---
title: At the aquarium Lín points and says "kuài kàn!" and the Mandarin wor… — Words that hurt — what they mean, neve… · tree and pragmatics
description: At the aquarium Lín points and says "kuài kàn!" and the Mandarin word for a turtle. Is that an insult? Test 6 · ★★ of lesson 24 «Words that hurt — what they mean, never to be said» of the Chinese street course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of e
---

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# Test 6 · ★★ · Words that hurt — what they mean, never to be said

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
At the aquarium Lín points and says "kuài kàn!" and the Mandarin word for a turtle. Is that an insult?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 1 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** Lín · **What happens:** point, say, be · **To what, where:** aquarium, kuài kàn, insult · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 6 · ★★ of lesson 24 «Words that hurt — what they mean, never to be said» 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/24-words-that-hurt/#t6).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* At the aquarium Lín points and says "kuài kàn!" and the Mandarin word for a turtle.

```conllu
# sent_id = question:chinese-street:24-words-that-hurt:t6:1
# text = At the aquarium Lín points and says "kuài kàn!" and the Mandarin word for a turtle.
1	At	at	ADP	IN	_	3	case	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	aquarium	aquarium	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	_
4	Lín	Lín	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
5	points	point	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
6	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	7	cc	_	_
7	says	say	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	conj	_	_
8	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	10	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	kuài	kuài	X	FW	Foreign=Yes	10	flat:foreign	_	_
10	kàn	kàn	X	FW	Foreign=Yes	7	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	!	!	PUNCT	.	_	10	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	10	punct	_	_
13	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	16	cc	_	_
14	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	16	det	_	_
15	Mandarin	Mandarin	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	16	compound	_	_
16	word	word	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	conj	_	_
17	for	for	ADP	IN	_	19	case	_	_
18	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	19	det	_	_
19	turtle	turtle	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	16	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
20	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **point** | present | Lín |  |  | the aquarium |  |  | vn wink-40.3.1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **say** *speech: assert* | present | Lín *not said here* | kuài kàn and the Mandarin word for a turtle |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V NP.topic»: agent=Agent kàn=Topic |

<!-- .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:* Is that an insult?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:chinese-street:24-words-that-hurt:t6:2
# text = Is that an insult?
1	Is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
2	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	4	mark	_	_
3	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	insult	insult	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

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

## The options {#options}

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
No, a real turtle is fine; only calling a person it

```conllu
# sent_id = question:chinese-street:24-words-that-hurt:t6:o1:1
# text = No, a real turtle is fine; only calling a person it
1	No	no	INTJ	UH	Polarity=Neg	7	discourse	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	1	punct	_	_
3	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	real	real	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	turtle	turtle	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nsubj	_	_
6	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	7	cop	_	_
7	fine	fine	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	;	;	PUNCT	,	_	10	punct	_	_
9	only	only	ADV	RB	_	10	advmod	_	_
10	calling	call	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	7	advcl	_	_
11	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
12	person	person	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	obj	_	_
13	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	10	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | a real turtle |  |  |  |  | fine *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **call** | gerund | a real turtle *not said here* | a person |  |  |  |  | vn dub-29.3.2 «NP V NP NP»: agent=Agent person=Theme it=Result |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
No, but only on Sundays

```conllu
# sent_id = question:chinese-street:24-words-that-hurt:t6:o2:1
# text = No, but only on Sundays
1	No	no	INTJ	UH	Polarity=Neg	6	discourse	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	1	punct	_	_
3	but	but	CCONJ	CC	_	6	cc	_	_
4	only	only	ADV	RB	_	6	advmod	_	_
5	on	on	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	Sundays	Sunday	PROPN	NNPS	Number=Plur	0	root	_	_
```

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

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Yes, never say turtle out loud

```conllu
# sent_id = question:chinese-street:24-words-that-hurt:t6:o3:1
# text = Yes, never say turtle out loud
1	Yes	yes	INTJ	UH	Polarity=Pos	4	discourse	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	1	punct	_	_
3	never	never	ADV	RB	PronType=Neg	4	advmod	_	_
4	say	say	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	turtle	turtle	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obj	_	_
6	out	out	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
7	loud	loud	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **say out** *speech: assert* | imperative | you *not said here* | turtle |  |  |  | loud, out *property* | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V NP.topic»: agent=Agent turtle=Topic |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Yes, turtles are unlucky animals in every story

```conllu
# sent_id = question:chinese-street:24-words-that-hurt:t6:o4:1
# text = Yes, turtles are unlucky animals in every story
1	Yes	yes	INTJ	UH	Polarity=Pos	6	discourse	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	1	punct	_	_
3	turtles	turtle	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	nsubj	_	_
4	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	cop	_	_
5	unlucky	unlucky	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	animals	animal	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	0	root	_	_
7	in	in	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	every	every	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	9	det	_	_
9	story	story	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | turtles | unlucky animals |  | every story |  |  | 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.

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