---
title: Dad says 3/4 means "you only play three quarters of the tune, then s… — Reading music: notes, beats and rhythm · tree and pragmatics
description: Dad says 3/4 means "you only play three quarters of the tune, then stop". What is wrong? Test 5 · ★ of lesson 2 «Reading music: notes, beats and rhythm» 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 was wrong.
---

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# Test 5 · ★ · Reading music: notes, beats and rhythm

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Dad says 3/4 means "you only play three quarters of the tune, then stop". What is wrong?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 4 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** Dad, 3/4, you · **What happens:** say, mean, play, stop, be · **To what, where:** three quarters · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 5 · ★ of lesson 2 «Reading music: notes, beats and rhythm» 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/2-reading-music-notes-beats-and-rhythm/#t5).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* Dad says 3/4 means "you only play three quarters of the tune, then stop".

```conllu
# sent_id = question:arts:2-reading-music-notes-beats-and-rhythm:t5:1
# text = Dad says 3/4 means "you only play three quarters of the tune, then stop".
1	Dad	dad	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nsubj	_	_
2	says	say	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	3/4	3/4	NUM	CD	NumForm=Digit|NumType=Card	4	nsubj	_	_
4	means	mean	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	2	ccomp	_	_
5	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	8	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	you	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Person=2|PronType=Prs	8	nsubj	_	_
7	only	only	ADV	RB	_	8	advmod	_	_
8	play	play	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=2|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	ccomp	_	_
9	three	three	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	10	nummod	_	_
10	quarters	quarter	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	obj	_	_
11	of	of	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
12	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
13	tune	tune	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	16	punct	_	_
15	then	then	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	16	advmod	_	_
16	stop	stop	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	8	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	16	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
18	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **say** *speech: assert* | present | Dad |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 2 | **mean** | present | 3/4 |  |  |  |  |  | vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 3 | **play** *in a quote* | present | you | three quarters of the tune |  |  |  |  | vn use-105.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent quarter=Theme |
| 4 | **stop** *in a quote* | infinitive | you *not said here* |  |  |  | then |  | vn stop-55.4-1-1 «NP.eventuality V»: agent=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 wrong?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:arts:2-reading-music-notes-beats-and-rhythm:t5:2
# text = What is wrong?
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	cop	_	_
3	wrong	wrong	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

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

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 · ← Mova's choice {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It means play the tune three times

```conllu
# sent_id = question:arts:2-reading-music-notes-beats-and-rhythm:t5:o1:1
# text = It means play the tune three times
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	means	mean	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	play	play	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	2	ccomp	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	tune	tune	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
6	three	three	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	7	nummod	_	_
7	times	time	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obl:unmarked	_	_
```

<!-- .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 | **play** | infinitive |  | the tune |  |  | time |  | vn use-105.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent tune=Theme |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Nothing, that is exactly what it means

```conllu
# sent_id = question:arts:2-reading-music-notes-beats-and-rhythm:t5:o2:1
# text = Nothing, that is exactly what it means
1	Nothing	nothing	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Neg	6	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	1	punct	_	_
3	that	that	PRON	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	6	nsubj	_	_
4	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	cop	_	_
5	exactly	exactly	ADV	RB	_	6	advmod	_	_
6	what	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	0	root	_	_
7	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	8	nsubj	_	_
8	means	mean	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	acl:relcl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | Nothing |  |  |  |  | exactly *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **mean** | present | it |  |  |  |  |  | vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V S»: agent=Agent |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It means four people play three notes

```conllu
# sent_id = question:arts:2-reading-music-notes-beats-and-rhythm:t5:o3:1
# text = It means four people play three notes
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	means	mean	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	four	four	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	4	nummod	_	_
4	people	people	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	nsubj	_	_
5	play	play	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	2	ccomp	_	_
6	three	three	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	7	nummod	_	_
7	notes	note	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .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 | **play** | present | four people | three notes |  |  |  |  | vn use-105.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent note=Theme |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It tells you how to count, not how much to play

```conllu
# sent_id = question:arts:2-reading-music-notes-beats-and-rhythm:t5:o4:1
# text = It tells you how to count, not how much to play
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	tells	tell	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	you	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Person=2|PronType=Prs	2	iobj	_	_
4	how	how	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	6	advmod	_	_
5	to	to	PART	TO	_	6	mark	_	_
6	count	count	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	2	xcomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	10	punct	_	_
8	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	10	advmod	_	_
9	how	how	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	10	advmod	_	_
10	much	much	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	obj	_	_
11	to	to	PART	TO	_	12	mark	_	_
12	play	play	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	10	acl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **tell** *speech: assert* | present | It |  | you |  |  |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP S\_INF»: agent=Agent you=Recipient clause=Topic |
| 2 | **count** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive |  | much |  |  |  |  | vn multiply-108 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent much=Theme |
| 3 | **play** | to-infinitive |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn performance-26.7-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

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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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- ← previous: [Reading music: notes, beats and rhythm, test 4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/arts/2-reading-music-notes-beats-and-rhythm/t4/)
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