---
title: «trees literally text each other through mushrooms, saw it on TikTok… — Plants deeper: do trees talk? Fungi, w… · tree and pragmatics
description: «trees literally text each other through mushrooms, saw it on TikTok» What is the fairest answer? Test 1 · ★★ of lesson 252 «Plants deeper: do trees talk? Fungi, warning smells and giant clones» of the biology course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question a
---

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# Test 1 · ★★ · Plants deeper: do trees talk? Fungi, warning smells and gi…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
«trees literally text each other through mushrooms, saw it on TikTok» What is the fairest answer?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 4 · **The right answer:** option 3 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** trees, fairest answer · **What happens:** text, see, be · **To what, where:** each, mushrooms, it, TikTok · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 1 · ★★ of lesson 252 «Plants deeper: do trees talk? Fungi, warning smells and giant clones» 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/252-plants-deeper-do-trees-talk-fungi-warning-smells-and-giant-clones/#t1).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:252-plants-deeper-do-trees-talk-fungi-warning-smells-and-giant-clones:t1:1
# text = «trees literally text each other through mushrooms, saw it on TikTok» What is the fairest answer?
1	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	4	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	trees	tree	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj	_	_
3	literally	literally	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
4	text	text	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	each	each	DET	DT	ExtPos=PRON|PronType=Rcp	4	obj	_	_
6	other	other	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	fixed	_	_
7	through	through	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
8	mushrooms	mushroom	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	10	punct	_	_
10	saw	see	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	parataxis	_	_
11	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	10	obj	_	_
12	on	on	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
13	TikTok	TikTok	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	10	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	10	punct	_	_
15	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	10	parataxis	_	_
16	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	15	cop	_	_
17	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	19	det	_	_
18	fairest	fair	ADJ	JJS	Degree=Sup	19	amod	_	_
19	answer	answer	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	15	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
20	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **text** *in a quote* | present | trees | each |  | mushrooms |  | literally *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **see** *in a quote* | past |  | it |  | TikTok |  |  | tree rules |
| 3 | **is a** | present | the fairest 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 -->
Yes, and they use the forest's wifi

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:252-plants-deeper-do-trees-talk-fungi-warning-smells-and-giant-clones:t1:o1:1
# text = Yes, and they use the forest's wifi
1	Yes	yes	INTJ	UH	Polarity=Pos	5	discourse	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	5	punct	_	_
3	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	5	cc	_	_
4	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	5	nsubj	_	_
5	use	use	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	forest	forest	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	's	's	PART	POS	_	7	case	_	_
9	wifi	wifi	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **use** | present | they | the forest's wifi |  |  |  |  | vn eat-39.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent wifi=Patient |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Yes, trees send real words to each other along their roots, just like phone calls to friends

<!-- fold The tree, 17 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:252-plants-deeper-do-trees-talk-fungi-warning-smells-and-giant-clones:t1:o2:1
# text = Yes, trees send real words to each other along their roots, just like phone calls to friends
1	Yes	yes	INTJ	UH	Polarity=Pos	4	discourse	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	1	punct	_	_
3	trees	tree	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj	_	_
4	send	send	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	real	real	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	words	word	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obj	_	_
7	to	to	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
8	each	each	DET	DT	ExtPos=PRON|PronType=Rcp	4	obl	_	_
9	other	other	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	fixed	_	_
10	along	along	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
11	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	12	nmod:poss	_	_
12	roots	root	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	17	punct	_	_
14	just	just	ADV	RB	_	17	advmod	_	_
15	like	like	ADP	IN	_	17	case	_	_
16	phone	phone	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	17	compound	_	_
17	calls	call	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	12	conj	_	_
18	to	to	ADP	IN	_	19	case	_	_
19	friends	friend	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	17	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **send** | present | trees | real words |  | each |  | along trees's roots and phone calls to friends | vn confine-92-1 «NP V NP PP.destination»: agent=Agent word=Theme to each=Destination |

### Option 3 · ✓ the right answer {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Fungus threads link trees and may pass sugar and signals, but how much is still debated

<!-- fold The tree, 16 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:252-plants-deeper-do-trees-talk-fungi-warning-smells-and-giant-clones:t1:o3:1
# text = Fungus threads link trees and may pass sugar and signals, but how much is still debated
1	Fungus	fungus	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	compound	_	_
2	threads	thread	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj	_	_
3	link	link	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	trees	tree	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obj	_	_
5	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	7	cc	_	_
6	may	may	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	7	aux	_	_
7	pass	pass	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	conj	_	_
8	sugar	sugar	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obj	_	_
9	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	10	cc	_	_
10	signals	signal	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	17	punct	_	_
12	but	but	CCONJ	CC	_	17	cc	_	_
13	how	how	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	14	advmod	_	_
14	much	much	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	17	nsubj:pass	_	_
15	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	17	aux:pass	_	_
16	still	still	ADV	RB	_	17	advmod	_	_
17	debated	debate	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	3	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **link** | present | Fungus threads | trees |  |  |  |  | vn mix-22.1-2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent tree=Patient |
| 2 | **pass** | may | Fungus threads *not said here* | sugar and signals |  |  |  |  | vn escape-51.1-1-3 «NP V NP»: agent=Theme sugar=Trajectory |
| 3 | **debate** | present · passive |  | much |  |  | still |  | vn battle-36.4-1 «NP V NP»: subject=Co-Agent |

### Option 4 · ← Mova's choice {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
No, fungi and trees never touch at all

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:252-plants-deeper-do-trees-talk-fungi-warning-smells-and-giant-clones:t1:o4:1
# text = No, fungi and trees never touch at all
1	No	no	INTJ	UH	Polarity=Neg	3	discourse	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	1	punct	_	_
3	fungi	fungus	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	nsubj	_	_
4	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	5	cc	_	_
5	trees	tree	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	conj	_	_
6	never	never	ADV	RB	PronType=Neg	7	advmod	_	_
7	touch	touch	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
8	at	at	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
9	all	all	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	7	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **touch** | present | fungi and trees |  |  | all |  |  | vn contiguous\_location-47.8-1 «NP V»: agent=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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- ← previous: [Plants deeper: leaves and sunlight, ho…, exam 4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/251-plants-deeper-leaves-and-sunlight-how-a-tree-is-made-of-air/e4/)
- next →: [Plants deeper: do trees talk? Fungi, w…, test 2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/252-plants-deeper-do-trees-talk-fungi-warning-smells-and-giant-clones/t2/)
- ↑ back to [Plants deeper: do trees talk? Fungi, warning smells and giant clones](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/252-plants-deeper-do-trees-talk-fungi-warning-smells-and-giant-clones/)