---
title: ★★★ The Head Chief says «some day men will call it writing. At prese… — Just So Stories, How the First Letter… · tree and pragmatics
description: ★★★ The Head Chief says «some day men will call it writing. At present it is only pictures.» What is the difference he means? Test 16 · ★ of lesson 86 «Just So Stories, How the First Letter Was Written, part 3: «a great invention» and the road on Merrow Down» of the books course of Mova's primary sc
---

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# Test 16 · ★ · Just So Stories, How the First Letter Was Written, part 3:…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
★★★ The Head Chief says «some day men will call it writing. At present it is only pictures.» What is the difference he means?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 3 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** ★, day men, present, difference · **What happens:** say, call, be, mean · **To what, where:** Chief, pictures, present, difference · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 16 · ★ of lesson 86 «Just So Stories, How the First Letter Was Written, part 3: «a great invention» and the road on Merrow Down» 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/86-justso-first-letter-3-a-great-invention/#t16).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* ★★★ The Head Chief says «some day men will call it writing.

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:86-justso-first-letter-3-a-great-invention:t16:1
# text = ★★★ The Head Chief says «some day men will call it writing.
1	★	★	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	7	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	★	★	X	FW	Foreign=Yes	1	dep	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	★	★	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
4	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
5	Head	head	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	compound	_	_
6	Chief	Chief	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	1	nmod	_	_
7	says	say	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
8	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	13	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	some	some	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	11	det	_	_
10	day	day	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	compound	_	_
11	men	man	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	13	nsubj	_	_
12	will	will	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	13	aux	_	_
13	call	call	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	7	ccomp	_	_
14	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	13	obj	_	_
15	writing	writing	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	xcomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	7	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **say** *speech: assert* | present | ★ ★ the Head Chief |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 2 | **call** *in a quote* | future | some day men | Chief |  |  |  |  | vn initiate\_communication-37.4.2-1 «NP V NP.recipient»: agent=Agent it=Recipient |

<!-- .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:* At present it is only pictures.»

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:86-justso-first-letter-3-a-great-invention:t16:2
# text = At present it is only pictures.»
1	At	at	ADP	IN	_	2	case	_	_
2	present	present	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obl	_	_
3	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	6	nsubj	_	_
4	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	cop	_	_
5	only	only	ADV	RB	_	6	advmod	_	_
6	pictures	picture	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	6	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	6	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | present | pictures |  | present |  |  | tree rules |

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 3:* What is the difference he means?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:86-justso-first-letter-3-a-great-invention:t16:3
# text = What is the difference he means?
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	0	root	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	1	cop	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	difference	difference	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	nsubj	_	_
5	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	6	nsubj	_	_
6	means	mean	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	acl:relcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | the difference |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **mean** | present | ★ | the difference *not said here* |  |  |  |  | vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent difference=Topic |

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 · ← Mova's choice {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Writing is drawn with a shark's tooth, pictures with a stick

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:86-justso-first-letter-3-a-great-invention:t16:o1:1
# text = Writing is drawn with a shark's tooth, pictures with a stick
1	Writing	writing	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj:pass	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux:pass	_	_
3	drawn	draw	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
4	with	with	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
5	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	shark	shark	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	's	's	PART	POS	_	6	case	_	_
8	tooth	tooth	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	10	punct	_	_
10	pictures	picture	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	conj	_	_
11	with	with	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
12	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
13	stick	stick	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **draw** | present · passive |  | Writing |  |  |  | with a shark's tooth and pictures; with a stick | vn scribble-25.2-1 «NP V NP»: subject=Theme |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Pictures are bigger

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:86-justso-first-letter-3-a-great-invention:t16:o2:1
# text = Pictures are bigger
1	Pictures	picture	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj	_	_
2	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	cop	_	_
3	bigger	big	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | Pictures |  |  |  |  | big *property* | tree rules |

### Option 3 · ✓ the right answer {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Writing fixes exact words, pictures do not

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:86-justso-first-letter-3-a-great-invention:t16:o3:1
# text = Writing fixes exact words, pictures do not
1	Writing	writing	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nsubj	_	_
2	fixes	fix	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	exact	exact	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	amod	_	_
4	words	word	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	7	punct	_	_
6	pictures	picture	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	nsubj	_	_
7	do	do	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	2	parataxis	_	_
8	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	7	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **fix** | present | Writing | exact words |  |  |  |  | vn shake-22.3-2 «NP V NP together»: agent=Agent word=Patient |
| 2 | **not** **do** | present | pictures |  |  |  |  |  | vn act-114-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Writing has colours

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:86-justso-first-letter-3-a-great-invention:t16:o4:1
# text = Writing has colours
1	Writing	writing	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nsubj	_	_
2	has	have	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	colours	colour	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **have** | present | Writing | colours |  |  |  |  | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent colour=Patient |

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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 -->

<!-- pn -->
- ← previous: [Just So Stories, How the First Letter…, test 15](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/86-justso-first-letter-3-a-great-invention/t15/)
- next →: [Just So Stories, How the First Letter…, test 17](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/86-justso-first-letter-3-a-great-invention/t17/)
- ↑ back to [Just So Stories, How the First Letter Was Written, part 3: «a great invention» and the road on Merrow Down](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/86-justso-first-letter-3-a-great-invention/)