---
title: Why is it impolite to stand chopsticks upright in a bowl of rice? — Greetings, goodbyes, please and thank… · tree and pragmatics
description: Why is it impolite to stand chopsticks upright in a bowl of rice? Test 9 · ★ of lesson 296 «Greetings, goodbyes, please and thank you, and table manners» 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 was rig
---

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# Test 9 · ★ · Greetings, goodbyes, please and thank you, and table manners

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Why is it impolite to stand chopsticks upright in a bowl of rice?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 3 · **The right answer:** option 3 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** it · **What happens:** be, stand · **To what, where:** chopsticks, bowl

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 9 · ★ of lesson 296 «Greetings, goodbyes, please and thank you, and table manners» 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/296-greetings-goodbyes-and-table-manners/#t9).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:296-greetings-goodbyes-and-table-manners:t9:1
# text = Why is it impolite to stand chopsticks upright in a bowl of rice?
1	Why	why	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	4	advmod	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
3	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
4	impolite	impolite	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
5	to	to	PART	TO	_	6	mark	_	_
6	stand	stand	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	xcomp	_	_
7	chopsticks	chopstick	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	obj	_	_
8	upright	upright	ADV	RB	_	6	advmod	_	_
9	in	in	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
10	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	bowl	bowl	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obl	_	_
12	of	of	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
13	rice	rice	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | it |  |  |  |  | impolite *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **stand** | to-infinitive |  | chopsticks |  | a bowl of rice |  | upright *property* | vn put\_spatial-9.2 «NP V NP PP.destination»: agent=Agent chopstick=Theme in bowl=Destination |

<!-- .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 -->
The rice will go cold faster

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:296-greetings-goodbyes-and-table-manners:t9:o1:1
# text = The rice will go cold faster
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	rice	rice	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
3	will	will	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
4	go	go	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
5	cold	cold	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	xcomp	_	_
6	faster	fast	ADV	RBR	Degree=Cmp	4	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **go** | future | the rice |  |  |  |  | cold, fast *property* | vn disappearance-48.2-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It means you want more rice

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:296-greetings-goodbyes-and-table-manners:t9:o2:1
# text = It means you want more rice
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	means	mean	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	you	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Person=2|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
4	want	want	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=2|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	2	ccomp	_	_
5	more	more	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	6	amod	_	_
6	rice	rice	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **mean** | present | It |  |  |  |  |  | vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 2 | **want** | present | you | more rice |  |  |  |  | vn want-32.1-1-1 «NP V NP ADV»: agent=Pivot rice=Theme |

### Option 3 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
In some Asian cultures it looks like a funeral custom

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:296-greetings-goodbyes-and-table-manners:t9:o3:1
# text = In some Asian cultures it looks like a funeral custom
1	In	in	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
2	some	some	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	4	det	_	_
3	Asian	Asian	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	amod	_	_
4	cultures	culture	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	obl	_	_
5	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	6	nsubj	_	_
6	looks	look	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
7	like	like	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
8	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
9	funeral	funeral	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	compound	_	_
10	custom	custom	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **look** | present | it |  |  |  |  | like a funeral custom; in some Asian cultures | vn peer-30.3 «NP V PP.theme»: agent=Agent in culture=Theme |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The chopsticks will break if they stand in rice too long

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:296-greetings-goodbyes-and-table-manners:t9:o4:1
# text = The chopsticks will break if they stand in rice too long
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	chopsticks	chopstick	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj	_	_
3	will	will	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
4	break	break	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
5	if	if	SCONJ	IN	_	7	mark	_	_
6	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	7	nsubj	_	_
7	stand	stand	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	advcl	_	_
8	in	in	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
9	rice	rice	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obl	_	_
10	too	too	ADV	RB	_	11	advmod	_	_
11	long	long	ADV	RB	Degree=Pos	7	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **break** | future | the chopsticks |  |  |  |  |  | vn hurt-40.8.3-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Patient |
| 2 | **stand** *a condition, not said to happen* | present | chopsticks *= chopstick* |  |  | rice |  | long *property* | vn assuming\_position-50 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Agent in rice=Location |

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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 -->

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- ↑ back to [Greetings, goodbyes, please and thank you, and table manners](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/everyday/296-greetings-goodbyes-and-table-manners/)