---
title: Ming's mum asks once, lightly, if you want to stay for dinner, and d… — At the friend's home: what to say to t… · tree and pragmatics
description: Ming's mum asks once, lightly, if you want to stay for dinner, and doesn't ask again. What's the likely meaning? Test 3 · ★ of lesson 28 «At the friend's home: what to say to the parents» of the Chinese street course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question a
---

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# Test 3 · ★ · At the friend's home: what to say to the parents

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Ming's mum asks once, lightly, if you want to stay for dinner, and doesn't ask again. What's the likely meaning?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 2 · **The right answer:** option 1 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** mum, you, likely meaning · **What happens:** ask, want, stay, not ask, be

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 3 · ★ of lesson 28 «At the friend's home: what to say to the parents» 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/28-at-the-friends-home-what-to-say-to-the-parents/#t3).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* Ming's mum asks once, lightly, if you want to stay for dinner, and doesn't ask again.

```conllu
# sent_id = question:chinese-street:28-at-the-friends-home-what-to-say-to-the-parents:t3:1
# text = Ming's mum asks once, lightly, if you want to stay for dinner, and doesn't ask again.
1	Ming	Ming	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	3	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	's	's	PART	POS	_	1	case	_	_
3	mum	mum	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
4	asks	ask	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	once	once	ADV	RB	NumForm=Word|NumType=Mult	4	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	7	punct	_	_
7	lightly	lightly	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	11	punct	_	_
9	if	if	SCONJ	IN	_	11	mark	_	_
10	you	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Person=2|PronType=Prs	11	nsubj	_	_
11	want	want	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=2|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	conj	_	_
12	to	to	PART	TO	_	13	mark	_	_
13	stay	stay	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	11	xcomp	_	_
14	for	for	ADP	IN	_	15	case	_	_
15	dinner	dinner	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	20	punct	_	_
17	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	20	cc	_	_
18	does	do	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	20	aux	_	SpaceAfter=No
19	n't	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	20	advmod	_	_
20	ask	ask	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	4	parataxis	_	_
21	again	again	ADV	RB	_	20	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
22	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **ask** *speech: ask* | present | Ming's mum |  |  |  |  | lightly, once *property* | vn inquire-37.1.2 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **want** *a condition, not said to happen* | present | you |  |  |  |  |  | vn want-32.1-1-1 «NP V NP S\_INF»: agent=Pivot clause=Theme |
| 3 | **stay** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive | you *not said here* |  |  |  |  | for dinner | vn exist-47.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 4 | **not** **ask** *speech: ask* | present · do-support |  |  |  |  | again |  | 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's the likely meaning?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:chinese-street:28-at-the-friends-home-what-to-say-to-the-parents:t3:2
# text = What's the likely meaning?
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	's	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	1	cop	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	likely	likely	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	meaning	meaning	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

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

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 · ✓ the right answer {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It may just be politeness

```conllu
# sent_id = question:chinese-street:28-at-the-friends-home-what-to-say-to-the-parents:t3:o1:1
# text = It may just be politeness
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	5	nsubj	_	_
2	may	may	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	5	aux	_	_
3	just	just	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
4	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	cop	_	_
5	politeness	politeness	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
```

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

### Option 2 · ← Mova's choice {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
She's angry with you

```conllu
# sent_id = question:chinese-street:28-at-the-friends-home-what-to-say-to-the-parents:t3:o2:1
# text = She's angry with you
1	She	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	's	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	cop	_	_
3	angry	angry	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
4	with	with	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	you	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Person=2|PronType=Prs	3	obl	_	_
```

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

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
She wants you to cook

```conllu
# sent_id = question:chinese-street:28-at-the-friends-home-what-to-say-to-the-parents:t3:o3:1
# text = She wants you to cook
1	She	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	wants	want	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	you	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Person=2|PronType=Prs	2	obj	_	_
4	to	to	PART	TO	_	5	mark	_	_
5	cook	cook	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	2	xcomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **want** | present | She | you |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **cook** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive | you *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn cooking-45.3 «NP.patient V»: agent=Patient |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
She means you must stay

```conllu
# sent_id = question:chinese-street:28-at-the-friends-home-what-to-say-to-the-parents:t3:o4:1
# text = She means you must stay
1	She	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	means	mean	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	you	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Person=2|PronType=Prs	5	nsubj	_	_
4	must	must	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	5	aux	_	_
5	stay	stay	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	2	ccomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **mean** | present | She |  |  |  |  |  | vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 2 | **stay** | must | you |  |  |  |  |  | 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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