---
title: Why is «You are great» a weaker compliment than «You were so patient… — Screens, sleep, fairness and differences · tree and pragmatics
description: Why is «You are great» a weaker compliment than «You were so patient helping me with maths»? Test 4 · ★ of lesson 103 «Screens, sleep, fairness and differences» of the everyday course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each option; Mova's choice 
---

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# Test 4 · ★ · Screens, sleep, fairness and differences

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Why is «You are great» a weaker compliment than «You were so patient helping me with maths»?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 2 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** You · **What happens:** be, help · **To what, where:** weaker compliment, me

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This is test 4 · ★ of lesson 103 «Screens, sleep, fairness and differences» of the everyday 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/everyday/103-screens-fairness-and-differences/#t4).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:103-screens-fairness-and-differences:t4:1
# text = Why is «You are great» a weaker compliment than «You were so patient helping me with maths»?
1	Why	why	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	6	advmod	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	cop	_	_
3	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	6	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	You	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Person=2|PronType=Prs	6	nsubj	_	_
5	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=2|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	cop	_	_
6	great	great	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	6	punct	_	_
8	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
9	weaker	weak	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	10	amod	_	_
10	compliment	compliment	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	parataxis	_	_
11	than	than	SCONJ	IN	_	16	mark	_	_
12	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	16	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	You	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Person=2|PronType=Prs	16	nsubj	_	_
14	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=2|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	16	cop	_	_
15	so	so	ADV	RB	_	16	advmod	_	_
16	patient	patient	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	10	acl	_	_
17	helping	help	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	16	advcl	_	_
18	me	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	17	obj	_	_
19	with	with	ADP	IN	_	20	case	_	_
20	maths	math	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	17	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
21	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	16	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
22	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	6	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** *in a quote* | present | You |  |  |  |  | great *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **is** *in a quote* | past | You | a weaker compliment *not said here* |  |  |  | patient *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **help** *in a quote* | gerund | You *not said here* |  | me |  |  | with maths | vn help-72.1-1-1 «NP V NP PP.theme»: agent=Agent i=Beneficiary with math=Theme |

<!-- .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 -->
Talking about maths is not allowed

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:103-screens-fairness-and-differences:t4:o1:1
# text = Talking about maths is not allowed
1	Talking	talk	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	6	csubj:pass	_	_
2	about	about	ADP	IN	_	3	case	_	_
3	maths	math	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	1	obl	_	_
4	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	aux:pass	_	_
5	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	6	advmod	_	_
6	allowed	allow	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 | **talk** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  | about maths | vn talk-37.5 «NP V PP.topic»: agent=Agent about math=Topic |
| 2 | **not** **allow** | present · passive | Talking |  |  |  |  |  | vn allow-64.1-1 «NP V S\_ING» |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A specific, true compliment means more

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:103-screens-fairness-and-differences:t4:o2:1
# text = A specific, true compliment means more
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
2	specific	specific	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	2	punct	_	_
4	true	true	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	compliment	compliment	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	_
6	means	mean	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
7	more	more	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	6	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **mean** | present | a specific true compliment | more |  |  |  |  | vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent more=Topic |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Long compliments are never believed by anybody

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:103-screens-fairness-and-differences:t4:o3:1
# text = Long compliments are never believed by anybody
1	Long	long	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	amod	_	_
2	compliments	compliment	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	nsubj:pass	_	_
3	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	aux:pass	_	_
4	never	never	ADV	RB	PronType=Neg	5	advmod	_	_
5	believed	believe	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
6	by	by	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	anybody	anybody	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Ind	5	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **believe** | present · passive | anybody | Long compliments |  |  |  |  | vn admire-31.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer subject=Stimulus |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Short compliments are always rude

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:103-screens-fairness-and-differences:t4:o4:1
# text = Short compliments are always rude
1	Short	short	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	amod	_	_
2	compliments	compliment	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	nsubj	_	_
3	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
4	always	always	ADV	RB	PronType=Tot	5	advmod	_	_
5	rude	rude	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | Short compliments |  |  |  |  | always, rude *property* | tree rules |

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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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- ← previous: [Screens, sleep, fairness and differences, test 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/everyday/103-screens-fairness-and-differences/t3/)
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