---
title: «his mum said děng yíxià an hour ago» What's going on? — In the playground: come on, your turn! · tree and pragmatics
description: «his mum said děng yíxià an hour ago» What's going on? Test 3 of lesson 13 «In the playground: come on, your turn!» of the Chinese street course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each option; Mova's choice was wrong.
---

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# Test 3 · In the playground: come on, your turn!

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
«his mum said děng yíxià an hour ago» What's going on?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 4 · **The right answer:** option 3 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** mum · **What happens:** say, děng, go on · **To what, where:** yíxià · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 3 of lesson 13 «In the playground: come on, your turn!» of the Chinese street 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/chinese-street/13-in-the-playground/#t3).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:chinese-street:13-in-the-playground:t3:1
# text = «his mum said děng yíxià an hour ago» What's going on?
1	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	4	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	3	nmod:poss	_	_
3	mum	mum	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
4	said	say	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	děng	děng	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	4	xcomp	_	_
6	yíxià	yíxià	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	5	obj	_	_
7	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	hour	hour	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obl:unmarked	_	_
9	ago	ago	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	4	punct	_	_
11	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	13	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	's	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	13	aux	_	_
13	going	go	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	4	ccomp	_	_
14	on	on	ADP	RP	_	13	compound:prt	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **say** *speech: assert* *in a quote* | past | his mum |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V how S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 2 | **děng** *in a quote* | gerund | his mum *not said here* | yíxià |  |  |  | ago *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **go on** | present · progressive |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn function-105.2.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

<!-- .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 -->
She meant no

```conllu
# sent_id = question:chinese-street:13-in-the-playground:t3:o1:1
# text = She meant no
1	She	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|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	no	no	DET	DT	PronType=Neg	2	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **mean** | past | She | no |  |  |  |  | vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent no=Topic |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
She meant hurry up, get ready

```conllu
# sent_id = question:chinese-street:13-in-the-playground:t3:o2:1
# text = She meant hurry up, get ready
1	She	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|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	hurry	hurry	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	2	xcomp	_	_
4	up	up	ADP	RP	_	3	compound:prt	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	6	punct	_	_
6	get	get	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	3	parataxis	_	_
7	ready	ready	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	xcomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **mean** | past | She |  |  |  |  |  | vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 2 | **hurry up** *not said to happen* | infinitive | She *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn run-51.3.2-2 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 3 | **get** | infinitive |  |  |  |  |  | ready *property* | vn comprehend-87.2-1 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Experiencer |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A parent's «wait a moment» can be long

```conllu
# sent_id = question:chinese-street:13-in-the-playground:t3:o3:1
# text = A parent's «wait a moment» can be long
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	parent	parent	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	's	's	PART	POS	_	2	case	_	_
4	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	5	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	wait	wait	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	2	parataxis	_	_
6	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	moment	moment	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	5	punct	_	_
9	can	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	11	aux	_	_
10	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	11	cop	_	_
11	long	long	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **wait** *in a quote* | infinitive |  |  |  |  | moment |  | vn exist-47.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 2 | **is** | can | a parent |  |  |  |  | long *property* | tree rules |

### Option 4 · ← Mova's choice {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
She really did say «wait an hour», word for word

```conllu
# sent_id = question:chinese-street:13-in-the-playground:t3:o4:1
# text = She really did say «wait an hour», word for word
1	She	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
2	really	really	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
3	did	do	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
4	say	say	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
5	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	6	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	wait	wait	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	ccomp	_	_
7	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	hour	hour	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obl:unmarked	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	6	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	11	punct	_	_
11	word	word	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
12	for	for	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
13	word	word	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **say** *speech: assert* | past · do-support | She | word for word |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 2 | **wait** *in a quote* | infinitive |  |  |  |  | hour |  | vn exist-47.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

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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.

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