---
title: Ascertain the meaning of the expression "xiào sǐ wǒ le". — Friendly teasing — when it's fun and w… · tree and pragmatics
description: Ascertain the meaning of the expression "xiào sǐ wǒ le". Exam question 4 of lesson 23 «Friendly teasing — when it's fun and when it stings» 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.
---

<!-- md -->
[Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/chinese-street/23-friendly-teasing/e4/)

<!-- crumbs -->
[home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/) / [questions](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/) / [Chinese street](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/chinese-street/) / [Friendly teasing — when it's fun and w…](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/chinese-street/23-friendly-teasing/) / e4

# Exam question 4 · Friendly teasing — when it's fun and when it stings

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Ascertain the meaning of the expression "xiào sǐ wǒ le".

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 3 · **The right answer:** option 3 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** you · **What happens:** ascertain, mean · **To what, where:** meaning, expression

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 4 of lesson 23 «Friendly teasing — when it's fun and when it stings» of the Chinese street course of Mova's primary school, asked in stiff, formal language. 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/23-friendly-teasing/#e4).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:chinese-street:23-friendly-teasing:e4:1
# text = Ascertain the meaning of the expression "xiào sǐ wǒ le".
1	Ascertain	ascertain	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	meaning	meaning	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
4	of	of	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	expression	expression	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nmod	_	_
7	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	9	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	xiào	xiào	X	FW	Foreign=Yes	9	flat:foreign	_	_
9	sǐ	sǐ	X	FW	Foreign=Yes	11	dep	_	_
10	wǒ	wǒ	X	FW	Foreign=Yes	11	compound	_	_
11	le	le	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	11	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **ascertain** | imperative | you *not said here* | the meaning of the expression  wǒ le |  |  |  |  | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent meaning=Topic |
| 2 | **mean** |  |  | the expression  wǒ le |  |  |  |  | nom meaning «communication transitive»: of=patient |

<!-- .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 -->
I am gravely ill and must lie down at once

```conllu
# sent_id = question:chinese-street:23-friendly-teasing:e4:o1:1
# text = I am gravely ill and must lie down at once
1	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
2	am	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
3	gravely	gravely	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
4	ill	ill	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
5	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	7	cc	_	_
6	must	must	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	7	aux	_	_
7	lie	lie	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	conj	_	_
8	down	down	ADV	RB	_	7	advmod	_	_
9	at	at	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
10	once	once	ADV	RB	NumForm=Word|NumType=Mult	7	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | I |  |  |  |  | gravely, ill *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **lie down** | must | I *not said here* |  |  |  |  | down *property* | vn assuming\_position-50 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Agent at once=Location |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
I am about to depart

```conllu
# sent_id = question:chinese-street:23-friendly-teasing:e4:o2:1
# text = I am about to depart
1	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	am	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	cop	_	_
3	about	about	ADP	IN	_	0	root	_	_
4	to	to	PART	TO	_	5	mark	_	_
5	depart	depart	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	xcomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **depart** | to-infinitive |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn escape-51.1-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

### Option 3 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
That is exceedingly amusing, literally "laughing me to death"

```conllu
# sent_id = question:chinese-street:23-friendly-teasing:e4:o3:1
# text = That is exceedingly amusing, literally "laughing me to death"
1	That	that	PRON	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	4	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
3	exceedingly	exceedingly	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
4	amusing	amusing	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	8	punct	_	_
6	literally	literally	ADV	RB	_	8	advmod	_	_
7	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	8	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	laughing	laugh	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	4	ccomp	_	_
9	me	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	8	obj	_	_
10	to	to	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
11	death	death	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	8	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | That |  |  |  |  | amusing, exceedingly *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **laugh** *in a quote* | gerund | That *not said here* | me |  |  |  | to death; literally *property* | vn nonverbal\_expression-40.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent i=Theme |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
That is deeply saddening

```conllu
# sent_id = question:chinese-street:23-friendly-teasing:e4:o4:1
# text = That is deeply saddening
1	That	that	PRON	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	4	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
3	deeply	deeply	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
4	saddening	sadden	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **sadden** | present · progressive | That |  |  |  |  | deeply *property* | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V ADV-Middle»: agent=Experiencer |

<!-- 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 -->

<!-- pn -->
- ← previous: [Friendly teasing — when it's fun and w…, exam 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/chinese-street/23-friendly-teasing/e3/)
- next →: [Words that hurt — what they mean, neve…, test 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/chinese-street/24-words-that-hurt/t1/)
- ↑ back to [Friendly teasing — when it's fun and when it stings](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/chinese-street/23-friendly-teasing/)