---
title: «inference = guessing, so any answer's fine, yeah?» What's true? — Inference: reading between the lines · tree and pragmatics
description: «inference = guessing, so any answer's fine, yeah?» What's true? Test 3 · ★ of lesson 18 «Inference: reading between the lines» 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 3 · ★ · Inference: reading between the lines

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
«inference = guessing, so any answer's fine, yeah?» What's true?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 1 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** inference, answer · **What happens:** guess, be

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 3 · ★ of lesson 18 «Inference: reading between the lines» 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/18-inference-reading-between-the-lines/#t3).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* «inference = guessing, so any answer's fine, yeah?»

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:18-inference-reading-between-the-lines:t3:1
# text = «inference = guessing, so any answer's fine, yeah?»
1	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	4	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	inference	inference	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
3	=	=	SYM	SYM	_	4	punct	_	_
4	guessing	guess	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	10	punct	_	_
6	so	so	ADV	RB	_	10	advmod	_	_
7	any	any	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	8	det	_	_
8	answer	answer	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	's	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	10	cop	_	_
10	fine	fine	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	ccomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	12	punct	_	_
12	yeah	yeah	INTJ	UH	_	10	discourse	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **guess** *in a quote* | gerund | inference |  |  |  |  |  | vn conjecture-29.5-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **is** *in a quote* | present | any answer |  |  |  |  | fine *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.

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 2:* What's true?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:18-inference-reading-between-the-lines:t3:2
# text = What's true?
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	3	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	's	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	cop	_	_
3	true	true	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

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

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
No, inference is reasoning from clues in the text

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:18-inference-reading-between-the-lines:t3:o1:1
# text = No, inference is reasoning from clues in the text
1	No	no	INTJ	UH	Polarity=Neg	5	discourse	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	1	punct	_	_
3	inference	inference	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
4	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	aux	_	_
5	reasoning	reason	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
6	from	from	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	clues	clue	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	obl	_	_
8	in	in	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	text	text	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **reason** | present · progressive | inference |  |  | clues |  | in the text | vn deduce-97.2 «NP V NP PP.source»: agent=Agent from clue=Source |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
No, inference is copying the words

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:18-inference-reading-between-the-lines:t3:o2:1
# text = No, inference is copying the words
1	No	no	INTJ	UH	Polarity=Neg	5	discourse	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	1	punct	_	_
3	inference	inference	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
4	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	aux	_	_
5	copying	copy	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	words	word	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **copy** | present · progressive | inference | the words |  |  |  |  | vn scribble-25.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent word=Theme |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Yes, inference is just guessing

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:18-inference-reading-between-the-lines:t3:o3:1
# text = Yes, inference is just guessing
1	Yes	yes	INTJ	UH	Polarity=Pos	6	discourse	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	1	punct	_	_
3	inference	inference	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	_
4	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	aux	_	_
5	just	just	ADV	RB	_	6	advmod	_	_
6	guessing	guess	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **guess** | present · progressive | inference |  |  |  |  |  | vn conjecture-29.5-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Yes, any answer gets the marks in an inference question as long as it is long

<!-- fold The tree, 16 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:18-inference-reading-between-the-lines:t3:o4:1
# text = Yes, any answer gets the marks in an inference question as long as it is long
1	Yes	yes	INTJ	UH	Polarity=Pos	5	discourse	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	1	punct	_	_
3	any	any	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	4	det	_	_
4	answer	answer	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
5	gets	get	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	marks	mark	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	obj	_	_
8	in	in	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
9	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
10	inference	inference	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	compound	_	_
11	question	question	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	_
12	as	as	ADV	RB	_	13	advmod	_	_
13	long	long	ADV	RB	Degree=Pos	5	advmod	_	_
14	as	as	SCONJ	IN	_	17	mark	_	_
15	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	17	nsubj	_	_
16	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	17	cop	_	_
17	long	long	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	13	advcl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **get** | present | any answer | the marks |  | a inference question |  | long *property* | vn comprehend-87.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer mark=Stimulus |
| 2 | **is** | present | answer |  |  |  |  | long *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.

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