---
title: mate, the stork was talking Egyptian, innit? like how is that even a… — Andersen's Tales, The Ugly Duckling, p… · tree and pragmatics
description: mate, the stork was talking Egyptian, innit? like how is that even a thing Test 2 · ★ of lesson 1011 «Andersen's Tales, The Ugly Duckling, part 1: the ducklings hatch under the burdock leaves» of the books course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and o
---

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# Test 2 · ★ · Andersen's Tales, The Ugly Duckling, part 1: the ducklings…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
mate, the stork was talking Egyptian, innit? like how is that even a thing

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 3 · **The right answer:** option 3 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** stork · **What happens:** talk, innit, be

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 2 · ★ of lesson 1011 «Andersen's Tales, The Ugly Duckling, part 1: the ducklings hatch under the burdock leaves» of the books 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/books/1011-pg27200-part222/#t2).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1011-pg27200-part222:t2:1
# text = mate, the stork was talking Egyptian, innit? like how is that even a thing
1	mate	mate	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	compound	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	1	punct	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	stork	stork	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	_
5	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	6	aux	_	_
6	talking	talk	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
7	Egyptian	Egyptian	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	xcomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	9	punct	_	_
9	innit	innit	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	6	parataxis	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	6	punct	_	_
11	like	like	ADP	IN	_	17	case	_	_
12	how	how	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	17	advmod	_	_
13	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	17	cop	_	_
14	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	17	mark	_	_
15	even	even	ADV	RB	_	17	advmod	_	_
16	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	17	det	_	_
17	thing	thing	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **talk** | past · progressive | the stork |  |  |  |  | egyptian *property* | vn talk-37.5 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **innit** | infinitive |  |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 3 | **is** | present |  |  |  |  |  | like a thing | 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 -->
they picked it up from a lot of travellers who visited the old farm every summer

<!-- fold The tree, 16 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1011-pg27200-part222:t2:o1:1
# text = they picked it up from a lot of travellers who visited the old farm every summer
1	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	picked	pick	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	obj	_	_
4	up	up	ADP	RP	_	2	compound:prt	_	_
5	from	from	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	lot	lot	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
8	of	of	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
9	travellers	traveller	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	nmod	_	_
10	who	who	PRON	WP	PronType=Rel	11	nsubj	_	_
11	visited	visit	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	9	acl:relcl	_	_
12	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	14	det	_	_
13	old	old	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	14	amod	_	_
14	farm	farm	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	obj	_	_
15	every	every	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	16	det	_	_
16	summer	summer	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl:unmarked	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **pick up** | past | they | it |  | a lot of travellers | summer |  | vn discover-84-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent it=Topic |
| 2 | **visit** | past | travellers | the old farm |  |  |  |  | vn meet-36.3-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent farm=Co-Agent |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
it's just a story, storks don't speak

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1011-pg27200-part222:t2:o2:1
# text = it's just a story, storks don't speak
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	just	just	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
4	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	story	story	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	5	punct	_	_
7	storks	stork	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	10	nsubj	_	_
8	do	do	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	10	aux	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	n't	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	10	advmod	_	_
10	speak	speak	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	parataxis	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | it | a story |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **not** **speak** *speech: other* | present · do-support | storks |  |  |  |  |  | vn talk-37.5 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

### Option 3 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
it's a joke, storks just clack their beaks

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1011-pg27200-part222:t2:o3:1
# text = it's a joke, storks just clack their beaks
1	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	's	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
3	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	joke	joke	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	6	punct	_	_
6	storks	stork	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	nsubj	_	_
7	just	just	ADV	RB	_	8	advmod	_	_
8	clack	clack	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	acl:relcl	_	_
9	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	10	nmod:poss	_	_
10	beaks	beak	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | it | a joke |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **clack** | present | storks | storks's beaks |  |  |  |  | vn sound\_emission-43.2 «PP.location V NP»: agent=Location beak=Theme |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
it's a joke, storks just clack their beaks and nobody actually understands what they mean

<!-- fold The tree, 16 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1011-pg27200-part222:t2:o4:1
# text = it's a joke, storks just clack their beaks and nobody actually understands what they mean
1	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	's	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
3	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	joke	joke	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	8	punct	_	_
6	storks	stork	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	nsubj	_	_
7	just	just	ADV	RB	_	8	advmod	_	_
8	clack	clack	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	parataxis	_	_
9	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	10	nmod:poss	_	_
10	beaks	beak	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	obj	_	_
11	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	14	cc	_	_
12	nobody	nobody	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Neg	14	nsubj	_	_
13	actually	actually	ADV	RB	_	14	advmod	_	_
14	understands	understand	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	8	conj	_	_
15	what	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	17	obj	_	_
16	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	17	nsubj	_	_
17	mean	mean	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	14	ccomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | it | a joke |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **clack** | present | storks | storks's beaks |  |  |  |  | vn sound\_emission-43.2 «PP.location V NP»: agent=Location beak=Theme |
| 3 | **understand** | present | nobody |  |  |  |  | actually *property* | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1-1 «NP V how S\_INF»: agent=Experiencer clause=Stimulus |
| 4 | **mean** | present | storks *= stork* |  |  |  |  |  | vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent what=Topic |

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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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- ← previous: [Andersen's Tales, The Ugly Duckling, p…, test 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/1011-pg27200-part222/t1/)
- next →: [Andersen's Tales, The Ugly Duckling, p…, test 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/1011-pg27200-part222/t3/)
- ↑ back to [Andersen's Tales, The Ugly Duckling, part 1: the ducklings hatch under the burdock leaves](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/1011-pg27200-part222/)