---
title: Why does the Head Chief say pictures need «a man who can talk our la… — Just So Stories, How the First Letter… · tree and pragmatics
description: Why does the Head Chief say pictures need «a man who can talk our language» with them? Test 2 · ★ 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, with the dependency tree and pragm
---

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# Test 2 · ★ · Just So Stories, How the First Letter Was Written, part 3:…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Why does the Head Chief say pictures need «a man who can talk our language» with them?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 4 · **The right answer:** option 3 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** Head Chief, pictures, man · **What happens:** say, need, talk · **To what, where:** language · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 2 · ★ 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/#t2).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:86-justso-first-letter-3-a-great-invention:t2:1
# text = Why does the Head Chief say pictures need «a man who can talk our language» with them?
1	Why	why	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	6	advmod	_	_
2	does	do	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	aux	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	Head	Head	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	5	compound	_	_
5	Chief	Chief	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	_
6	say	say	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
7	pictures	picture	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	nsubj	_	_
8	need	need	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	ccomp	_	_
9	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	14	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	man	man	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	nsubj	_	_
12	who	who	PRON	WP	PronType=Rel	14	nsubj	_	_
13	can	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	14	aux	_	_
14	talk	talk	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	8	ccomp	_	_
15	our	our	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=1|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	16	nmod:poss	_	_
16	language	language	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	14	punct	_	_
18	with	with	ADP	IN	_	19	case	_	_
19	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	14	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
20	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	6	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **say** *speech: assert* | present · do-support | the Head Chief |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 2 | **need** | present | pictures |  |  |  |  |  | vn require-103-2 «NP V that S»: agent=Theme clause=Precondition |
| 3 | **talk** *in a quote* | can | a man | our language |  |  |  | with pictures *= picture* | 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 -->
Only men may carry them

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:86-justso-first-letter-3-a-great-invention:t2:o1:1
# text = Only men may carry them
1	Only	only	ADV	RB	_	2	advmod	_	_
2	men	man	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj	_	_
3	may	may	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
4	carry	carry	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
5	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **carry** | may | men | them *= they* |  |  |  |  | vn carry-11.4 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent they=Theme |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Pictures are against the old law of the Tribe of Tegumai

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:86-justso-first-letter-3-a-great-invention:t2:o2:1
# text = Pictures are against the old law of the Tribe of Tegumai
1	Pictures	picture	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	nsubj	_	_
2	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	cop	_	_
3	against	against	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
5	old	old	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	law	law	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
7	of	of	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	Tribe	Tribe	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	6	nmod	_	_
10	of	of	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
11	Tegumai	Tegumai	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	9	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | Pictures |  |  |  |  | against the old law; of the Tribe of Tegumai | tree rules |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A picture alone can be misunderstood, as they have just seen

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:86-justso-first-letter-3-a-great-invention:t2:o3:1
# text = A picture alone can be misunderstood, as they have just seen
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	picture	picture	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nsubj:pass	_	_
3	alone	alone	ADV	RB	_	2	advmod	_	_
4	can	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	6	aux	_	_
5	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	6	aux:pass	_	_
6	misunderstood	misunderstand	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	12	punct	_	_
8	as	as	SCONJ	IN	_	12	mark	_	_
9	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	12	nsubj	_	_
10	have	have	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	12	aux	_	_
11	just	just	ADV	RB	_	12	advmod	_	_
12	seen	see	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	6	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **misunderstand** | can · passive |  | a picture |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2 «NP V NP»: subject=Stimulus |
| 2 | **see** | present · perfect | they |  |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Experiencer |

### Option 4 · ← Mova's choice {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The Stranger-man cannot see pictures

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:86-justso-first-letter-3-a-great-invention:t2:o4:1
# text = The Stranger-man cannot see pictures
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
2	Stranger	stranger	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	compound	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	2	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	man	man	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nsubj	_	_
5	can	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	7	aux	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	7	advmod	_	_
7	see	see	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
8	pictures	picture	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **see** | can | the Stranger man | pictures |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer picture=Stimulus |

<!-- 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 -->

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- ← previous: [Just So Stories, How the First Letter…, test 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/86-justso-first-letter-3-a-great-invention/t1/)
- next →: [Just So Stories, How the First Letter…, test 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/86-justso-first-letter-3-a-great-invention/t3/)
- ↑ 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/)