---
title: Mum at the gate: «my son shouldn't play with that soft lad». Is that… — Wimp, scaredy-cat and other labels · tree and pragmatics
description: Mum at the gate: «my son shouldn't play with that soft lad». Is that a fair way for an adult to talk? Test 9 · ★ of lesson 367 «Wimp, scaredy-cat and other labels» of the everyday course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each option; Mova's choi
---

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# Test 9 · ★ · Wimp, scaredy-cat and other labels

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Mum at the gate: «my son shouldn't play with that soft lad». Is that a fair way for an adult to talk?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 4 · **The right answer:** option 1 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** son · **What happens:** not play, be, talk · **To what, where:** gate, fair way

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 9 · ★ of lesson 367 «Wimp, scaredy-cat and other labels» 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/367-wimp-scaredy-cat-and-other-labels/#t9).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* Mum at the gate: «my son shouldn't play with that soft lad».

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:367-wimp-scaredy-cat-and-other-labels:t9:1
# text = Mum at the gate: «my son shouldn't play with that soft lad».
1	Mum	mum	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
2	at	at	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	gate	gate	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	:	:	PUNCT	:	_	11	punct	_	_
6	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	11	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	my	my	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Sing|Person=1|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	8	nmod:poss	_	_
8	son	son	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	nsubj	_	_
9	should	should	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	11	aux	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	n't	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	11	advmod	_	_
11	play	play	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	acl:relcl	_	_
12	with	with	ADP	IN	_	15	case	_	_
13	that	that	DET	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	15	det	_	_
14	soft	soft	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	15	amod	_	_
15	lad	lad	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	11	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **play** *in a quote* | should | my son | the gate *not said here* |  |  |  | with that soft lad | vn play-114.2-1 «NP V NP PP.co-agent»: agent=Agent gate=Theme with lad=Co-Agent |

<!-- .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:* Is that a fair way for an adult to talk?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:367-wimp-scaredy-cat-and-other-labels:t9:2
# text = Is that a fair way for an adult to talk?
1	Is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
2	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	5	mark	_	_
3	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	fair	fair	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	way	way	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
6	for	for	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	adult	adult	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nmod	_	_
9	to	to	PART	TO	_	10	mark	_	_
10	talk	talk	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	acl	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present |  | a fair way |  |  |  | for a adult | tree rules |
| 2 | **talk** | to-infinitive |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn talk-37.5 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 · ✓ the right answer {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
No, it labels a child unkindly

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:367-wimp-scaredy-cat-and-other-labels:t9:o1:1
# text = No, it labels a child unkindly
1	No	no	INTJ	UH	Polarity=Neg	4	discourse	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	1	punct	_	_
3	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
4	labels	label	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	0	root	_	_
5	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	child	child	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nmod:unmarked	_	_
7	unkindly	unkindly	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .note -->
The frames reader finds no event or fact in this sentence.

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
No, but only because Sam heard it

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:367-wimp-scaredy-cat-and-other-labels:t9:o2:1
# text = No, but only because Sam heard it
1	No	no	INTJ	UH	Polarity=Neg	7	discourse	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	7	punct	_	_
3	but	but	CCONJ	CC	_	7	cc	_	_
4	only	only	ADV	RB	_	7	advmod	_	_
5	because	because	SCONJ	IN	_	7	mark	_	_
6	Sam	Sam	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	7	nsubj	_	_
7	heard	hear	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
8	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	7	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **hear** | past | Sam | it |  |  |  |  | vn see-30.1-1-1 «NP V S»: agent=Experiencer it=Stimulus |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Yes, if the boy really does knit

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:367-wimp-scaredy-cat-and-other-labels:t9:o3:1
# text = Yes, if the boy really does knit
1	Yes	yes	INTJ	UH	Polarity=Pos	8	discourse	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	8	punct	_	_
3	if	if	SCONJ	IN	_	8	mark	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	boy	boy	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nsubj	_	_
6	really	really	ADV	RB	_	8	advmod	_	_
7	does	do	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	8	aux	_	_
8	knit	knit	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **knit** | present · do-support | the boy |  |  |  |  |  | vn build-26.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent |

### Option 4 · ← Mova's choice {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Yes, adults know best about children

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:367-wimp-scaredy-cat-and-other-labels:t9:o4:1
# text = Yes, adults know best about children
1	Yes	yes	INTJ	UH	Polarity=Pos	4	discourse	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	1	punct	_	_
3	adults	adult	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj	_	_
4	know	know	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	best	well	ADV	RBS	Degree=Sup	4	advmod	_	_
6	about	about	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	children	child	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **know** | present | adults |  |  |  |  | about children; well *property* | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1-1 «NP V PP.stimulus»: agent=Experiencer about child=Stimulus |

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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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