---
title: «ask his nan nǐ jǐ suì le, it's how you ask age» What is wrong? — Names and "how old are you?" · tree and pragmatics
description: «ask his nan nǐ jǐ suì le, it's how you ask age» What is wrong? Test 1 of lesson 5 «Names and "how old are you?"» 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 wrong.
---

<!-- md -->
[Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/chinese-street/5-names-and-how-old/t1/)

<!-- 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/) / [Names and "how old are you?"](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/chinese-street/5-names-and-how-old/) / t1

# Test 1 · Names and "how old are you?"

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
«ask his nan nǐ jǐ suì le, it's how you ask age» What is wrong?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 4 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** you, nan · **What happens:** ask, be · **To what, where:** nan · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 1 of lesson 5 «Names and "how old are you?"» 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/5-names-and-how-old/#t1).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:chinese-street:5-names-and-how-old:t1:1
# text = «ask his nan nǐ jǐ suì le, it's how you ask age» What is wrong?
1	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	2	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	ask	ask	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	4	nmod:poss	_	_
4	nan	nan	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
5	nǐ	nǐ	X	FW	Foreign=Yes	2	obj	_	_
6	jǐ	jǐ	X	FW	Foreign=Yes	5	flat	_	_
7	suì	suì	X	FW	Foreign=Yes	5	flat:foreign	_	_
8	le	le	X	FW	Foreign=Yes	5	flat:foreign	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	14	punct	_	_
10	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	14	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	's	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	14	cop	_	_
12	how	how	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	14	advmod	_	_
13	you	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Person=2|PronType=Prs	14	nsubj	_	_
14	ask	ask	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	2	advcl	_	_
15	age	age	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	2	punct	_	_
17	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	19	nsubj	_	_
18	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	19	cop	_	_
19	wrong	wrong	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	ccomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
20	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **ask** *speech: ask* *in a quote* | imperative | you *not said here* | his nan |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **is** *in a quote* | present | nan |  |  |  |  | ask *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **is** | present |  |  |  |  |  | wrong *property* | tree rules |

<!-- .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 · ← Mova's choice {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Nothing, it is the perfect way to ask any granny her age

```conllu
# sent_id = question:chinese-street:5-names-and-how-old:t1:o1:1
# text = Nothing, it is the perfect way to ask any granny her age
1	Nothing	nothing	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Neg	7	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	1	punct	_	_
3	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	7	nsubj	_	_
4	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	7	cop	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
6	perfect	perfect	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
7	way	way	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
8	to	to	PART	TO	_	9	mark	_	_
9	ask	ask	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	7	acl	_	_
10	any	any	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	11	det	_	_
11	granny	granny	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obj	_	_
12	her	her	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	13	nmod:poss	_	_
13	age	age	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | Nothing | the perfect way |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **ask** *speech: ask* | to-infinitive |  | her age | any granny |  |  |  | tree rules |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
You must never ask age in Chinese

```conllu
# sent_id = question:chinese-street:5-names-and-how-old:t1:o2:1
# text = You must never ask age in Chinese
1	You	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Person=2|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
2	must	must	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
3	never	never	ADV	RB	PronType=Neg	4	advmod	_	_
4	ask	ask	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
5	age	age	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obj	_	_
6	in	in	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	Chinese	Chinese	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **ask** *speech: ask* | must | You | age |  | Chinese |  |  | vn inquire-37.1.2 «NP V NP.recipient»: agent=Agent age=Recipient |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It means «what's your name»

```conllu
# sent_id = question:chinese-street:5-names-and-how-old:t1:o3:1
# text = It means «what's your name»
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|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	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	7	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	what	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	7	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	's	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	7	cop	_	_
6	your	your	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Person=2|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	7	nmod:poss	_	_
7	name	name	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	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 |  |  |  |  |  | vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V S»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **is a** *in a quote* | present |  | your name |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

### Option 4 · ✓ the right answer {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
That form is for kids; to her it's nín duō dà niánjì le?

<!-- fold The tree, 14 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:chinese-street:5-names-and-how-old:t1:o4:1
# text = That form is for kids; to her it's nín duō dà niánjì le?
1	That	that	DET	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	2	det	_	_
2	form	form	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
3	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
4	for	for	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	kids	kid	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	;	;	PUNCT	,	_	12	punct	_	_
7	to	to	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
8	her	her	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	11	nmod:poss	_	_
9	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	11	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	's	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	11	cop	_	_
11	nín	nín	X	FW	Foreign=Yes	12	flat:foreign	_	_
12	duō	duō	X	GW	_	5	appos	_	_
13	dà	dà	X	GW	_	12	flat:foreign	_	_
14	niánjì	niánjì	X	GW	_	12	flat:foreign	_	_
15	le	le	X	NN	_	12	flat:foreign	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

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

<!-- 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: [Yes and no — there is no single word, exam 4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/chinese-street/4-yes-and-no/e4/)
- next →: [Names and "how old are you?", test 2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/chinese-street/5-names-and-how-old/t2/)
- ↑ back to [Names and "how old are you?"](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/chinese-street/5-names-and-how-old/)