---
title: Did the proverb actually mean anything, or was it just rubbish? — Andersen's Fairy Tales, Soup from a Sa… · tree and pragmatics
description: Did the proverb actually mean anything, or was it just rubbish? Test 6 · ★ of lesson 992 «Andersen's Fairy Tales, Soup from a Sausage Skewer: the mouse's adventures end in a wedding and a critics' complaint, then storks appear on a roof» of the books course of Mova's primary school, with the depende
---

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# Test 6 · ★ · Andersen's Fairy Tales, Soup from a Sausage Skewer: the mo…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Did the proverb actually mean anything, or was it just rubbish?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 2 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** proverb · **What happens:** do, mean, be · **To what, where:** proverb, anything, rubbish

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 6 · ★ of lesson 992 «Andersen's Fairy Tales, Soup from a Sausage Skewer: the mouse's adventures end in a wedding and a critics' complaint, then storks appear on a roof» 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/992-pg27200-part203/#t6).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:992-pg27200-part203:t6:1
# text = Did the proverb actually mean anything, or was it just rubbish?
1	Did	do	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	proverb	proverb	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
4	actually	actually	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
5	mean	mean	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	acl:relcl	_	_
6	anything	anything	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Ind	5	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	12	punct	_	_
8	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	12	cc	_	_
9	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	12	cop	_	_
10	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	12	nsubj	_	_
11	just	just	ADV	RB	_	12	advmod	_	_
12	rubbish	rubbish	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	parataxis	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **do** | past |  | the proverb |  |  |  |  | vn act-114-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent proverb=Eventuality |
| 2 | **mean** | present | the proverb *not said here* | anything |  |  |  | actually *property* | vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent anything=Topic |
| 3 | **is a** | past | proverb | rubbish |  |  |  |  | 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 · ← Mova's choice {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It meant nothing at all, the owl said, which everyone found very amusing indeed.

<!-- fold The tree, 14 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:992-pg27200-part203:t6:o1:1
# text = It meant nothing at all, the owl said, which everyone found very amusing indeed.
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	meant	mean	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	nothing	nothing	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Neg	2	obj	_	_
4	at	at	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	all	all	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	3	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	9	punct	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	owl	owl	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	nsubj	_	_
9	said	say	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	2	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	13	punct	_	_
11	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	13	nsubj	_	_
12	everyone	everyone	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Tot	13	nsubj	_	_
13	found	find	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	9	ccomp	_	_
14	very	very	ADV	RB	_	15	advmod	_	_
15	amusing	amusing	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	13	xcomp	_	_
16	indeed	indeed	ADV	RB	_	13	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **mean** | past | It | nothing |  | all |  |  | vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent nothing=Topic |
| 2 | **say** *speech: assert* | past | the owl |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V how S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 3 | **find** | past |  |  |  |  |  | amusing, indeed *property* | vn declare-29.4-1-1 «NP V what S\_INF»: agent=Agent |

### Option 2 · ✓ the right answer {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It meant nothing, the owl said

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:992-pg27200-part203:t6:o2:1
# text = It meant nothing, the owl said
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	meant	mean	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	nothing	nothing	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Neg	2	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	7	punct	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	owl	owl	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nsubj	_	_
7	said	say	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	2	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **mean** | past | It | nothing |  |  |  |  | vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent nothing=Topic |
| 2 | **say** *speech: assert* | past | the owl |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It meant nothing, the owl said, and it was just a clever-sounding phrase

<!-- fold The tree, 14 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:992-pg27200-part203:t6:o3:1
# text = It meant nothing, the owl said, and it was just a clever-sounding phrase
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	meant	mean	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	nothing	nothing	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Neg	2	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	7	punct	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	owl	owl	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nsubj	_	_
7	said	say	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	acl:relcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	17	punct	_	_
9	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	17	cc	_	_
10	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	17	nsubj	_	_
11	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	17	cop	_	_
12	just	just	ADV	RB	_	17	advmod	_	_
13	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	17	det	_	_
14	clever	clever	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	16	amod	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	14	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	sounding	sound	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	17	amod	_	_
17	phrase	phrase	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **mean** | past | It | nothing |  |  |  |  | vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent nothing=Topic |
| 2 | **say** *speech: assert* | past | the owl |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **sound** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn stimulus\_subject-30.4 «NP V PP.attribute»: agent=Stimulus |
| 4 | **is a** | past | owl | a sounding phrase |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
No, it was a lovely saying

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:992-pg27200-part203:t6:o4:1
# text = No, it was a lovely saying
1	No	no	INTJ	UH	Polarity=Neg	7	discourse	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	1	punct	_	_
3	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	7	nsubj	_	_
4	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	7	cop	_	_
5	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
6	lovely	lovely	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
7	saying	saying	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
```

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

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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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