---
title: wait what does "a man is a man" even mean in this part — Topelius Tales, Little Lasse, part 23:… · tree and pragmatics
description: wait what does "a man is a man" even mean in this part Test 13 · ★ of lesson 1298 «Topelius Tales, Little Lasse, part 23: Lasse drifts out to sea and sails round the world in a dream» of the books course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each op
---

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# Test 13 · ★ · Topelius Tales, Little Lasse, part 23: Lasse drifts out to…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
wait what does "a man is a man" even mean in this part

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 3 · **The right answer:** option 4 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** you, man · **What happens:** wait, be, mean · **To what, where:** man · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 13 · ★ of lesson 1298 «Topelius Tales, Little Lasse, part 23: Lasse drifts out to sea and sails round the world in a dream» 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/1298-pg3454-part23/#t13).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1298-pg3454-part23:t13:1
# text = wait what does "a man is a man" even mean in this part
1	wait	wait	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
2	what	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	12	obj	_	_
3	does	do	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	12	aux	_	_
4	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	9	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	man	man	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	nsubj	_	_
7	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	9	cop	_	_
8	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	man	man	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	ccomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	9	punct	_	_
11	even	even	ADV	RB	_	12	advmod	_	_
12	mean	mean	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	1	advcl	_	_
13	in	in	ADP	IN	_	15	case	_	_
14	this	this	DET	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	15	det	_	_
15	part	part	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **wait** | imperative | you *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn exist-47.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 2 | **is a** *in a quote* | present | a man | a man |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 3 | **mean** | present · do-support | you *not said here* |  |  |  |  | in this part | vn representation-110.1 «NP V NP PP.attribute»: agent=Pivot what=Theme in part=Attribute |

<!-- .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 -->
it's probably a saying the sailors used on board

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1298-pg3454-part23:t13:o1:1
# text = it's probably a saying the sailors used on board
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	aux	_	_
3	probably	probably	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
4	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	saying	say	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	sailors	sailor	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	nsubj	_	_
8	used	use	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	ccomp	_	_
9	on	on	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
10	board	board	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **say** *speech: assert* | present · progressive | it |  |  |  |  | probably *property* | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 2 | **use** | past | the sailors |  |  | board |  |  | vn eat-39.1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
idk its like a tiny chant or song

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1298-pg3454-part23:t13:o2:1
# text = idk its like a tiny chant or song
1	idk	idk	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	1	obj	_	_
3	like	like	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
4	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
5	tiny	tiny	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	chant	chant	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obl	_	_
7	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	8	cc	_	_
8	song	song	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **idk** | imperative | you *not said here* | its *= it* |  |  |  | like a tiny chant or song | tree rules |

### Option 3 · ← Mova's choice {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
idk its a sound thing like ditsch ratsch, I think the book means it as a nonsense rhyme for the boats

<!-- fold The tree, 21 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1298-pg3454-part23:t13:o3:1
# text = idk its a sound thing like ditsch ratsch, I think the book means it as a nonsense rhyme for the boats
1	idk	idk	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	5	nmod:poss	_	_
3	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	sound	sound	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	compound	_	_
5	thing	thing	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
6	like	like	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	ditsch	ditsch	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	compound	_	_
8	ratsch	ratsch	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	11	punct	_	_
10	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	11	nsubj	_	_
11	think	think	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	1	parataxis	_	_
12	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
13	book	book	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	nsubj	_	_
14	means	mean	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	11	ccomp	_	_
15	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	14	obj	_	_
16	as	as	ADP	IN	_	19	case	_	_
17	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	19	det	_	_
18	nonsense	nonsense	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	19	amod	_	_
19	rhyme	rhyme	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	obl	_	_
20	for	for	ADP	IN	_	22	case	_	_
21	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	22	det	_	_
22	boats	boat	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	19	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **idk** | imperative | you *not said here* | its sound thing |  |  |  | like ditsch ratsch | tree rules |
| 2 | **think** *speech: other* | present | I |  |  |  |  |  | vn consider-29.9-2 «NP V how S»: agent=Agent clause=Theme |
| 3 | **mean** | present | the book | thing |  |  |  | as a nonsense rhyme for the boats | vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V NP PP.attribute»: agent=Agent it=Topic as rhyme=Attribute |

### Option 4 · ✓ the right answer {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
idk its a sound thing like ditsch ratsch

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1298-pg3454-part23:t13:o4:1
# text = idk its a sound thing like ditsch ratsch
1	idk	idk	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	5	nmod:poss	_	_
3	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	sound	sound	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	compound	_	_
5	thing	thing	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
6	like	like	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	ditsch	ditsch	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	compound	_	_
8	ratsch	ratsch	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **idk** | imperative | you *not said here* | its sound thing |  |  |  | like ditsch ratsch | tree rules |

<!-- 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 -->

<!-- pn -->
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