---
title: my mate said this kid stuck chopsticks straight up in his rice at a… — A guest at the table, and manners on t… · tree and pragmatics
description: my mate said this kid stuck chopsticks straight up in his rice at a Chinese mate's house n got kicked out, true? Test 19 · ★★ of lesson 128 «A guest at the table, and manners on the phone» of the everyday course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of
---

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# Test 19 · ★★ · A guest at the table, and manners on the phone

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
my mate said this kid stuck chopsticks straight up in his rice at a Chinese mate's house n got kicked out, true?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 4 · **The right answer:** option 4 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** mate, kid · **What happens:** say, stick, kick out · **To what, where:** chopsticks, rice, n, house · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 19 · ★★ of lesson 128 «A guest at the table, and manners on the phone» 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/128-guest-at-the-table-and-the-phone/#t19).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:128-guest-at-the-table-and-the-phone:t19:1
# text = my mate said this kid stuck chopsticks straight up in his rice at a Chinese mate's house n got kicked out, true?
1	my	my	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Sing|Person=1|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	2	nmod:poss	_	_
2	mate	mate	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	said	say	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	this	this	DET	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	5	det	_	_
5	kid	kid	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	_
6	stuck	stick	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	ccomp	_	_
7	chopsticks	chopstick	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	obj	_	_
8	straight	straight	ADV	RB	_	9	advmod	_	_
9	up	up	ADV	RB	_	6	advmod	_	_
10	in	in	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
11	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	12	nmod:poss	_	_
12	rice	rice	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obl	_	_
13	at	at	ADP	IN	_	18	case	_	_
14	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	16	det	_	_
15	Chinese	Chinese	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	16	amod	_	_
16	mate	mate	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	18	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	's	's	PART	POS	_	16	case	_	_
18	house	house	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	21	obl	_	_
19	n	n	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	21	nsubj:pass	_	_
20	got	get	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	21	aux:pass	_	_
21	kicked	kick	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	6	parataxis	_	_
22	out	out	ADP	RP	_	21	compound:prt	_	SpaceAfter=No
23	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	24	punct	_	_
24	true	true	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	21	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
25	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **say** *speech: assert* | past | my mate |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 2 | **stick** | past | this kid | chopsticks |  | kid's rice |  |  | vn spray-9.7-1 «NP V NP PP.destination»: agent=Agent chopstick=Theme in rice=Destination |
| 3 | **kick out** | past · passive |  | n |  | a Chinese mate's house |  |  | vn swat-18.2 «NP V NP PP.location»: subject=Patient at house=Location |

<!-- .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 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Using chopsticks at all is rude for guests

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:128-guest-at-the-table-and-the-phone:t19:o1:1
# text = Using chopsticks at all is rude for guests
1	Using	use	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	6	csubj	_	_
2	chopsticks	chopstick	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	1	obj	_	_
3	at	at	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
4	all	all	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	1	obl	_	_
5	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	cop	_	_
6	rude	rude	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
7	for	for	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
8	guests	guest	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **use** | gerund |  | chopsticks |  | all |  |  | vn eat-39.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent chopstick=Patient |
| 2 | **is** | present | Using |  |  |  |  | for guests; rude *property* | tree rules |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Chopsticks must always stand up in rice

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:128-guest-at-the-table-and-the-phone:t19:o2:1
# text = Chopsticks must always stand up in rice
1	Chopsticks	chopstick	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj	_	_
2	must	must	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
3	always	always	ADV	RB	PronType=Tot	4	advmod	_	_
4	stand	stand	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
5	up	up	ADP	RP	_	4	compound:prt	_	_
6	in	in	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	rice	rice	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **stand up** | must | Chopsticks |  |  | rice |  | always *property* | vn assuming\_position-50 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Agent in rice=Location |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It's certainly true and happens often

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:128-guest-at-the-table-and-the-phone:t19:o3:1
# text = It's certainly true and happens often
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	's	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
3	certainly	certainly	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
4	true	true	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
5	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	6	cc	_	_
6	happens	happen	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	conj	_	_
7	often	often	ADV	RB	_	6	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | It |  |  |  |  | certainly, true *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **happen** | present |  |  |  |  |  | often *property* | vn occur-48.3-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

### Option 4 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Probably blown up, but upright chopsticks can look like a funeral custom, so avoid it

<!-- fold The tree, 15 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:128-guest-at-the-table-and-the-phone:t19:o4:1
# text = Probably blown up, but upright chopsticks can look like a funeral custom, so avoid it
1	Probably	probably	ADV	RB	_	2	advmod	_	_
2	blown	blow	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	9	advcl	_	_
3	up	up	ADP	RP	_	2	compound:prt	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	9	punct	_	_
5	but	but	CCONJ	CC	_	9	cc	_	_
6	upright	upright	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
7	chopsticks	chopstick	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	9	nsubj	_	_
8	can	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	9	aux	_	_
9	look	look	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
10	like	like	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
11	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
12	funeral	funeral	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	compound	_	_
13	custom	custom	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	16	punct	_	_
15	so	so	ADV	RB	_	16	advmod	_	_
16	avoid	avoid	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	9	conj	_	_
17	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	16	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **blow up** | participle | upright chopsticks *not said here* |  |  |  |  | probably *property* | vn split-23.2 «NP V apart»: agent=Patient |
| 2 | **look** | can | upright chopsticks |  |  |  |  | like a funeral custom | vn stimulus\_subject-30.4 «NP V PP.attribute»: agent=Stimulus |
| 3 | **avoid** | infinitive | upright chopsticks *not said here* | custom |  |  |  |  | vn avoid-52 «NP V NP.location»: agent=Agent it=Location |

<!-- 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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