---
title: Your mate says, "Asking for the origin is a waste of time, innit." P… — Olympiad: the Spelling Bee · tree and pragmatics
description: Your mate says, "Asking for the origin is a waste of time, innit." Put him right. Test 1 · ★★★ of lesson 55 «Olympiad: the Spelling Bee» 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 wrong.
---

<!-- md -->
[Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/english/55-olympiad-the-spelling-bee/t1/)

<!-- crumbs -->
[home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/) / [questions](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/) / [English](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/english/) / [Olympiad: the Spelling Bee](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/english/55-olympiad-the-spelling-bee/) / t1

# Test 1 · ★★★ · Olympiad: the Spelling Bee

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Your mate says, "Asking for the origin is a waste of time, innit." Put him right.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 2 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** mate, Asking, you · **What happens:** say, ask, be, put · **To what, where:** waste, mate · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 1 · ★★★ of lesson 55 «Olympiad: the Spelling Bee» 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/55-olympiad-the-spelling-bee/#t1).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* Your mate says, "Asking for the origin is a waste of time, innit."

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:55-olympiad-the-spelling-bee:t1:1
# text = Your mate says, "Asking for the origin is a waste of time, 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	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	12	punct	_	_
5	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	12	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	Asking	ask	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	12	csubj	_	_
7	for	for	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	origin	origin	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obl	_	_
10	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	12	cop	_	_
11	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
12	waste	waste	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	ccomp	_	_
13	of	of	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
14	time	time	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	16	punct	_	_
16	innit	innit	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
18	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	3	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 |
| 2 | **ask** *speech: ask* *in a quote* | gerund |  |  |  |  |  | for the origin | vn inquire-37.1.2 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **is a** *in a quote* | present | Asking | a waste and innit |  |  | time |  | 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:* Put him right.

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:55-olympiad-the-spelling-bee:t1:2
# text = Put him right.
1	Put	put	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	1	obj	_	_
3	right	right	ADV	RB	_	1	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **put** | imperative | you *not said here* |  | mate |  |  | right *property* | vn invest-13.5.4-1 «NP V PP»: agent=Agent he=Goal |

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 · ← Mova's choice {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The origin tells you the whole answer

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:55-olympiad-the-spelling-bee:t1:o1:1
# text = The origin tells you the whole answer
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	origin	origin	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	tells	tell	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	you	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Person=2|PronType=Prs	3	iobj	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
6	whole	whole	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
7	answer	answer	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **tell** *speech: assert* | present | the origin | the whole answer | you |  |  |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP-Dative NP»: agent=Agent you=Recipient answer=Topic |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Origins hint at spelling patterns

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:55-olympiad-the-spelling-bee:t1:o2:1
# text = Origins hint at spelling patterns
1	Origins	origin	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nsubj	_	_
2	hint	hint	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	at	at	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
4	spelling	spelling	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	compound	_	_
5	patterns	pattern	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **hint** *speech: other* | present | Origins |  |  | spelling patterns |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-2 «NP V how S»: agent=Agent |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Only the judges are told the origins

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:55-olympiad-the-spelling-bee:t1:o3:1
# text = Only the judges are told the origins
1	Only	only	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	judges	judge	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	nsubj:pass	_	_
4	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	aux:pass	_	_
5	told	tell	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	origins	origin	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	iobj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **tell** *speech: assert* | present · passive |  | the judges | the origins |  |  |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP-Dative NP»: subject=Recipient origin=Topic |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Origins never help with any spelling

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:55-olympiad-the-spelling-bee:t1:o4:1
# text = Origins never help with any spelling
1	Origins	origin	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj	_	_
2	never	never	ADV	RB	PronType=Neg	3	advmod	_	_
3	help	help	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	with	with	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	any	any	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	6	det	_	_
6	spelling	spelling	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **help** | present | Origins |  |  |  |  | with any spelling | vn help-72.1-1-1 «NP V PP.theme»: agent=Agent with spelling=Theme |

<!-- 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 -->

<!-- pn -->
- ← previous: [Putting it together: reading and writi…, exam 4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/english/54-reading-and-writing-like-a-writer/e4/)
- next →: [Olympiad: the Spelling Bee, test 2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/english/55-olympiad-the-spelling-bee/t2/)
- ↑ back to [Olympiad: the Spelling Bee](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/english/55-olympiad-the-spelling-bee/)