---
title: The saying is "an elephant never forgets". How true is it? — Elephants: families, tusks, ears and m… · tree and pragmatics
description: The saying is "an elephant never forgets". How true is it? Test 8 · ★ of lesson 22 «Elephants: families, tusks, ears and memory» 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 right.
---

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# Test 8 · ★ · Elephants: families, tusks, ears and memory

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The saying is "an elephant never forgets". How true is it?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 1 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** saying · **What happens:** not be, be

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 8 · ★ of lesson 22 «Elephants: families, tusks, ears and 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/22-elephants-families-tusks-ears-memory/#t8).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* The saying is "an elephant never forgets".

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:22-elephants-families-tusks-ears-memory:t8:1
# text = The saying is "an elephant never forgets".
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	saying	saying	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nsubj	_	_
3	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	8	cop	_	_
4	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	8	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	elephant	elephant	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nsubj	_	_
7	never	never	ADV	RB	PronType=Neg	8	advmod	_	_
8	forgets	forget	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	8	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	8	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **is** *in a quote* | present | the saying |  |  |  |  | forget *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.

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 2:* How true is it?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:22-elephants-families-tusks-ears-memory:t8:2
# text = How true is it?
1	How	how	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	2	advmod	_	_
2	true	true	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
3	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	2	cop	_	_
4	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

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

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Partly true: they remember friends and places for decades

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:22-elephants-families-tusks-ears-memory:t8:o1:1
# text = Partly true: they remember friends and places for decades
1	Partly	partly	ADV	RB	_	2	advmod	_	_
2	true	true	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	:	:	PUNCT	:	_	5	punct	_	_
4	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	5	nsubj	_	_
5	remember	remember	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	2	parataxis	_	_
6	friends	friend	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	obj	_	_
7	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	8	cc	_	_
8	places	place	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	conj	_	_
9	for	for	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
10	decades	decade	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **remember** | present | they | friends and places |  |  | decade |  | vn characterize-29.2-1-1 «NP V NP S\_ING»: agent=Agent friend=Theme |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Totally true: they remember every single thing

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:22-elephants-families-tusks-ears-memory:t8:o2:1
# text = Totally true: they remember every single thing
1	Totally	totally	ADV	RB	_	2	advmod	_	_
2	true	true	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	:	:	PUNCT	:	_	5	punct	_	_
4	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	5	nsubj	_	_
5	remember	remember	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	2	parataxis	_	_
6	every	every	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	8	det	_	_
7	single	single	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	amod	_	_
8	thing	thing	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **remember** | present | they | every single thing |  |  |  |  | vn characterize-29.2-1-1 «NP V NP S\_ING»: agent=Agent thing=Theme |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It's about their tusks, not their memory

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:22-elephants-families-tusks-ears-memory:t8:o3:1
# text = It's about their tusks, not their memory
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	5	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	's	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
3	about	about	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
4	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	5	nmod:poss	_	_
5	tusks	tusk	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	9	punct	_	_
7	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	9	advmod	_	_
8	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	9	nmod:poss	_	_
9	memory	memory	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | It |  |  |  |  | about their tusks and tusks's memory | tree rules |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Not true at all: they forget in minutes

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:22-elephants-families-tusks-ears-memory:t8:o4:1
# text = Not true at all: they forget in minutes
1	Not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	2	advmod	_	_
2	true	true	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
3	at	at	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
4	all	all	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	2	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	:	:	PUNCT	:	_	7	punct	_	_
6	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	7	nsubj	_	_
7	forget	forget	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	2	conj	_	_
8	in	in	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
9	minutes	minute	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	obl	_	_
```

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

<!-- 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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- ← previous: [Elephants: families, tusks, ears and m…, test 7](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/22-elephants-families-tusks-ears-memory/t7/)
- next →: [Elephants: families, tusks, ears and m…, test 9](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/22-elephants-families-tusks-ears-memory/t9/)
- ↑ back to [Elephants: families, tusks, ears and memory](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/22-elephants-families-tusks-ears-memory/)