---
title: «the wee boy's a right numpty, he keeps losing his shoes». Why might… — Reading a story: characters, plot and… · tree and pragmatics
description: «the wee boy's a right numpty, he keeps losing his shoes». Why might an author make a character keep making the same mistake? Test 10 · ★ of lesson 22 «Reading a story: characters, plot and setting» of the English course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the questi
---

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# Test 10 · ★ · Reading a story: characters, plot and setting

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
«the wee boy's a right numpty, he keeps losing his shoes». Why might an author make a character keep making the same mistake?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 4 · **The right answer:** option 2 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** wee boy, right numpty, author, character · **What happens:** be, keep, lose, make · **To what, where:** right numpty, shoes, same mistake

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 10 · ★ of lesson 22 «Reading a story: characters, plot and setting» 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/22-reading-a-story-characters-plot-and-setting/#t10).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* «the wee boy's a right numpty, he keeps losing his shoes».

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:22-reading-a-story-characters-plot-and-setting:t10:1
# text = «the wee boy's a right numpty, he keeps losing his shoes».
1	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	8	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
3	wee	wee	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	amod	_	_
4	boy	boy	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	's	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	8	cop	_	_
6	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
7	right	right	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	amod	_	_
8	numpty	numpty	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	8	punct	_	_
10	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	11	nsubj	_	_
11	keeps	keep	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
12	losing	lose	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	11	xcomp	_	_
13	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	14	nmod:poss	_	_
14	shoes	shoe	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	12	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	12	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	11	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** *in a quote* | present | the wee boy | a right numpty |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **keep** *in a quote* | present | a right numpty |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 3 | **lose** *in a quote* | gerund | a right numpty *not said here* | numpty's shoes |  |  |  |  | vn succeed-74-3-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent shoe=Eventuality |

<!-- .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:* Why might an author make a character keep making the same mistake?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:22-reading-a-story-characters-plot-and-setting:t10:2
# text = Why might an author make a character keep making the same mistake?
1	Why	why	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	5	advmod	_	_
2	might	might	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	5	aux	_	_
3	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	author	author	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
5	make	make	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
6	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	character	character	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nsubj	_	_
8	keep	keep	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	parataxis	_	_
9	making	make	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	8	xcomp	_	_
10	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
11	same	same	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	12	amod	_	_
12	mistake	mistake	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **make** | might | a author |  |  |  |  |  | vn build-26.1-1 «NP.asset V NP»: agent=Asset |
| 2 | **keep** | present | a character |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 3 | **make** | gerund | a character *not said here* | the same mistake |  |  |  |  | vn build-26.1-1 «NP.asset V NP»: agent=Asset mistake=Product |

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Because the author forgot what happened earlier

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:22-reading-a-story-characters-plot-and-setting:t10:o1:1
# text = Because the author forgot what happened earlier
1	Because	because	SCONJ	IN	_	4	mark	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	author	author	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
4	forgot	forget	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	what	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	6	nsubj	_	_
6	happened	happen	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	ccomp	_	_
7	earlier	early	ADV	RBR	Degree=Cmp	6	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **forget** | past | the author |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **happen** | past |  |  |  |  |  | early *property* | vn occur-48.3-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

### Option 2 · ✓ the right answer {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
For humour, or to show him change later

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:22-reading-a-story-characters-plot-and-setting:t10:o2:1
# text = For humour, or to show him change later
1	For	for	ADP	IN	_	2	case	_	_
2	humour	humour	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	6	punct	_	_
4	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	6	cc	_	_
5	to	to	PART	TO	_	6	mark	_	_
6	show	show	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
7	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	6	iobj	_	_
8	change	change	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	6	xcomp	_	_
9	later	late	ADV	RBR	Degree=Cmp	8	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **show** | to-infinitive |  |  | him *= he* |  |  | for humour | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP S\_INF»: agent=Agent he=Recipient clause=Topic |
| 2 | **change** | infinitive |  |  |  |  |  | late *property* | vn dress-41.1.1-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
To make the book shorter

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:22-reading-a-story-characters-plot-and-setting:t10:o3:1
# text = To make the book shorter
1	To	to	PART	TO	_	2	mark	_	_
2	make	make	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	book	book	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
5	shorter	short	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	2	xcomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **make** | to-infinitive |  | the book |  |  |  | short *property* | vn build-26.1-1 «NP.asset V NP»: agent=Asset book=Product |

### Option 4 · ← Mova's choice {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
To teach readers to lose shoes

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:22-reading-a-story-characters-plot-and-setting:t10:o4:1
# text = To teach readers to lose shoes
1	To	to	PART	TO	_	2	mark	_	_
2	teach	teach	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	readers	reader	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obj	_	_
4	to	to	PART	TO	_	5	mark	_	_
5	lose	lose	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	2	xcomp	_	_
6	shoes	shoe	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **teach** *speech: other* | to-infinitive |  | readers |  |  |  |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP S\_INF»: agent=Agent reader=Recipient clause=Topic |
| 2 | **lose** | to-infinitive | readers *not said here* | shoes |  |  |  |  | vn succeed-74-3-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent shoe=Eventuality |

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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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