---
title: «my goldfish forgets me every 3 seconds so it doesn't matter if i fo… — Myth check: do goldfish have a three-s… · tree and pragmatics
description: «my goldfish forgets me every 3 seconds so it doesn't matter if i forget to feed it» What is right? Test 1 · ★ of lesson 152 «Myth check: do goldfish have a three-second memory?» of the biology course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each optio
---

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# Test 1 · ★ · Myth check: do goldfish have a three-second memory?

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
«my goldfish forgets me every 3 seconds so it doesn't matter if i forget to feed it» What is right?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 3 · **The right answer:** option 3 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** goldfish, it, i · **What happens:** forget, not matter, not feed, be · **To what, where:** me, goldfish

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 1 · ★ of lesson 152 «Myth check: do goldfish have a three-second memory?» of the biology 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/biology/152-goldfish-memory/#t1).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:152-goldfish-memory:t1:1
# text = «my goldfish forgets me every 3 seconds so it doesn't matter if i forget to feed it» What is right?
1	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	4	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	my	my	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Sing|Person=1|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	3	nmod:poss	_	_
3	goldfish	goldfish	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
4	forgets	forget	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	me	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	4	obj	_	_
6	every	every	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	8	det	_	_
7	3	3	NUM	CD	NumForm=Digit|NumType=Card	8	nummod	_	_
8	seconds	second	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obj	_	_
9	so	so	SCONJ	IN	_	13	mark	_	_
10	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	13	nsubj	_	_
11	does	do	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	13	aux	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	n't	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	13	advmod	_	_
13	matter	matter	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	advcl	_	_
14	if	if	SCONJ	IN	_	16	mark	_	_
15	i	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	16	nsubj	_	_
16	forget	forget	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	13	advcl	_	_
17	to	to	PART	TO	_	18	mark	_	_
18	feed	feed	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	16	xcomp	_	_
19	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	18	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
20	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	18	punct	_	_
21	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	23	nsubj	_	_
22	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	23	cop	_	_
23	right	right	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	18	advcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
24	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **forget** *in a quote* | present | my goldfish | me |  |  | second |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **not** **matter** *in a quote* | present · do-support | it |  |  |  |  |  | vn matter-91 «NP V»: agent=Stimulus |
| 3 | **forget** *a condition, not said to happen, in a quote* | present | i |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 4 | **not** **feed** *in a quote* | to-infinitive | i *not said here* | goldfish |  |  |  |  | vn feeding-39.7 «NP V NP PP.recipient»: agent=Agent it=Theme |
| 5 | **is** | present |  |  |  |  |  | right *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.

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Right, goldfish feed on the bowl

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:152-goldfish-memory:t1:o1:1
# text = Right, goldfish feed on the bowl
1	Right	right	INTJ	UH	_	4	discourse	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	1	punct	_	_
3	goldfish	goldfish	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj	_	_
4	feed	feed	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	on	on	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	bowl	bowl	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **feed** | present | goldfish |  |  |  |  | on the bowl | vn gorge-39.6 «NP V PP.patient»: agent=Agent on bowl=Patient |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Right, goldfish only need to eat about once a month, so a week is nothing

<!-- fold The tree, 15 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:152-goldfish-memory:t1:o2:1
# text = Right, goldfish only need to eat about once a month, so a week is nothing
1	Right	right	INTJ	UH	_	5	discourse	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	1	punct	_	_
3	goldfish	goldfish	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	nsubj	_	_
4	only	only	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
5	need	need	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
6	to	to	PART	TO	_	7	mark	_	_
7	eat	eat	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	xcomp	_	_
8	about	about	ADV	RB	_	9	advmod	_	_
9	once	once	ADV	RB	NumForm=Word|NumType=Mult	7	advmod	_	_
10	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	month	month	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obl:unmarked	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	17	punct	_	_
13	so	so	ADV	RB	_	17	advmod	_	_
14	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	15	det	_	_
15	week	week	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	17	nsubj	_	_
16	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	17	cop	_	_
17	nothing	nothing	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Neg	5	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **need** | present | goldfish |  |  |  |  |  | vn want-32.1-1-1 «NP V NP S\_INF»: agent=Pivot clause=Theme |
| 2 | **eat** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive | goldfish *not said here* |  |  |  |  | once *property* | vn eat-39.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **is a** | present | a week | nothing |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

### Option 3 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Wrong twice: it can remember for months, and it still needs regular food

<!-- fold The tree, 13 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:152-goldfish-memory:t1:o3:1
# text = Wrong twice: it can remember for months, and it still needs regular food
1	Wrong	wrong	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
2	twice	twice	ADV	RB	NumForm=Word|NumType=Mult	1	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	:	:	PUNCT	:	_	6	punct	_	_
4	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	6	nsubj	_	_
5	can	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	6	aux	_	_
6	remember	remember	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	1	conj	_	_
7	for	for	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
8	months	month	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	13	punct	_	_
10	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	13	cc	_	_
11	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	13	nsubj	_	_
12	still	still	ADV	RB	_	13	advmod	_	_
13	needs	need	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	parataxis	_	_
14	regular	regular	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	15	amod	_	_
15	food	food	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **remember** | can | it |  |  |  | month |  | vn characterize-29.2-1-1 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **need** | present | it | regular food |  |  | still |  | vn want-32.1-1-1 «NP V NP ADV»: agent=Pivot food=Theme |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Right, it won't notice

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:152-goldfish-memory:t1:o4:1
# text = Right, it won't notice
1	Right	right	INTJ	UH	_	6	discourse	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	1	punct	_	_
3	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	6	nsubj	_	_
4	wo	will	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	6	aux	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	n't	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	6	advmod	_	_
6	notice	notice	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **notice** | future | it |  |  |  |  |  | vn see-30.1-1 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Experiencer |

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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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