |  | tree rules |
| 4 | **save** *in a quote* | infinitive |  |  |  |  |  | towards it; maybe *property* | vn get-13.5.1-1 «NP V NP»: 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:* What's a good response?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:adult-life:9-when-money-is-tight:t9:2
# text = What's a good response?
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	's	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	1	cop	_	_
3	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	good	good	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	response	response	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | a good response |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Sulk until Dad gives in

```conllu
# sent_id = question:adult-life:9-when-money-is-tight:t9:o1:1
# text = Sulk until Dad gives in
1	Sulk	sulk	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
2	until	until	SCONJ	IN	_	4	mark	_	_
3	Dad	Dad	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
4	gives	give	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	1	acl:relcl	_	_
5	in	in	ADP	IN	_	4	compound:prt	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **give in** | present | Dad | Sulk *not said here* |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

### Option 2 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Make a plan to save some pocket money towards them

```conllu
# sent_id = question:adult-life:9-when-money-is-tight:t9:o2:1
# text = Make a plan to save some pocket money towards them
1	Make	make	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	plan	plan	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
4	to	to	PART	TO	_	5	mark	_	_
5	save	save	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	1	xcomp	_	_
6	some	some	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	8	det	_	_
7	pocket	pocket	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	compound	_	_
8	money	money	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obj	_	_
9	towards	towards	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
10	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	5	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **make** | imperative | you *not said here* | a plan |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **save** | to-infinitive | a plan *not said here* | some pocket money |  |  |  | towards them *= they* | vn get-13.5.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent money=Theme |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Buy them now on buy now pay later

```conllu
# sent_id = question:adult-life:9-when-money-is-tight:t9:o3:1
# text = Buy them now on buy now pay later
1	Buy	buy	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	1	iobj	_	_
3	now	now	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	1	advmod	_	_
4	on	on	ADV	RB	_	1	advmod	_	_
5	buy	buy	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	1	conj	_	_
6	now	now	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	5	advmod	_	_
7	pay	pay	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	5	conj	_	_
8	later	late	ADV	RBR	Degree=Cmp	7	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **buy** | imperative | you *not said here* |  | them *= they* |  | now |  | vn accept-77.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent they=Theme |
| 2 | **buy** | infinitive | you *not said here* |  |  |  | now |  | vn accept-77.1 «NP V how S»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **pay** | infinitive | you *not said here* |  |  |  |  | late *property* | vn pay-68-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Ask Nan to buy them on a credit card

```conllu
# sent_id = question:adult-life:9-when-money-is-tight:t9:o4:1
# text = Ask Nan to buy them on a credit card
1	Ask	ask	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	Nan	Nan	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
3	to	to	PART	TO	_	4	mark	_	_
4	buy	buy	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	1	xcomp	_	_
5	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	obj	_	_
6	on	on	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
7	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
8	credit	credit	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	compound	_	_
9	card	card	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **ask** *speech: ask* | imperative | you *not said here* |  | Nan |  |  |  | vn inquire-37.1.2 «NP V NP whether S\_INF»: agent=Agent nan=Recipient clause=Topic |
| 2 | **buy** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive | you *not said here* | them *= they* |  | a credit card |  |  | vn accept-77.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent they=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: [When money is tight, test 8](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/adult-life/9-when-money-is-tight/t8/)
- next →: [When money is tight, test 10](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/adult-life/9-when-money-is-tight/t10/)
- ↑ back to [When money is tight](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/adult-life/9-when-money-is-tight/)