---
title: In a cartoon, the posh character always speaks "properly" and the fa… — Standard English and dialect: "we was"… · tree and pragmatics
description: In a cartoon, the posh character always speaks "properly" and the farmer always "wrongly". What is the cartoon getting wrong? Test 3 · ★ 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 pr
---

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# Test 3 · ★ · Standard English and dialect: "we was" in talk, "we were"…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
In a cartoon, the posh character always speaks "properly" and the farmer always "wrongly". What is the cartoon getting wrong?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 3 · **The right answer:** option 4 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** posh character, cartoon · **What happens:** speak, be, get · **To what, where:** cartoon · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 3 · ★ 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/#t3).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* In a cartoon, the posh character always speaks "properly" and the farmer always "wrongly".

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:38-standard-english-and-dialect-we-was-and-we-were:t3:1
# text = In a cartoon, the posh character always speaks "properly" and the farmer always "wrongly".
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	9	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	3	punct	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
6	posh	posh	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
7	character	character	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	nsubj	_	_
8	always	always	ADV	RB	PronType=Tot	9	advmod	_	_
9	speaks	speak	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
10	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	11	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	properly	properly	ADV	RB	_	9	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	11	punct	_	_
13	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	15	cc	_	_
14	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	15	det	_	_
15	farmer	farmer	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	conj	_	_
16	always	always	ADV	RB	PronType=Tot	18	advmod	_	_
17	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	18	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
18	wrongly	wrongly	ADV	RB	_	15	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
19	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	15	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
20	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	9	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **speak** *speech: other* | present | the posh character |  |  | a cartoon |  | always, properly *property* | vn talk-37.5 «NP V»: agent=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 the cartoon getting wrong?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:38-standard-english-and-dialect-we-was-and-we-were:t3:2
# text = What is the cartoon getting wrong?
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	0	root	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	1	cop	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	cartoon	cartoon	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	nsubj	_	_
5	getting	get	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	4	acl	_	_
6	wrong	wrong	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	xcomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | the cartoon |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **get** | gerund | the cartoon *not said here* |  |  |  |  | wrong *property* | vn comprehend-87.2-1 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Experiencer |

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Cartoons must use only Standard English

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:38-standard-english-and-dialect-we-was-and-we-were:t3:o1:1
# text = Cartoons must use only Standard English
1	Cartoons	cartoon	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj	_	_
2	must	must	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	3	aux	_	_
3	use	use	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
4	only	only	ADV	RB	_	6	advmod	_	_
5	Standard	Standard	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	6	compound	_	_
6	English	English	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **use** | must | Cartoons | Standard English |  |  |  |  | vn eat-39.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent english=Patient |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Farmers never speak with an accent

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:38-standard-english-and-dialect-we-was-and-we-were:t3:o2:1
# text = Farmers never speak with an accent
1	Farmers	farmer	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj	_	_
2	never	never	ADV	RB	PronType=Neg	3	advmod	_	_
3	speak	speak	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	with	with	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	accent	accent	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **speak** *speech: other* | present | Farmers |  |  |  |  | with a accent | vn talk-37.5 «NP V PP.co-agent»: agent=Agent with accent=Co-Agent |

### Option 3 · ← Mova's choice {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Posh people never use any dialect

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:38-standard-english-and-dialect-we-was-and-we-were:t3:o3:1
# text = Posh people never use any dialect
1	Posh	posh	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	amod	_	_
2	people	people	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj	_	_
3	never	never	ADV	RB	PronType=Neg	4	advmod	_	_
4	use	use	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	any	any	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	6	det	_	_
6	dialect	dialect	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **use** | present | Posh people | any dialect |  |  |  |  | vn eat-39.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent dialect=Patient |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The farmer's dialect has rules too

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:38-standard-english-and-dialect-we-was-and-we-were:t3:o4:1
# text = The farmer's dialect has rules too
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	farmer	farmer	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	's	's	PART	POS	_	2	case	_	_
4	dialect	dialect	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
5	has	have	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
6	rules	rule	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	obj	_	_
7	too	too	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **have** | present | the farmer's 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.

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- ↑ 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/)