---
title: Josh boasts he can backflip but can't. What's a good way down from a… — The friend with a PS6 · tree and pragmatics
description: Josh boasts he can backflip but can't. What's a good way down from a boast? Test 8 · ★ of lesson 434 «The friend with a PS6» 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 wrong.
---

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# Test 8 · ★ · The friend with a PS6

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Josh boasts he can backflip but can't. What's a good way down from a boast?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 4 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** Josh · **What happens:** boast, backflip, be · **To what, where:** boast · **Speech:** someone speaks here

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This is test 8 · ★ of lesson 434 «The friend with a PS6» 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/434-the-friend-with-a-ps6/#t8).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* Josh boasts he can backflip but can't.

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:434-the-friend-with-a-ps6:t8:1
# text = Josh boasts he can backflip but can't.
1	Josh	Josh	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	2	nsubj	_	_
2	boasts	boast	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	5	nsubj	_	_
4	can	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	5	aux	_	_
5	backflip	backflip	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	2	ccomp	_	_
6	but	but	CCONJ	CC	_	7	cc	_	_
7	ca	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	5	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	n't	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	7	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **boast** *speech: other* | present | Josh |  |  |  |  |  | vn complain-37.8 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 2 | **backflip** | can | Josh |  |  |  |  |  | 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's a good way down from a boast?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:434-the-friend-with-a-ps6:t8:2
# text = What's a good way down from a boast?
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	6	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	's	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	cop	_	_
3	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	good	good	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	way	way	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obl	_	_
6	down	down	ADV	RB	_	0	root	_	_
7	from	from	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	boast	boast	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	6	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present |  |  |  | a boast |  | a good way *obl*; down *property* | tree rules |

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 · ← Mova's choice {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Stop going to the park

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:434-the-friend-with-a-ps6:t8:o1:1
# text = Stop going to the park
1	Stop	stop	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	going	go	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	1	xcomp	_	_
3	to	to	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	park	park	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **stop** | imperative | you *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn stop-55.4-1-1 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Affector clause=Eventuality |
| 2 | **go** | gerund | you *not said here* |  |  | the park |  |  | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V PP.initial\_location»: agent=Theme to park=Initial\_Location |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Keep making excuses for months until they forget

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:434-the-friend-with-a-ps6:t8:o2:1
# text = Keep making excuses for months until they forget
1	Keep	keep	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	making	make	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	3	amod	_	_
3	excuses	excuse	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	1	obj	_	_
4	for	for	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	months	month	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	1	obl	_	_
6	until	until	SCONJ	IN	_	8	mark	_	_
7	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	8	nsubj	_	_
8	forget	forget	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	1	advcl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **keep** | imperative | you *not said here* | making excuses |  |  | month |  | vn keep-15.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent excuse=Theme |
| 2 | **make** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn build-26.1-1 «NP.asset V NP»: agent=Asset |
| 3 | **forget** | present | excuses *= excuse* |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Try a backflip without practice

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:434-the-friend-with-a-ps6:t8:o3:1
# text = Try a backflip without practice
1	Try	try	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	backflip	backflip	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
4	without	without	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	practice	practice	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **try** | imperative | you *not said here* | a backflip |  |  |  | without practice | vn try-61.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent backflip=Eventuality |

### Option 4 · ✓ the right answer {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
«I can't actually, but I can do a cartwheel»

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:434-the-friend-with-a-ps6:t8:o4:1
# text = «I can't actually, but I can do a cartwheel»
1	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	5	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	5	nsubj	_	_
3	ca	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	5	aux	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	n't	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	5	advmod	_	_
5	actually	actually	ADV	RB	_	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	10	punct	_	_
7	but	but	CCONJ	CC	_	10	cc	_	_
8	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	10	nsubj	_	_
9	can	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	10	aux	_	_
10	do	do	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	parataxis	_	_
11	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
12	cartwheel	cartwheel	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	10	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **do** *in a quote* | can | I | a cartwheel |  |  |  |  | vn act-114-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent cartwheel=Eventuality |

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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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- ← previous: [The friend with a PS6, test 7](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/everyday/434-the-friend-with-a-ps6/t7/)
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