---
title: «my parrot says hello so he knows what it means, obvs» What is the c… — How animals talk · tree and pragmatics
description: «my parrot says hello so he knows what it means, obvs» What is the careful answer? Test 3 · ★★★ of lesson 50 «How animals talk» 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 3 · ★★★ · How animals talk

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
«my parrot says hello so he knows what it means, obvs» What is the careful answer?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 4 · **The right answer:** option 4 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** parrot, it · **What happens:** say, know, mean, be · **To what, where:** careful answer · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 3 · ★★★ of lesson 50 «How animals talk» 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/50-how-animals-talk/#t3).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:50-how-animals-talk:t3:1
# text = «my parrot says hello so he knows what it means, obvs» What is the careful answer?
1	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	4	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	my	my	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Sing|Person=1|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	3	nmod:poss	_	_
3	parrot	parrot	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
4	says	say	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	hello	hello	INTJ	UH	_	4	obj	_	_
6	so	so	ADV	RB	_	8	advmod	_	_
7	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	8	nsubj	_	_
8	knows	know	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	ccomp	_	_
9	what	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	11	obj	_	_
10	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	11	nsubj	_	_
11	means	mean	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	8	ccomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	13	punct	_	_
13	obvs	obv	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	parataxis	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	13	punct	_	_
15	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	19	nsubj	_	_
16	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	19	cop	_	_
17	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	19	det	_	_
18	careful	careful	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	19	amod	_	_
19	answer	answer	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	parataxis	_	SpaceAfter=No
20	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **say** *speech: assert* *in a quote* | present | my parrot |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **know** *in a quote* | present | parrot |  |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1-1 «NP V how S\_INF»: agent=Experiencer clause=Stimulus |
| 3 | **mean** *in a quote* | present | it |  |  |  |  |  | vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent what=Topic |
| 4 | **be** *speech: assert* | present |  | the careful 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 parrot ever understands anything

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:50-how-animals-talk:t3:o1:1
# text = No parrot ever understands anything
1	No	no	DET	DT	PronType=Neg	2	det	_	_
2	parrot	parrot	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
3	ever	ever	ADV	RB	PronType=Ind	4	advmod	_	_
4	understands	understand	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	anything	anything	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Ind	4	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **understand** | present | no parrot | anything |  |  | ever |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1-1 «NP V NP PP.attribute»: agent=Experiencer anything=Stimulus |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Parrots understand only if they speak quietly

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:50-how-animals-talk:t3:o2:1
# text = Parrots understand only if they speak quietly
1	Parrots	parrot	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nsubj	_	_
2	understand	understand	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	only	only	ADV	RB	_	6	advmod	_	_
4	if	if	SCONJ	IN	_	6	mark	_	_
5	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	6	nsubj	_	_
6	speak	speak	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	2	advcl	_	_
7	quietly	quietly	ADV	RB	_	6	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **understand** | present | Parrots |  |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Experiencer |
| 2 | **speak** *speech: other* *a condition, not said to happen* | present | Parrots *= parrot* |  |  |  |  | quietly *property* | vn talk-37.5 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Every parrot understands all it says, they're as clever as people, obviously

<!-- fold The tree, 13 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:50-how-animals-talk:t3:o3:1
# text = Every parrot understands all it says, they're as clever as people, obviously
1	Every	every	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	2	det	_	_
2	parrot	parrot	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	understands	understand	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	all	all	ADV	RB	_	6	advmod	_	_
5	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	6	nsubj	_	_
6	says	say	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	advcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	11	punct	_	_
8	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	11	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	're	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	11	cop	_	_
10	as	as	ADV	RB	_	11	advmod	_	_
11	clever	clever	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	conj	_	_
12	as	as	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
13	people	people	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	11	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	3	punct	_	_
15	obviously	obviously	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **understand** | present | every parrot |  |  |  |  | obviously *property* | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Experiencer |
| 2 | **say** *speech: assert* | present | parrot |  |  |  |  | all *property* | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **is** | present | they |  |  |  |  | as people; clever *property* | tree rules |

### Option 4 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Most parrots just copy sounds; some, like Alex, understood some words

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:50-how-animals-talk:t3:o4:1
# text = Most parrots just copy sounds; some, like Alex, understood some words
1	Most	most	ADJ	JJS	Degree=Sup	2	amod	_	_
2	parrots	parrot	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj	_	_
3	just	just	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
4	copy	copy	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	sounds	sound	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	;	;	PUNCT	:	_	10	punct	_	_
7	some	some	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	10	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	10	punct	_	_
9	like	like	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
10	Alex	Alex	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	12	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	10	punct	_	_
12	understood	understand	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	ccomp	_	_
13	some	some	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	14	det	_	_
14	words	word	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	12	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **copy** | present | Most parrots | sounds |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **understand** | past | Alex | some words |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1-1 «NP V NP PP.attribute»: agent=Experiencer word=Stimulus |

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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.

<!-- /div -->

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