---
title: Mate: «just say ur printer broke, works every time». Why might it NO… — «The dog ate it»: excuses for homework · tree and pragmatics
description: Mate: «just say ur printer broke, works every time». Why might it NOT work? Test 1 · ★ of lesson 426 ««The dog ate it»: excuses for homework» 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 right.
---

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# Test 1 · ★ · «The dog ate it»: excuses for homework

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Mate: «just say ur printer broke, works every time». Why might it NOT work?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 1 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** Mate, printer · **What happens:** say, break, work, not work · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 1 · ★ of lesson 426 ««The dog ate it»: excuses for homework» 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/426-the-dog-ate-it-excuses-for-homework/#t1).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* Mate: «just say ur printer broke, works every time».

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:426-the-dog-ate-it-excuses-for-homework:t1:1
# text = Mate: «just say ur printer broke, works every time».
1	Mate	mate	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	:	:	PUNCT	:	_	5	punct	_	_
3	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	5	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	just	just	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
5	say	say	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	1	acl:relcl	_	_
6	ur	your	PRON	PRP$	Abbr=Yes|Case=Gen|Person=2|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	7	nmod:poss	_	_
7	printer	printer	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nsubj	_	_
8	broke	break	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	ccomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	1	punct	_	_
10	works	work	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
11	every	every	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	12	det	_	_
12	time	time	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	10	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	10	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **say** *speech: assert* *in a quote* | infinitive | Mate *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 2 | **break** *in a quote* | past | ur's printer |  |  |  |  |  | vn hurt-40.8.3-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Patient |
| 3 | **work** *in a quote* | present | Mate |  |  |  | time |  | vn employment-95.3 «NP V»: agent=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:* Why might it NOT work?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:426-the-dog-ate-it-excuses-for-homework:t1:2
# text = Why might it NOT work?
1	Why	why	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	5	advmod	_	_
2	might	might	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	5	aux	_	_
3	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	5	nsubj	_	_
4	NOT	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	5	advmod	_	_
5	work	work	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **work** | might | Mate |  |  |  |  |  | vn employment-95.3 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The teacher can just say «email it then»

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:426-the-dog-ate-it-excuses-for-homework:t1:o1:1
# text = The teacher can just say «email it then»
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	teacher	teacher	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
3	can	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	5	aux	_	_
4	just	just	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
5	say	say	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
6	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	7	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	email	email	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	ccomp	_	_
8	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	7	obj	_	_
9	then	then	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	7	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	7	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **say** *speech: assert* | can | the teacher |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 2 | **email** *in a quote* | infinitive |  | teacher |  |  | then |  | tree rules |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It only works on Mondays, when teachers are tired

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:426-the-dog-ate-it-excuses-for-homework:t1:o2:1
# text = It only works on Mondays, when teachers are tired
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	only	only	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	_
3	works	work	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	on	on	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	Mondays	Monday	PROPN	NNPS	Number=Plur	3	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	5	punct	_	_
7	when	when	SCONJ	WRB	_	10	mark	_	_
8	teachers	teacher	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	10	nsubj	_	_
9	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	10	cop	_	_
10	tired	tired	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	advcl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **work** | present | It |  |  |  | monday |  | vn employment-95.3 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **is** | present | teachers |  |  |  |  | tired *property* | tree rules |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Teachers don't know what printers are

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:426-the-dog-ate-it-excuses-for-homework:t1:o3:1
# text = Teachers don't know what printers are
1	Teachers	teacher	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj	_	_
2	do	do	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	n't	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	4	advmod	_	_
4	know	know	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
5	what	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	4	ccomp	_	_
6	printers	printer	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	nsubj	_	_
7	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **know** | present · do-support | Teachers |  |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Experiencer |
| 2 | **is a** | present | printers |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Printers never break at home

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:426-the-dog-ate-it-excuses-for-homework:t1:o4:1
# text = Printers never break at home
1	Printers	printer	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj	_	_
2	never	never	ADV	RB	PronType=Neg	3	advmod	_	_
3	break	break	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	at	at	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	home	home	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **break** | present | Printers |  |  | home |  |  | vn appear-48.1.1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme at home=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.

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