---
title: Why does Taffy feel a little sad about «shi-las»? — Just So Stories, How the Alphabet Was… · tree and pragmatics
description: Why does Taffy feel a little sad about «shi-las»? Test 2 · ★★ of lesson 89 «Just So Stories, How the Alphabet Was Made, part 3: «the Alphabet, all complete», and how letters really began» of the books course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of eac
---

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# Test 2 · ★★ · Just So Stories, How the Alphabet Was Made, part 3: «the A…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Why does Taffy feel a little sad about «shi-las»?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 2 · **The right answer:** option 2 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** Taffy · **What happens:** feel

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 2 · ★★ of lesson 89 «Just So Stories, How the Alphabet Was Made, part 3: «the Alphabet, all complete», and how letters really began» 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/89-justso-alphabet-3-the-alphabet-all-complete/#t2).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:89-justso-alphabet-3-the-alphabet-all-complete:t2:1
# text = Why does Taffy feel a little sad about «shi-las»?
1	Why	why	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	4	advmod	_	_
2	does	do	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
3	Taffy	Taffy	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
4	feel	feel	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
5	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	little	little	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	obl:unmarked	_	_
7	sad	sad	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	xcomp	_	_
8	about	about	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
9	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	12	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	shi	shi	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	compound	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	12	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	las	la	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	4	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **feel** | present · do-support | Taffy |  |  |  |  | sad *property* | vn stimulus\_subject-30.4 «NP V ADJ»: agent=Stimulus |

<!-- .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 -->
Her spear sign was too messy to read

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:89-justso-alphabet-3-the-alphabet-all-complete:t2:o1:1
# text = Her spear sign was too messy to read
1	Her	her	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	3	nmod:poss	_	_
2	spear	spear	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	compound	_	_
3	sign	sign	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	_
4	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	6	cop	_	_
5	too	too	ADV	RB	_	6	advmod	_	_
6	messy	messy	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
7	to	to	PART	TO	_	8	mark	_	_
8	read	read	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	6	xcomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | past | Her spear sign |  |  |  |  | messy *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **read** | to-infinitive | Her spear sign *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **sign** |  | Her *= she* |  |  |  |  |  | nom sign «communication transitive»: poss=agent |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Two simple signs could have said «broken spear» without all the trouble

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:89-justso-alphabet-3-the-alphabet-all-complete:t2:o2:1
# text = Two simple signs could have said «broken spear» without all the trouble
1	Two	two	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	3	nummod	_	_
2	simple	simple	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	signs	sign	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	nsubj:pass	_	_
4	could	could	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	6	aux	_	_
5	have	have	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	6	aux	_	_
6	said	say	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
7	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	9	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	broken	break	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	9	amod	_	_
9	spear	spear	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	9	punct	_	_
11	without	without	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
12	all	all	DET	PDT	PronType=Tot	14	det:predet	_	_
13	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	14	det	_	_
14	trouble	trouble	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **say** *speech: assert* | could · perfect · passive |  | Two simple signs |  |  |  | without all trouble; broken spear *obl* | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V NP.topic»: subject=Topic |
| 2 | **break** *in a quote* | participle |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn hurt-40.8.3-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Patient |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Two simple signs could have said «broken spear» without all the trouble of the long drawing

<!-- fold The tree, 16 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:89-justso-alphabet-3-the-alphabet-all-complete:t2:o3:1
# text = Two simple signs could have said «broken spear» without all the trouble of the long drawing
1	Two	two	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	3	nummod	_	_
2	simple	simple	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	signs	sign	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	nsubj:pass	_	_
4	could	could	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	6	aux	_	_
5	have	have	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	6	aux	_	_
6	said	say	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
7	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	9	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	broken	break	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	9	amod	_	_
9	spear	spear	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	9	punct	_	_
11	without	without	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
12	all	all	DET	PDT	PronType=Tot	14	det:predet	_	_
13	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	14	det	_	_
14	trouble	trouble	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obl	_	_
15	of	of	ADP	IN	_	18	case	_	_
16	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	18	det	_	_
17	long	long	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	18	amod	_	_
18	drawing	drawing	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **say** *speech: assert* | could · perfect · passive |  | Two simple signs |  |  |  | without all trouble of the long drawing; broken spear *obl* | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V NP.topic»: subject=Topic |
| 2 | **break** *in a quote* | participle |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn hurt-40.8.3-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Patient |
| 3 | **trouble** |  |  | the long drawing |  |  |  |  | nom trouble «cognition transitive»: of=patient |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Tegumai drew it better than her

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:89-justso-alphabet-3-the-alphabet-all-complete:t2:o4:1
# text = Tegumai drew it better than her
1	Tegumai	Tegumai	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	2	nsubj	_	_
2	drew	draw	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	obj	_	_
4	better	good	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	2	xcomp	_	_
5	than	than	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	her	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **draw** | past | Tegumai | it |  |  |  | good *property* | vn scribble-25.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent it=Theme |

<!-- 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 Alphabet Was…, test 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/89-justso-alphabet-3-the-alphabet-all-complete/t1/)
- next →: [Just So Stories, How the Alphabet Was…, test 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/89-justso-alphabet-3-the-alphabet-all-complete/t3/)
- ↑ back to [Just So Stories, How the Alphabet Was Made, part 3: «the Alphabet, all complete», and how letters really began](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/89-justso-alphabet-3-the-alphabet-all-complete/)