---
title: At dim sum you ask for a leopard. What did you probably mean? — The four tones: same sound, different… · tree and pragmatics
description: At dim sum you ask for a leopard. What did you probably mean? Test 8 · ★★ of lesson 2 «The four tones: same sound, different meaning» 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 right.
---

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# Test 8 · ★★ · The four tones: same sound, different meaning

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
At dim sum you ask for a leopard. What did you probably mean?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 1 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** you · **What happens:** ask, mean · **To what, where:** dim sum

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 8 · ★★ of lesson 2 «The four tones: same sound, different meaning» 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/2-the-four-tones/#t8).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* At dim sum you ask for a leopard.

```conllu
# sent_id = question:chinese-street:2-the-four-tones:t8:1
# text = At dim sum you ask for a leopard.
1	At	at	ADP	IN	_	3	case	_	_
2	dim	dim	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	sum	sum	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	_
4	you	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Person=2|PronType=Prs	5	nsubj	_	_
5	ask	ask	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=2|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
6	for	for	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	leopard	leopard	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **ask** *speech: ask* | present | you |  |  | dim sum |  | for a leopard | vn inquire-37.1.2 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

<!-- .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:* What did you probably mean?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:chinese-street:2-the-four-tones:t8:2
# text = What did you probably mean?
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	5	obj	_	_
2	did	do	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=2|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	aux	_	_
3	you	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Person=2|PronType=Prs	5	nsubj	_	_
4	probably	probably	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
5	mean	mean	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **mean** | past · do-support | you |  |  |  |  | probably *property* | vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent what=Topic |

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
bāozi, a filled bun, said high

```conllu
# sent_id = question:chinese-street:2-the-four-tones:t8:o1:1
# text = bāozi, a filled bun, said high
1	bāozi	bāozi	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	7	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	5	punct	_	_
3	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	filled	fill	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	5	amod	_	_
5	bun	bun	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	appos	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	1	punct	_	_
7	said	say	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
8	high	high	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	xcomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **fill** | participle |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn other\_cos-45.4 «NP.patient V»: agent=Patient |
| 2 | **say** *speech: assert* | past | bāozi |  |  |  |  | high *property* | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
bàozi, said falling

```conllu
# sent_id = question:chinese-street:2-the-four-tones:t8:o2:1
# text = bàozi, said falling
1	bàozi	bàozi	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	1	punct	_	_
3	said	say	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	falling	fall	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	3	xcomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **say** *speech: assert* | past | bàozi |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 2 | **fall** | gerund | bàozi *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn occur-48.3 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
tāng, a soup

```conllu
# sent_id = question:chinese-street:2-the-four-tones:t8:o3:1
# text = tāng, a soup
1	tāng	tāng	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	4	punct	_	_
3	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	soup	soup	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .note -->
The frames reader finds no event or fact in this sentence.

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
mántou, a plain bun

```conllu
# sent_id = question:chinese-street:2-the-four-tones:t8:o4:1
# text = mántou, a plain bun
1	mántou	mántou	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	5	punct	_	_
3	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	plain	plain	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	bun	bun	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	appos	_	_
```

<!-- .note -->
The frames reader finds no event or fact in this sentence.

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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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- ← previous: [The four tones: same sound, different…, test 7](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/chinese-street/2-the-four-tones/t7/)
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