---
title: «spellcheck'll sort it, spelling's for boomers lol». What's the prob… — How to learn spellings that stick · tree and pragmatics
description: «spellcheck'll sort it, spelling's for boomers lol». What's the problem? Test 2 of lesson 15 «How to learn spellings that stick» of the English course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each option; Mova's choice was right.
---

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# Test 2 · How to learn spellings that stick

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
«spellcheck'll sort it, spelling's for boomers lol». What's the problem?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 3 · **The right answer:** option 3 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** spellcheck, problem · **What happens:** sort, be · **To what, where:** it

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 2 of lesson 15 «How to learn spellings that stick» of the English 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/english/15-how-to-learn-spellings-that-stick/#t2).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* «spellcheck'll sort it, spelling's for boomers lol».

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:15-how-to-learn-spellings-that-stick:t2:1
# text = «spellcheck'll sort it, spelling's for boomers lol».
1	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	4	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	spellcheck	spellcheck	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	'll	will	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
4	sort	sort	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
5	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	7	punct	_	_
7	spelling	spelling	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	's	's	PART	POS	_	7	case	_	_
9	for	for	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
10	boomers	boomer	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obl	_	_
11	lol	lol	INTJ	UH	_	4	discourse	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	4	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **sort** *in a quote* | future | spellcheck | it |  |  |  | 's spelling; for boomers | vn classify-29.10 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent it=Theme |

<!-- .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 problem?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:15-how-to-learn-spellings-that-stick:t2:2
# text = What's the problem?
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	4	det	_	_
4	problem	problem	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

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

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Boomers invented spellcheck

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:15-how-to-learn-spellings-that-stick:t2:o1:1
# text = Boomers invented spellcheck
1	Boomers	boomer	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	0	root	_	_
2	invented	invent	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	1	acl	_	_
3	spellcheck	spellcheck	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **invent** | participle | Boomers *not said here* | spellcheck |  |  |  |  | vn create-26.4-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent spellcheck=Result |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Spellcheck is always perfect, so there's no problem

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:15-how-to-learn-spellings-that-stick:t2:o2:1
# text = Spellcheck is always perfect, so there's no problem
1	Spellcheck	spellcheck	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
3	always	always	ADV	RB	PronType=Tot	4	advmod	_	_
4	perfect	perfect	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	8	punct	_	_
6	so	so	ADV	RB	_	8	advmod	_	_
7	there	there	PRON	EX	PronType=Dem	8	expl	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	's	be	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	parataxis	_	_
9	no	no	DET	DT	PronType=Neg	10	det	_	_
10	problem	problem	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nsubj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | Spellcheck |  |  |  |  | always, perfect *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **be** | present | no problem |  |  | there |  |  | vn exist-47.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Spellcheck can pick the wrong word if your try is far off

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:15-how-to-learn-spellings-that-stick:t2:o3:1
# text = Spellcheck can pick the wrong word if your try is far off
1	Spellcheck	spellcheck	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
2	can	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	3	aux	_	_
3	pick	pick	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
5	wrong	wrong	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	word	word	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
7	if	if	SCONJ	IN	_	11	mark	_	_
8	your	your	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Person=2|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	9	nmod:poss	_	_
9	try	try	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	nsubj	_	_
10	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	11	cop	_	_
11	far	far	ADV	RB	Degree=Pos	3	advcl	_	_
12	off	off	ADV	RB	_	11	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **pick** | can | Spellcheck | the wrong word |  |  |  |  | vn chew-39.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent word=Patient |
| 2 | **is** *a condition, not said to happen* | present | your try |  |  |  |  | far, off *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **try** |  | your |  |  |  |  |  | nom try «act transitive»: poss=agent |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Phones refuse to spell long words, so you need to know them yourself anyway

<!-- fold The tree, 14 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:15-how-to-learn-spellings-that-stick:t2:o4:1
# text = Phones refuse to spell long words, so you need to know them yourself anyway
1	Phones	phone	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nsubj	_	_
2	refuse	refuse	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	to	to	PART	TO	_	4	mark	_	_
4	spell	spell	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	2	xcomp	_	_
5	long	long	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	words	word	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	10	punct	_	_
8	so	so	ADV	RB	_	10	advmod	_	_
9	you	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Person=2|PronType=Prs	10	nsubj	_	_
10	need	need	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=2|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	2	conj	_	_
11	to	to	PART	TO	_	12	mark	_	_
12	know	know	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	10	xcomp	_	_
13	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	12	obj	_	_
14	yourself	yourself	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Sing|Person=2|PronType=Prs|Reflex=Yes	12	obj	_	_
15	anyway	anyway	ADV	RB	_	12	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **refuse** | present | Phones |  |  |  |  |  | vn reject-77.2 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Agent clause=Theme |
| 2 | **not** **spell** | to-infinitive | Phones *not said here* | long words |  |  |  |  | vn pronounce-29.3.1 «NP V NP ADVP»: agent=Agent word=Theme |
| 3 | **need** | present | you |  |  |  |  |  | vn want-32.1-1-1 «NP V NP S\_INF»: agent=Pivot clause=Theme |
| 4 | **know** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive | you *not said here* | words *= word* |  |  |  | anyway *property* | 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.

<!-- /div -->

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