---
title: A little boy chooses a nickel instead of a dime because "it is bigge… — Learning a skill, and coins and notes · tree and pragmatics
description: A little boy chooses a nickel instead of a dime because "it is bigger, so it's worth more". What has he got wrong? Test 4 · ★★ of lesson 260 «Learning a skill, and coins and notes» of the everyday course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each op
---

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# Test 4 · ★★ · Learning a skill, and coins and notes

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A little boy chooses a nickel instead of a dime because "it is bigger, so it's worth more". What has he got wrong?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 3 · **The right answer:** option 2 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** little boy, nickel, boy · **What happens:** choose, be, have, get · **To what, where:** nickel

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 4 · ★★ of lesson 260 «Learning a skill, and coins and notes» 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/260-learning-skills-and-coins/#t4).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* A little boy chooses a nickel instead of a dime because "it is bigger, so it's worth more".

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:260-learning-skills-and-coins:t4:1
# text = A little boy chooses a nickel instead of a dime because "it is bigger, so it's worth more".
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	little	little	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	boy	boy	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
4	chooses	choose	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	nickel	nickel	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obj	_	_
7	instead	instead	ADV	RB	ExtPos=ADP	10	case	_	_
8	of	of	ADP	IN	_	7	fixed	_	_
9	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	dime	dime	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
11	because	because	SCONJ	IN	_	15	mark	_	_
12	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	15	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	15	nsubj	_	_
14	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	15	cop	_	_
15	bigger	big	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	4	parataxis	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	20	punct	_	_
17	so	so	ADV	RB	_	20	advmod	_	_
18	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	20	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
19	's	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	20	cop	_	_
20	worth	worth	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	15	parataxis	_	_
21	more	more	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	20	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
22	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	20	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
23	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **choose** | present | a little boy | a nickel |  |  |  | instead a dime | tree rules |
| 2 | **is** *in a quote* | present | nickel |  |  |  |  | big *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **is** *in a quote* | present | nickel |  |  |  |  | worth *property* | 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:* What has he got wrong?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:260-learning-skills-and-coins:t4:2
# text = What has he got wrong?
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	2	nsubj	_	_
2	has	have	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
4	got	get	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	2	ccomp	_	_
5	wrong	wrong	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	xcomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **have** | present |  |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **get** | past | boy |  |  |  |  | wrong *property* | vn comprehend-87.2-1 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Experiencer |

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A nickel is always worth more

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:260-learning-skills-and-coins:t4:o1:1
# text = A nickel is always worth more
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	nickel	nickel	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
3	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
4	always	always	ADV	RB	PronType=Tot	5	advmod	_	_
5	worth	worth	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
6	more	more	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	5	obj	_	_
```

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

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Value is shown by the number on the coin, not its size

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:260-learning-skills-and-coins:t4:o2:1
# text = Value is shown by the number on the coin, not its size
1	Value	value	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj:pass	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux:pass	_	_
3	shown	show	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
4	by	by	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	number	number	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
7	on	on	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	coin	coin	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	13	punct	_	_
11	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	13	advmod	_	_
12	its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	13	nmod:poss	_	_
13	size	size	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **show** | present · passive | the number on the coin | Value |  |  |  | Value's size *obl* | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP.recipient»: agent=Agent subject=Recipient |

### Option 3 · ← Mova's choice {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Coins all have the same value

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:260-learning-skills-and-coins:t4:o3:1
# text = Coins all have the same value
1	Coins	coin	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj	_	_
2	all	all	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	_
3	have	have	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
5	same	same	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	value	value	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **have** | present | Coins | the same value |  |  |  | all *property* | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent value=Patient |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Bigger coins are always worth more than smaller ones, everywhere

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:260-learning-skills-and-coins:t4:o4:1
# text = Bigger coins are always worth more than smaller ones, everywhere
1	Bigger	big	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	2	amod	_	_
2	coins	coin	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	worth	worth	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
6	more	more	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	5	obj	_	_
7	than	than	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	smaller	small	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	9	amod	_	_
9	ones	one	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	5	punct	_	_
11	everywhere	everywhere	ADV	RB	PronType=Tot	5	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | Bigger coins |  |  |  |  | always, everywhere, worth *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.

<!-- /div -->

<!-- pn -->
- ← previous: [Learning a skill, and coins and notes, test 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/everyday/260-learning-skills-and-coins/t3/)
- next →: [Learning a skill, and coins and notes, test 5](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/everyday/260-learning-skills-and-coins/t5/)
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