---
title: «spelling tests are a scam, skip 'em, love». What could Kiera think… — How to learn spellings that stick · tree and pragmatics
description: «spelling tests are a scam, skip 'em, love». What could Kiera think instead? Test 5 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 5 · How to learn spellings that stick

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
«spelling tests are a scam, skip 'em, love». What could Kiera think instead?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 3 · **The right answer:** option 3 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** spelling tests, Kiera · **What happens:** be, skip, think · **To what, where:** scam, 'em

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 5 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/#t5).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* «spelling tests are a scam, skip 'em, love».

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:15-how-to-learn-spellings-that-stick:t5:1
# text = «spelling tests are a scam, skip 'em, love».
1	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	6	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	spelling	spelling	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	compound	_	_
3	tests	test	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	nsubj	_	_
4	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	cop	_	_
5	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	scam	scam	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	8	punct	_	_
8	skip	skip	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	6	parataxis	_	_
9	'em	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	8	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	11	punct	_	_
11	love	love	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	11	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	6	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** *in a quote* | present | spelling tests | a scam |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **skip** *in a quote* | infinitive |  | 'em *= they* |  |  |  |  | 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.

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 2:* What could Kiera think instead?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:15-how-to-learn-spellings-that-stick:t5:2
# text = What could Kiera think instead?
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	4	obj	_	_
2	could	could	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
3	Kiera	Kiera	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
4	think	think	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
5	instead	instead	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **think** *speech: other* | could | Kiera |  |  |  |  | instead *property* | vn wish-62 «NP V NP»: agent=Pivot what=Theme |

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Tests are only for teachers' fun, so she can skip them

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:15-how-to-learn-spellings-that-stick:t5:o1:1
# text = Tests are only for teachers' fun, so she can skip them
1	Tests	test	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	nsubj	_	_
2	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	7	cop	_	_
3	only	only	ADV	RB	_	7	advmod	_	_
4	for	for	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
5	teachers	teacher	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	'	's	PART	POS	_	5	case	_	_
7	fun	fun	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	12	punct	_	_
9	so	so	ADV	RB	_	12	advmod	_	_
10	she	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	12	nsubj	_	_
11	can	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	12	aux	_	_
12	skip	skip	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	7	conj	_	_
13	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	12	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | Tests |  |  |  |  | for teachers's fun | tree rules |
| 2 | **skip** | can | she | Tests *= test* |  |  |  |  | vn run-51.3.2-2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent they=Agent |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Tests decide her whole future

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:15-how-to-learn-spellings-that-stick:t5:o2:1
# text = Tests decide her whole future
1	Tests	test	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nsubj	_	_
2	decide	decide	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	her	her	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	5	nmod:poss	_	_
4	whole	whole	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	future	future	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **decide** | present | Tests | her whole future |  |  |  |  | vn correspond-36.1-1 «NP V S»: agent=Agent future=Topic |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The test is practice that shows what to work on

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:15-how-to-learn-spellings-that-stick:t5:o3:1
# text = The test is practice that shows what to work on
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	test	test	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
3	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
4	practice	practice	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
5	that	that	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	6	nsubj	_	_
6	shows	show	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	acl:relcl	_	_
7	what	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	9	obj	_	_
8	to	to	PART	TO	_	9	mark	_	_
9	work	work	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	6	xcomp	_	_
10	on	on	ADP	IN	_	9	compound:prt	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | the test | practice |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **show** | present | practice |  |  |  |  |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V how S\_INF»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 3 | **work on** | to-infinitive | practice *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn knead-26.5 «NP V NP.material»: agent=Agent what=Material |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Her dad is right; tests are useless

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:15-how-to-learn-spellings-that-stick:t5:o4:1
# text = Her dad is right; tests are useless
1	Her	her	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	2	nmod:poss	_	_
2	dad	dad	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
3	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
4	right	right	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	;	;	PUNCT	:	_	8	punct	_	_
6	tests	test	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	nsubj	_	_
7	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	8	cop	_	_
8	useless	useless	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | Her dad |  |  |  |  | right *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **is** | present | tests |  |  |  |  | useless *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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