---
title: «my nan's had a goldfish for 22 years, she's lying surely» What is r… — Goldfish and pond fish: the three-seco… · tree and pragmatics
description: «my nan's had a goldfish for 22 years, she's lying surely» What is right? Test 4 · ★★ of lesson 204 «Goldfish and pond fish: the three-second memory myth» of the biology course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each option; Mova's choice was rig
---

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# Test 4 · ★★ · Goldfish and pond fish: the three-second memory myth

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
«my nan's had a goldfish for 22 years, she's lying surely» What is right?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 1 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** nan · **What happens:** have, lie, be · **To what, where:** goldfish · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 4 · ★★ of lesson 204 «Goldfish and pond fish: the three-second memory myth» 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/204-goldfish-and-pond-fish-the-three-second-memory-myth/#t4).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:204-goldfish-and-pond-fish-the-three-second-memory-myth:t4:1
# text = «my nan's had a goldfish for 22 years, she's lying surely» What is right?
1	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	5	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	my	my	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Sing|Person=1|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	3	nmod:poss	_	_
3	nan	nan	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	's	's	PART	POS	_	3	case	_	_
5	had	have	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
6	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	goldfish	goldfish	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obj	_	_
8	for	for	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	22	22	NUM	CD	NumForm=Digit|NumType=Card	10	nummod	_	_
10	years	year	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	14	punct	_	_
12	she	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	14	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	's	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	14	aux	_	_
14	lying	lie	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	5	conj	_	_
15	surely	surely	ADV	RB	_	14	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	14	punct	_	_
17	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	19	nsubj	_	_
18	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	19	cop	_	_
19	right	right	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	14	parataxis	_	SpaceAfter=No
20	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **have** *in a quote* | participle | my nan | a goldfish |  |  | year |  | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent goldfish=Patient |
| 2 | **lie** *in a quote* | present · progressive | nan |  |  |  |  | surely *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **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 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It is possible, goldfish can live over twenty years

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:204-goldfish-and-pond-fish-the-three-second-memory-myth:t4:o1:1
# text = It is possible, goldfish can live over twenty years
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	cop	_	_
3	possible	possible	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	7	punct	_	_
5	goldfish	goldfish	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nsubj	_	_
6	can	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	7	aux	_	_
7	live	live	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	parataxis	_	_
8	over	over	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	twenty	twenty	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	10	nummod	_	_
10	years	year	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | It |  |  |  |  | possible *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **live** | can | goldfish |  |  |  | year |  | vn exist-47.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Only koi live that long

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:204-goldfish-and-pond-fish-the-three-second-memory-myth:t4:o2:1
# text = Only koi live that long
1	Only	only	ADV	RB	_	2	advmod	_	_
2	koi	koi	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	live	live	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	that	that	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	_
5	long	long	ADV	RB	Degree=Pos	3	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **live** | present | koi |  |  |  |  | long, that *property* | vn exist-47.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Goldfish live only three months

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:204-goldfish-and-pond-fish-the-three-second-memory-myth:t4:o3:1
# text = Goldfish live only three months
1	Goldfish	goldfish	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nsubj	_	_
2	live	live	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	only	only	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
4	three	three	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	5	nummod	_	_
5	months	month	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obl:unmarked	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **live** | present | Goldfish |  |  |  | month |  | vn exist-47.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Goldfish live only a year, so she must have had lots of them

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:204-goldfish-and-pond-fish-the-three-second-memory-myth:t4:o4:1
# text = Goldfish live only a year, so she must have had lots of them
1	Goldfish	goldfish	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nsubj	_	_
2	live	live	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	only	only	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
4	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	year	year	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	11	punct	_	_
7	so	so	ADV	RB	_	11	advmod	_	_
8	she	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	11	nsubj	_	_
9	must	must	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	11	aux	_	_
10	have	have	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	11	aux	_	_
11	had	have	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	2	parataxis	_	_
12	lots	lot	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	11	obj	_	_
13	of	of	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
14	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	12	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **live** | present | Goldfish |  |  |  | year |  | vn exist-47.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 2 | **have** | must · perfect | she | lots of Goldfish |  |  |  |  | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent lot=Patient |

<!-- 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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- ↑ back to [Goldfish and pond fish: the three-second memory myth](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/204-goldfish-and-pond-fish-the-three-second-memory-myth/)