---
title: Your mate says "apostrophes just mean there's an s coming, innit." W… — Apostrophes: missing letters and belon… · tree and pragmatics
description: Your mate says "apostrophes just mean there's an s coming, innit." What is wrong with that? Test 1 of lesson 34 «Apostrophes: missing letters and belonging» 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 r
---

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# Test 1 · Apostrophes: missing letters and belonging

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Your mate says "apostrophes just mean there's an s coming, innit." What is wrong with that?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 4 · **The right answer:** option 4 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** mate, apostrophes, s · **What happens:** say, mean, be, come, innit · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 1 of lesson 34 «Apostrophes: missing letters and belonging» 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/34-apostrophes-missing-letters-and-belonging/#t1).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* Your mate says "apostrophes just mean there's an s coming, innit."

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:34-apostrophes-missing-letters-and-belonging:t1:1
# text = Your mate says "apostrophes just mean there's an s coming, innit."
1	Your	your	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Person=2|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	2	nmod:poss	_	_
2	mate	mate	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	says	say	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	7	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	apostrophes	apostrophe	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	nsubj	_	_
6	just	just	ADV	RB	_	7	advmod	_	_
7	mean	mean	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	ccomp	_	_
8	there	there	PRON	EX	PronType=Dem	9	expl	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	's	be	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	7	ccomp	_	_
10	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	s	s	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	nsubj	_	_
12	coming	come	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	11	acl	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	14	punct	_	_
14	innit	innit	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	7	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	7	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	7	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **say** *speech: assert* | present | Your mate |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 2 | **mean** *in a quote* | present | apostrophes |  |  |  |  |  | vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 3 | **be** *in a quote* | present | a s |  |  | there |  |  | vn exist-47.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 4 | **come** *in a quote* | gerund | a s *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 5 | **innit** *in a quote* | infinitive | apostrophes *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | 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 is wrong with that?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:34-apostrophes-missing-letters-and-belonging:t1:2
# text = What is wrong with that?
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	3	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	cop	_	_
3	wrong	wrong	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
4	with	with	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	that	that	PRON	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	3	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

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

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It only goes wrong in American English

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:34-apostrophes-missing-letters-and-belonging:t1:o1:1
# text = It only goes wrong in American English
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	only	only	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	_
3	goes	go	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	wrong	wrong	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	xcomp	_	_
5	in	in	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	American	American	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
7	English	English	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **go** | present | It |  |  | American English |  | wrong *property* | vn occur-48.3-2 «NP V PP»: agent=Theme in english=Location |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Nothing, that is exactly the rule

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:34-apostrophes-missing-letters-and-belonging:t1:o2:1
# text = Nothing, that is exactly the rule
1	Nothing	nothing	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Neg	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	7	punct	_	_
3	that	that	PRON	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	7	nsubj	_	_
4	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	7	cop	_	_
5	exactly	exactly	ADV	RB	_	7	advmod	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	rule	rule	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	conj	_	_
```

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

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Apostrophes only ever come before an s

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:34-apostrophes-missing-letters-and-belonging:t1:o3:1
# text = Apostrophes only ever come before an s
1	Apostrophes	apostrophe	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj	_	_
2	only	only	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
3	ever	ever	ADV	RB	PronType=Ind	4	advmod	_	_
4	come	come	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	before	before	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	s	s	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **come** | infinitive | Apostrophes |  |  | a s | ever |  | vn appear-48.1.1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme before s=Location |

### Option 4 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Many plurals with s need none, and some apostrophes have no s

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:34-apostrophes-missing-letters-and-belonging:t1:o4:1
# text = Many plurals with s need none, and some apostrophes have no s
1	Many	many	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	amod	_	_
2	plurals	plural	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	nsubj	_	_
3	with	with	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
4	s	s	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	_
5	need	need	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
6	none	none	PRON	NN	PronType=Neg	5	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	11	punct	_	_
8	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	11	cc	_	_
9	some	some	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	10	det	_	_
10	apostrophes	apostrophe	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	11	nsubj	_	_
11	have	have	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	parataxis	_	_
12	no	no	DET	DT	PronType=Neg	13	det	_	_
13	s	s	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **need** | present | Many plurals with s | none |  |  |  |  | vn want-32.1-1-1 «NP V NP ADV»: agent=Pivot none=Theme |
| 2 | **have** | present | some apostrophes | no s |  |  |  |  | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent s=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.

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