---
title: «my mate's parrot says hello, so it understands english» What is the… — The Congo rainforest: gorillas, bonobo… · tree and pragmatics
description: «my mate's parrot says hello, so it understands english» What is the best answer? Test 7 · ★ of lesson 159 «The Congo rainforest: gorillas, bonobos, okapis and forest elephants» of the biology course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each option
---

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# Test 7 · ★ · The Congo rainforest: gorillas, bonobos, okapis and forest…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
«my mate's parrot says hello, so it understands english» What is the best answer?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 2 · **The right answer:** option 2 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** parrot, best answer · **What happens:** say, understand, be · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 7 · ★ of lesson 159 «The Congo rainforest: gorillas, bonobos, okapis and forest elephants» 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/159-the-congo-rainforest/#t7).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:159-the-congo-rainforest:t7:1
# text = «my mate's parrot says hello, so it understands english» What is the best answer?
1	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	6	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	my	my	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Sing|Person=1|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	3	nmod:poss	_	_
3	mate	mate	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	's	's	PART	POS	_	3	case	_	_
5	parrot	parrot	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	_
6	says	say	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
7	hello	hello	INTJ	UH	_	6	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	11	punct	_	_
9	so	so	ADV	RB	_	11	advmod	_	_
10	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	11	nsubj	_	_
11	understands	understand	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	conj	_	_
12	english	English	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	11	xcomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	11	punct	_	_
14	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	11	parataxis	_	_
15	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	14	cop	_	_
16	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	18	det	_	_
17	best	good	ADJ	JJS	Degree=Sup	18	amod	_	_
18	answer	answer	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
19	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	6	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **say** *speech: assert* *in a quote* | present | my mate's parrot |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V NP.topic»: agent=Agent hello=Topic |
| 2 | **understand** *in a quote* | present | parrot |  |  |  |  | english *property* | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Experiencer clause=Stimulus |
| 3 | **is a** | present | the best answer |  |  |  |  |  | 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 -->
No, parrots cannot copy sounds

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:159-the-congo-rainforest:t7:o1:1
# text = No, parrots cannot copy sounds
1	No	no	INTJ	UH	Polarity=Neg	6	discourse	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	1	punct	_	_
3	parrots	parrot	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	nsubj	_	_
4	can	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	6	aux	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	6	advmod	_	_
6	copy	copy	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
7	sounds	sound	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **copy** | can | parrots | sounds |  |  |  |  | vn scribble-25.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent sound=Theme |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Most parrots copy sounds, though Alex the grey parrot showed some can learn names, colours and numbers

<!-- fold The tree, 17 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:159-the-congo-rainforest:t7:o2:1
# text = Most parrots copy sounds, though Alex the grey parrot showed some can learn names, colours and numbers
1	Most	most	ADJ	JJS	Degree=Sup	2	amod	_	_
2	parrots	parrot	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj	_	_
3	copy	copy	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	sounds	sound	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	11	punct	_	_
6	though	though	SCONJ	IN	_	11	mark	_	_
7	Alex	Alex	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	11	nsubj	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
9	grey	grey	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	10	amod	_	_
10	parrot	parrot	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	appos	_	_
11	showed	show	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	14	advcl	_	_
12	some	some	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	11	obj	_	_
13	can	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	14	aux	_	_
14	learn	learn	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	3	parataxis	_	_
15	names	name	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	14	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	17	punct	_	_
17	colours	colour	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	15	conj	_	_
18	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	19	cc	_	_
19	numbers	number	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	15	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **copy** | present | Most parrots | sounds |  |  |  |  | vn scribble-25.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent sound=Theme |
| 2 | **show** | past | Alex | some |  |  |  |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP.recipient»: agent=Agent some=Recipient |
| 3 | **learn** | can |  | names and colours and numbers |  |  |  |  | vn learn-14-2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent name=Topic |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Yes, every parrot can speak like a person and understands every word it says

<!-- fold The tree, 14 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:159-the-congo-rainforest:t7:o3:1
# text = Yes, every parrot can speak like a person and understands every word it says
1	Yes	yes	INTJ	UH	Polarity=Pos	6	discourse	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	1	punct	_	_
3	every	every	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	4	det	_	_
4	parrot	parrot	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	_
5	can	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	6	aux	_	_
6	speak	speak	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
7	like	like	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	person	person	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obl	_	_
10	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	11	cc	_	_
11	understands	understand	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	conj	_	_
12	every	every	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	13	det	_	_
13	word	word	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	obj	_	_
14	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	15	nsubj	_	_
15	says	say	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	13	acl:relcl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **speak** *speech: other* | can | every parrot |  |  |  |  | like a person | vn talk-37.5 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **understand** | present | every parrot *not said here* | every word |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1-1 «NP V NP PP.attribute»: agent=Experiencer word=Stimulus |
| 3 | **say** *speech: assert* | present | parrot | every word *not said here* |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V NP.topic»: agent=Agent word=Topic |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Parrots only copy cats

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:159-the-congo-rainforest:t7:o4:1
# text = Parrots only copy cats
1	Parrots	parrot	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj	_	_
2	only	only	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	_
3	copy	copy	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	cats	cat	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **copy** | present | Parrots | cats |  |  |  |  | vn scribble-25.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent cat=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 -->

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