---
title: Alfie says "My little brother could do that." What is the best first… — Modern art: "my little brother could d… · tree and pragmatics
description: Alfie says "My little brother could do that." What is the best first step before deciding? Test 9 · ★★ of lesson 18 «Modern art: "my little brother could do that"» of the arts course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each option; Mova's choice w
---

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# Test 9 · ★★ · Modern art: "my little brother could do that"

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Alfie says "My little brother could do that." What is the best first step before deciding?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 3 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** Alfie, little brother, best first step · **What happens:** say, do, be, decide · **To what, where:** that · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 9 · ★★ of lesson 18 «Modern art: "my little brother could do that"» of the arts 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/arts/18-modern-art-my-little-brother-could-do-that/#t9).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* Alfie says "My little brother could do that."

```conllu
# sent_id = question:arts:18-modern-art-my-little-brother-could-do-that:t9:1
# text = Alfie says "My little brother could do that."
1	Alfie	Alfie	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	2	nsubj	_	_
2	says	say	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	8	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	My	my	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Sing|Person=1|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	6	nmod:poss	_	_
5	little	little	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	brother	brother	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nsubj	_	_
7	could	could	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	8	aux	_	_
8	do	do	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	2	ccomp	_	_
9	that	that	PRON	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	8	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	8	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	8	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **say** *speech: assert* | present | Alfie |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 2 | **do** *in a quote* | could | My little brother | that |  |  |  |  | vn act-114-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent that=Eventuality |

<!-- .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 is the best first step before deciding?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:arts:18-modern-art-my-little-brother-could-do-that:t9:2
# text = What is the best first step before deciding?
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	0	root	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	1	cop	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
4	best	good	ADJ	JJS	Degree=Sup	6	amod	_	_
5	first	first	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos|NumForm=Word|NumType=Ord	6	amod	_	_
6	step	step	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	nsubj	_	_
7	before	before	SCONJ	IN	_	8	mark	_	_
8	deciding	decide	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	6	acl	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | the best first step |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **decide** | gerund | the best first step *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn correspond-36.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 · ← Mova's choice {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Shout that it is rubbish

```conllu
# sent_id = question:arts:18-modern-art-my-little-brother-could-do-that:t9:o1:1
# text = Shout that it is rubbish
1	Shout	shout	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	5	mark	_	_
3	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	5	nsubj	_	_
4	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
5	rubbish	rubbish	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	ccomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **shout** *speech: express* | imperative | you *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn manner\_speaking-37.3 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **is a** | present | it | rubbish |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Walk past it quickly without looking

```conllu
# sent_id = question:arts:18-modern-art-my-little-brother-could-do-that:t9:o2:1
# text = Walk past it quickly without looking
1	Walk	walk	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	past	past	ADP	IN	_	3	case	_	_
3	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	1	obl	_	_
4	quickly	quickly	ADV	RB	_	1	advmod	_	_
5	without	without	SCONJ	IN	_	6	mark	_	_
6	looking	look	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	1	advcl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **walk** | imperative | you *not said here* |  |  | it |  | quickly *property* | vn run-51.3.2-2-1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme past it=Trajectory |
| 2 | **look** | gerund | you *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn stimulus\_subject-30.4 «NP V PP.attribute»: agent=Stimulus |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Stand and look at it for a minute

```conllu
# sent_id = question:arts:18-modern-art-my-little-brother-could-do-that:t9:o3:1
# text = Stand and look at it for a minute
1	Stand	stand	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	3	cc	_	_
3	look	look	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	1	conj	_	_
4	at	at	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	obl	_	_
6	for	for	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	minute	minute	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **stand** | imperative | you *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn assuming\_position-50 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **look** | infinitive | you *not said here* |  |  |  | minute | at it | vn peer-30.3 «NP V PP.theme»: agent=Agent at it=Theme |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Touch it to see how thick the paint is

```conllu
# sent_id = question:arts:18-modern-art-my-little-brother-could-do-that:t9:o4:1
# text = Touch it to see how thick the paint is
1	Touch	touch	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	1	obj	_	_
3	to	to	PART	TO	_	4	mark	_	_
4	see	see	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	1	advcl	_	_
5	how	how	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	6	advmod	_	_
6	thick	thick	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	ccomp	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	paint	paint	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	_
9	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	cop	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **touch** | imperative | you *not said here* | it |  |  |  |  | vn contiguous\_location-47.8-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Theme it=Co-Theme |
| 2 | **see** | to-infinitive | you *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Experiencer |
| 3 | **is** | present | the paint |  |  |  |  | thick *property* | tree rules |

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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.

<!-- /div -->

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