---
title: Lín says "lǎowài" about your English mum, smiling. Should you be fur… — Words that hurt — what they mean, neve… · tree and pragmatics
description: Lín says "lǎowài" about your English mum, smiling. Should you be furious? Test 9 · ★★ 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 each option; Mova's choice was
---

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# Test 9 · ★★ · Words that hurt — what they mean, never to be said

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Lín says "lǎowài" about your English mum, smiling. Should you be furious?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 3 · **The right answer:** option 3 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** Lín, you · **What happens:** say, smile, be · **To what, where:** lǎowài · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 9 · ★★ 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/#t9).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* Lín says "lǎowài" about your English mum, smiling.

```conllu
# sent_id = question:chinese-street:24-words-that-hurt:t9:1
# text = Lín says "lǎowài" about your English mum, smiling.
1	Lín	Lín	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	2	nsubj	_	_
2	says	say	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	4	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	lǎowài	lǎowài	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	4	punct	_	_
6	about	about	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
7	your	your	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Person=2|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	9	nmod:poss	_	_
8	English	English	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	amod	_	_
9	mum	mum	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	11	punct	_	_
11	smiling	smile	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	2	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **say** *speech: assert* | present | Lín | lǎowài |  |  |  | about your English mum | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V NP.topic»: agent=Agent lǎowài=Topic |
| 2 | **smile** | gerund | Lín *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn manner\_speaking-37.3 «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:* Should you be furious?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:chinese-street:24-words-that-hurt:t9:2
# text = Should you be furious?
1	Should	should	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
2	you	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Person=2|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
3	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	cop	_	_
4	furious	furious	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | should | you |  |  |  |  | furious *property* | tree rules |

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Yes, it's the very worst slur there is

```conllu
# sent_id = question:chinese-street:24-words-that-hurt:t9:o1:1
# text = Yes, it's the very worst slur there is
1	Yes	yes	INTJ	UH	Polarity=Pos	8	discourse	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	1	punct	_	_
3	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	8	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	's	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	8	cop	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
6	very	very	ADV	RB	_	7	advmod	_	_
7	worst	bad	ADJ	JJS	Degree=Sup	8	amod	_	_
8	slur	slur	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	vocative	_	_
9	there	there	PRON	EX	PronType=Dem	10	expl	_	_
10	is	be	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | it | the worst slur |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **be** | present |  |  |  | there |  |  | vn exist-47.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
No, it means "kind lady from abroad"

```conllu
# sent_id = question:chinese-street:24-words-that-hurt:t9:o2:1
# text = No, it means "kind lady from abroad"
1	No	no	INTJ	UH	Polarity=Neg	4	discourse	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	1	punct	_	_
3	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
4	means	mean	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	7	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	kind	kind	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
7	lady	lady	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obj	_	_
8	from	from	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
9	abroad	abroad	ADV	RB	_	7	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	7	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **mean** | present | it | kind lady |  |  |  |  | vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent lady=Topic |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
No, it's casual "foreigner", usually no harm

```conllu
# sent_id = question:chinese-street:24-words-that-hurt:t9:o3:1
# text = No, it's casual "foreigner", usually no harm
1	No	no	INTJ	UH	Polarity=Neg	5	discourse	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	1	punct	_	_
3	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	5	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	's	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
5	casual	casual	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
6	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	7	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	foreigner	foreigner	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	appos	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	7	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	12	punct	_	_
10	usually	usually	ADV	RB	_	12	advmod	_	_
11	no	no	DET	DT	PronType=Neg	12	det	_	_
12	harm	harm	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	conj	_	_
```

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

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Yes, it means "ugly lady"

```conllu
# sent_id = question:chinese-street:24-words-that-hurt:t9:o4:1
# text = Yes, it means "ugly lady"
1	Yes	yes	INTJ	UH	Polarity=Pos	4	discourse	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	1	punct	_	_
3	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
4	means	mean	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	7	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	ugly	ugly	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
7	lady	lady	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	7	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **mean** | present | it | ugly lady |  |  |  |  | vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent lady=Topic |

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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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