---
title: Your mate laughs at the new kid's Glasgow accent and says "he can't… — Standard English and dialect: "we was"… · tree and pragmatics
description: Your mate laughs at the new kid's Glasgow accent and says "he can't even talk proper." What is wrong with that? Test 1 · ★ of lesson 38 «Standard English and dialect: "we was" in talk, "we were" in writing» of the English course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of th
---

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# Test 1 · ★ · Standard English and dialect: "we was" in talk, "we were"…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Your mate laughs at the new kid's Glasgow accent and says "he can't even talk proper." What is wrong with that?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 4 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** mate, new kid · **What happens:** laugh, say, not talk, accent, be · **To what, where:** Glasgow accent · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 1 · ★ of lesson 38 «Standard English and dialect: "we was" in talk, "we were" in writing» 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/38-standard-english-and-dialect-we-was-and-we-were/#t1).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* Your mate laughs at the new kid's Glasgow accent and says "he can't even talk proper."

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:38-standard-english-and-dialect-we-was-and-we-were:t1:1
# text = Your mate laughs at the new kid's Glasgow accent and says "he can't even talk proper."
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	laughs	laugh	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	at	at	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
6	new	new	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
7	kid	kid	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	's	's	PART	POS	_	7	case	_	_
9	Glasgow	Glasgow	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	10	compound	_	_
10	accent	accent	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
11	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	12	cc	_	_
12	says	say	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	conj	_	_
13	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	18	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	18	nsubj	_	_
15	ca	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	18	aux	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	n't	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	18	advmod	_	_
17	even	even	ADV	RB	_	18	advmod	_	_
18	talk	talk	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	12	ccomp	_	_
19	proper	properly	ADV	RB	_	18	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
20	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	18	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
21	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	18	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **laugh** | present | Your mate |  |  | the new kid's Glasgow accent |  |  | vn nonverbal\_expression-40.2 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **say** *speech: assert* | present | Your mate *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 3 | **not** **talk** *in a quote* | can | mate |  |  |  |  | properly *property* | vn talk-37.5 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 4 | **accent** |  | the new kid |  |  |  |  |  | nom accent «communication transitive»: poss=agent |

<!-- .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:38-standard-english-and-dialect-we-was-and-we-were: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 · ← Mova's choice {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
He is right, accents are mistakes

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:38-standard-english-and-dialect-we-was-and-we-were:t1:o1:1
# text = He is right, accents are mistakes
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	cop	_	_
3	right	right	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	7	punct	_	_
5	accents	accent	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	nsubj	_	_
6	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	7	cop	_	_
7	mistakes	mistake	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | He |  |  |  |  | right *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **is a** | present | accents | mistakes |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Only the new kid is allowed to laugh

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:38-standard-english-and-dialect-we-was-and-we-were:t1:o2:1
# text = Only the new kid is allowed to laugh
1	Only	only	ADV	RB	_	6	advmod	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
3	new	new	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	amod	_	_
4	kid	kid	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nsubj:pass	_	_
5	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	aux:pass	_	_
6	allowed	allow	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
7	to	to	PART	TO	_	8	mark	_	_
8	laugh	laugh	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	6	xcomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **allow** | present · passive |  | the new kid |  |  |  |  | vn allow-64.1-1 «NP V NP S»: subject=Beneficiary clause=Eventuality |
| 2 | **laugh** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive | the new kid *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn nonverbal\_expression-40.2 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Nothing, because Glasgow speech is not really English at all

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:38-standard-english-and-dialect-we-was-and-we-were:t1:o3:1
# text = Nothing, because Glasgow speech is not really English at all
1	Nothing	nothing	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Neg	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	9	punct	_	_
3	because	because	SCONJ	IN	_	9	mark	_	_
4	Glasgow	Glasgow	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	5	compound	_	_
5	speech	speech	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	nsubj	_	_
6	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	9	cop	_	_
7	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	9	advmod	_	_
8	really	really	ADV	RB	_	9	advmod	_	_
9	English	English	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	1	amod	_	_
10	at	at	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
11	all	all	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	9	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **is** | present | Glasgow speech |  |  | all |  | english *property* | tree rules |

### Option 4 · ✓ the right answer {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It's unkind, and every accent and dialect has rules

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:38-standard-english-and-dialect-we-was-and-we-were:t1:o4:1
# text = It's unkind, and every accent and dialect has rules
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	's	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	cop	_	_
3	unkind	unkind	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	10	punct	_	_
5	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	10	cc	_	_
6	every	every	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	7	det	_	_
7	accent	accent	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	nsubj	_	_
8	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	9	cc	_	_
9	dialect	dialect	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	conj	_	_
10	has	have	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	parataxis	_	_
11	rules	rule	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	10	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | It |  |  |  |  | unkind *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **have** | present | every accent and dialect | rules |  |  |  |  | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent rule=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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- ← previous: [Paragraphs and cohesion: holding a tex…, exam 4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/english/37-paragraphs-and-cohesion-holding-a-text-together/e4/)
- next →: [Standard English and dialect: "we was"…, test 2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/english/38-standard-english-and-dialect-we-was-and-we-were/t2/)
- ↑ back to [Standard English and dialect: "we was" in talk, "we were" in writing](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/english/38-standard-english-and-dialect-we-was-and-we-were/)