---
title: My little brother says parrots know everything they say. Best answer? — Parrots, flamingos and the bird of pre… · tree and pragmatics
description: My little brother says parrots know everything they say. Best answer? Test 2 · ★ of lesson 94 «Parrots, flamingos and the bird of prey show» 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 2 · ★ · Parrots, flamingos and the bird of prey show

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
My little brother says parrots know everything they say. Best answer?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 2 · **The right answer:** option 2 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** little brother, parrots · **What happens:** say, know · **To what, where:** everything · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 2 · ★ of lesson 94 «Parrots, flamingos and the bird of prey show» 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/94-parrots-flamingos-and-the-bird-of-prey-show/#t2).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* My little brother says parrots know everything they say.

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:94-parrots-flamingos-and-the-bird-of-prey-show:t2:1
# text = My little brother says parrots know everything they say.
1	My	my	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Sing|Person=1|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	3	nmod:poss	_	_
2	little	little	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	brother	brother	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
4	says	say	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	parrots	parrot	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	nsubj	_	_
6	know	know	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	ccomp	_	_
7	everything	everything	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Tot	6	obj	_	_
8	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	9	nsubj	_	_
9	say	say	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	7	acl:relcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **say** *speech: assert* | present | My little brother |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 2 | **know** | present | parrots | everything |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1-1 «NP V NP PP.attribute»: agent=Experiencer everything=Stimulus |
| 3 | **say** *speech: assert* | present | parrots *= parrot* |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent |

<!-- .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:* Best answer?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:94-parrots-flamingos-and-the-bird-of-prey-show:t2:2
# text = Best answer?
1	Best	good	ADJ	JJS	Degree=Sup	2	amod	_	_
2	answer	answer	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

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

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Yes, parrots understand every single word they say

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:94-parrots-flamingos-and-the-bird-of-prey-show:t2:o1:1
# text = Yes, parrots understand every single word they say
1	Yes	yes	INTJ	UH	Polarity=Pos	4	discourse	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	1	punct	_	_
3	parrots	parrot	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj	_	_
4	understand	understand	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	every	every	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	7	det	_	_
6	single	single	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
7	word	word	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obj	_	_
8	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	9	nsubj	_	_
9	say	say	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	7	acl:relcl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **understand** | present | parrots | every single word |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1-1 «NP V NP PP.attribute»: agent=Experiencer word=Stimulus |
| 2 | **say** *speech: assert* | present | parrots *= parrot* | every single word *not said here* |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V NP.topic»: agent=Agent word=Topic |

### Option 2 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
They copy sounds; some, like Alex, learned simple meanings

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:94-parrots-flamingos-and-the-bird-of-prey-show:t2:o2:1
# text = They copy sounds; some, like Alex, learned simple meanings
1	They	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	copy	copy	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	sounds	sound	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	;	;	PUNCT	:	_	10	punct	_	_
5	some	some	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	10	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	8	punct	_	_
7	like	like	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
8	Alex	Alex	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	5	appos	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	8	punct	_	_
10	learned	learn	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	2	conj	_	_
11	simple	simple	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	12	amod	_	_
12	meanings	meaning	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	10	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **copy** | present | They | sounds |  |  |  |  | vn scribble-25.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent sound=Theme |
| 2 | **learn** | past | some | simple meanings |  |  |  |  | vn learn-14-2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent meaning=Topic |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Yes, parrots learn English at school

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:94-parrots-flamingos-and-the-bird-of-prey-show:t2:o3:1
# text = Yes, parrots learn English at school
1	Yes	yes	INTJ	UH	Polarity=Pos	4	discourse	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	1	punct	_	_
3	parrots	parrot	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj	_	_
4	learn	learn	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	English	English	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	4	obj	_	_
6	at	at	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	school	school	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **learn** | present | parrots | English |  | school |  |  | vn learn-14-2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent english=Topic |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
No, parrots cannot make any sounds

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:94-parrots-flamingos-and-the-bird-of-prey-show:t2:o4:1
# text = No, parrots cannot make any sounds
1	No	no	INTJ	UH	Polarity=Neg	6	discourse	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	1	punct	_	_
3	parrots	parrot	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	nsubj	_	_
4	can	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	6	aux	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	6	advmod	_	_
6	make	make	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
7	any	any	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	8	det	_	_
8	sounds	sound	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **make** | can | parrots | any sounds |  |  |  |  | vn build-26.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent sound=Product |

<!-- 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.

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