---
title: What would happen if Kai wrote "we was" in his SATs grammar test? — Standard English and dialect: "we was"… · tree and pragmatics
description: What would happen if Kai wrote "we was" in his SATs grammar test? Test 4 · ★ 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 the question and of each option; Mova's choice w
---

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# Test 4 · ★ · Standard English and dialect: "we was" in talk, "we were"…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
What would happen if Kai wrote "we was" in his SATs grammar test?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 2 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** Kai, we · **What happens:** happen, write, be, test · **To what, where:** SATs grammar test · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 4 · ★ 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/#t4).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:38-standard-english-and-dialect-we-was-and-we-were:t4:1
# text = What would happen if Kai wrote "we was" in his SATs grammar test?
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	3	nsubj	_	_
2	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	3	aux	_	_
3	happen	happen	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
4	if	if	SCONJ	IN	_	6	mark	_	_
5	Kai	Kai	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	_
6	wrote	write	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	advcl	_	_
7	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	9	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	we	we	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=1|PronType=Prs	9	nsubj	_	_
9	was	be	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=1|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	6	ccomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	3	punct	_	_
11	in	in	ADP	IN	_	15	case	_	_
12	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	15	nmod:poss	_	_
13	SATs	sat	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	15	compound	_	_
14	grammar	grammar	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	15	compound	_	_
15	test	test	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **happen** | would |  |  |  | Kai's SATs grammar test |  |  | vn occur-48.3-1 «NP V PP»: agent=Theme in test=Location |
| 2 | **write** *a condition, not said to happen* | past | Kai |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1 «NP V S-Quote»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 3 | **be** *in a quote* | past | we |  |  |  |  |  | vn exist-47.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 4 | **test** |  | Kai |  |  |  |  |  | nom test «cognition 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.

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 · ← Mova's choice {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
He would get extra marks for using his own home dialect

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:38-standard-english-and-dialect-we-was-and-we-were:t4:o1:1
# text = He would get extra marks for using his own home dialect
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	3	aux	_	_
3	get	get	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
4	extra	extra	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	marks	mark	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obj	_	_
6	for	for	SCONJ	IN	_	7	mark	_	_
7	using	use	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	3	advcl	_	_
8	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	11	nmod:poss	_	_
9	own	own	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	11	amod	_	_
10	home	home	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	compound	_	_
11	dialect	dialect	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **get** | would | He | extra marks |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer mark=Stimulus |
| 2 | **use** | gerund | He *not said here* | his own home dialect |  |  |  |  | vn eat-39.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent dialect=Patient |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
He would lose the mark, as it asks for Standard English

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:38-standard-english-and-dialect-we-was-and-we-were:t4:o2:1
# text = He would lose the mark, as it asks for Standard English
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	3	aux	_	_
3	lose	lose	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	mark	mark	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	9	punct	_	_
7	as	as	SCONJ	IN	_	9	mark	_	_
8	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	9	nsubj	_	_
9	asks	ask	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	advcl	_	_
10	for	for	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
11	Standard	Standard	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	12	compound	_	_
12	English	English	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	9	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **lose** | would | He | the mark |  |  |  |  | vn succeed-74-3-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent mark=Eventuality |
| 2 | **ask** *speech: ask* | present | mark |  |  |  |  | for Standard English | vn inquire-37.1.2 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Nothing, because tests accept every dialect

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:38-standard-english-and-dialect-we-was-and-we-were:t4:o3:1
# text = Nothing, because tests accept every dialect
1	Nothing	nothing	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Neg	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	5	punct	_	_
3	because	because	SCONJ	IN	_	5	mark	_	_
4	tests	test	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	nsubj	_	_
5	accept	accept	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	1	conj	_	_
6	every	every	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	7	det	_	_
7	dialect	dialect	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **accept** | present | tests | every dialect |  |  |  |  | vn obtain-13.5.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent dialect=Theme |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The test would be cancelled

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:38-standard-english-and-dialect-we-was-and-we-were:t4:o4:1
# text = The test would be cancelled
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	test	test	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj:pass	_	_
3	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	5	aux	_	_
4	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	aux:pass	_	_
5	cancelled	cancel	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **cancel** | would · passive |  | the test |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

<!-- div src -->

**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: [Standard English and dialect: "we was"…, test 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/english/38-standard-english-and-dialect-we-was-and-we-were/t3/)
- next →: [Standard English and dialect: "we was"…, test 5](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/english/38-standard-english-and-dialect-we-was-and-we-were/t5/)
- ↑ 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/)