---
title: In a cartoon, Captain Grammar says «every word is born a noun or a v… — Word classes: the jobs words do · tree and pragmatics
description: In a cartoon, Captain Grammar says «every word is born a noun or a verb and stays that way for ever». What's true? Test 7 · ★ of lesson 27 «Word classes: the jobs words do» of the English course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each option; Mov
---

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# Test 7 · ★ · Word classes: the jobs words do

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
In a cartoon, Captain Grammar says «every word is born a noun or a verb and stays that way for ever». What's true?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 4 · **The right answer:** option 2 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** Captain · **What happens:** say, bear, stay, be · **To what, where:** cartoon, word, way · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 7 · ★ of lesson 27 «Word classes: the jobs words do» 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/27-word-classes-the-jobs-words-do/#t7).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* In a cartoon, Captain Grammar says «every word is born a noun or a verb and stays that way for ever».

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:27-word-classes-the-jobs-words-do:t7:1
# text = In a cartoon, Captain Grammar says «every word is born a noun or a verb and stays that way for ever».
1	In	in	ADP	IN	_	3	case	_	_
2	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	cartoon	cartoon	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	3	punct	_	_
5	Captain	Captain	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	7	nsubj	_	_
6	Grammar	Grammar	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	5	flat	_	_
7	says	say	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
8	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	12	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	every	every	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	10	det	_	_
10	word	word	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	nsubj:pass	_	_
11	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	12	aux:pass	_	_
12	born	bear	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	7	ccomp	_	_
13	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	14	det	_	_
14	noun	noun	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	obj	_	_
15	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	17	cc	_	_
16	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	17	det	_	_
17	verb	verb	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	conj	_	_
18	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	19	cc	_	_
19	stays	stay	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	7	conj	_	_
20	that	that	DET	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	21	det	_	_
21	way	way	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	19	obj	_	_
22	for	for	ADP	IN	_	23	case	_	_
23	ever	ever	ADV	RB	PronType=Ind	19	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
24	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	19	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
25	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	7	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **say** *speech: assert* | present | Captain |  |  | a cartoon |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 2 | **bear** *in a quote* | present · passive |  | every word |  |  |  |  | vn birth-28.2-1-1 «NP V NP NP»: subject=Beneficiary noun=Patient |
| 3 | **stay** *in a quote* | present | Captain *not said here* | that way |  |  |  |  | vn lodge-46 «NP V ADV»: agent=Theme way=Location |

<!-- .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:27-word-classes-the-jobs-words-do:t7:2
# 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 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Only nouns can change

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:27-word-classes-the-jobs-words-do:t7:o1:1
# text = Only nouns can change
1	Only	only	ADV	RB	_	2	advmod	_	_
2	nouns	noun	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj	_	_
3	can	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
4	change	change	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **change** | can | nouns |  |  |  |  |  | vn dress-41.1.1-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A word's class depends on its job in the sentence

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:27-word-classes-the-jobs-words-do:t7:o2:1
# text = A word's class depends on its job in the sentence
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	word	word	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	's	's	PART	POS	_	2	case	_	_
4	class	class	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
5	depends	depend	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
6	on	on	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	8	nmod:poss	_	_
8	job	job	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	_
9	in	in	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
10	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	sentence	sentence	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **depend** | present | a word's class |  |  |  |  | in the sentence; on class's job | vn rely-70 «NP V PP.theme S\_ING»: agent=Agent on job=Theme |
| 2 | **job** |  | class |  |  |  |  |  | nom job «act intransitive»: poss=agent |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Every word has only one class for ever

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:27-word-classes-the-jobs-words-do:t7:o3:1
# text = Every word has only one class for ever
1	Every	every	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	2	det	_	_
2	word	word	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	has	have	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	only	only	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
5	one	one	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	6	nummod	_	_
6	class	class	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
7	for	for	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
8	ever	ever	ADV	RB	PronType=Ind	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **have** | present | every word | one class |  |  |  |  | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent class=Patient |

### Option 4 · ← Mova's choice {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Words have no classes, only spellings

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:27-word-classes-the-jobs-words-do:t7:o4:1
# text = Words have no classes, only spellings
1	Words	word	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nsubj	_	_
2	have	have	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	no	no	DET	DT	PronType=Neg	4	det	_	_
4	classes	class	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	7	punct	_	_
6	only	only	ADV	RB	_	7	advmod	_	_
7	spellings	spelling	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **have** | present | Words | no classes and spellings |  |  |  |  | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent class=Patient |

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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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