---
title: «a car alarm's going off but there's no car, wtf» What could it be? — City birds: sparrows, starlings, swift… · tree and pragmatics
description: «a car alarm's going off but there's no car, wtf» What could it be? Test 5 · ★ of lesson 369 «City birds: sparrows, starlings, swifts, crows and peregrines on tall buildings» of the biology course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each option; M
---

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# Test 5 · ★ · City birds: sparrows, starlings, swifts, crows and peregri…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
«a car alarm's going off but there's no car, wtf» What could it be?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 1 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** car alarm, car · **What happens:** go off, be

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 5 · ★ of lesson 369 «City birds: sparrows, starlings, swifts, crows and peregrines on tall buildings» 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/369-city-birds-sparrows-starlings-swifts-crows-and-peregrines-on-tall-buildings/#t5).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:369-city-birds-sparrows-starlings-swifts-crows-and-peregrines-on-tall-buildings:t5:1
# text = «a car alarm's going off but there's no car, wtf» What could it be?
1	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	6	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
3	car	car	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	compound	_	_
4	alarm	alarm	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	's	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	aux	_	_
6	going	go	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
7	off	off	ADP	RP	_	6	compound:prt	_	_
8	but	but	CCONJ	CC	_	10	cc	_	_
9	there	there	PRON	EX	PronType=Dem	10	expl	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	's	be	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	conj	_	_
11	no	no	DET	DT	PronType=Neg	12	det	_	_
12	car	car	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	14	punct	_	_
14	wtf	wtf	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	appos	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	14	punct	_	_
16	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	19	obj	_	_
17	could	could	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	19	aux	_	_
18	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	19	nsubj	_	_
19	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	14	acl:relcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
20	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	6	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **go off** *in a quote* | present · progressive | a car alarm |  |  |  |  |  | vn occur-48.3-2 «NP V ADV»: agent=Theme |
| 2 | **be** *in a quote* | present | no car |  |  | there |  |  | vn exist-47.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

<!-- .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 -->
A starling copying the sound

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:369-city-birds-sparrows-starlings-swifts-crows-and-peregrines-on-tall-buildings:t5:o1:1
# text = A starling copying the sound
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	starling	starling	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	copying	copy	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	2	acl	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	sound	sound	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
```

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

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A sparrow in a dust bath

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:369-city-birds-sparrows-starlings-swifts-crows-and-peregrines-on-tall-buildings:t5:o2:1
# text = A sparrow in a dust bath
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	sparrow	sparrow	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	in	in	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
4	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
5	dust	dust	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	compound	_	_
6	bath	bath	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .note -->
The frames reader finds no event or fact in this sentence.

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A crow laughing at you

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:369-city-birds-sparrows-starlings-swifts-crows-and-peregrines-on-tall-buildings:t5:o3:1
# text = A crow laughing at you
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	crow	crow	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	laughing	laugh	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	2	acl	_	_
4	at	at	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	you	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Person=2|PronType=Prs	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **laugh** | gerund | a crow *not said here* |  |  |  |  | at you | vn nonverbal\_expression-40.2 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A ghost car that drove away

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:369-city-birds-sparrows-starlings-swifts-crows-and-peregrines-on-tall-buildings:t5:o4:1
# text = A ghost car that drove away
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	ghost	ghost	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	compound	_	_
3	car	car	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
4	that	that	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	5	nsubj	_	_
5	drove	drive	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	acl:relcl	_	_
6	away	away	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **drive away** | past | a ghost car |  |  |  |  | away *property* | vn nonvehicle-51.4.2-1 «NP.agent V»: agent=Agent |

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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.

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