---
title: «I'm fixin' to tell Mom the whole hedge war is dumb». («fixin' to» i… — Feuds between families · tree and pragmatics
description: «I'm fixin' to tell Mom the whole hedge war is dumb». («fixin' to» is Southern US for «about to».) Is it OK to tell a parent how a feud feels? Test 2 · ★ of lesson 474 «Feuds between families» of the everyday course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question an
---

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# Test 2 · ★ · Feuds between families

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
«I'm fixin' to tell Mom the whole hedge war is dumb». («fixin' to» is Southern US for «about to».) Is it OK to tell a parent how a feud feels?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 3 · **The right answer:** option 2 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** I, whole hedge war, fixin, it, feud · **What happens:** fixin, tell, be, feel · **To what, where:** Mom, Southern US, parent · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 2 · ★ of lesson 474 «Feuds between families» 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/474-feuds-between-families/#t2).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* «I'm fixin' to tell Mom the whole hedge war is dumb».

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:474-feuds-between-families:t2:1
# text = «I'm fixin' to tell Mom the whole hedge war is dumb».
1	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	4	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	'm	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
4	fixin	fixin	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	'	'	PUNCT	''	_	4	punct	_	_
6	to	to	PART	TO	_	7	mark	_	_
7	tell	tell	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	xcomp	_	_
8	Mom	Mom	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	7	iobj	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
10	whole	whole	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	12	amod	_	_
11	hedge	hedge	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	compound	_	_
12	war	war	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	nsubj	_	_
13	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	14	cop	_	_
14	dumb	dumb	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	ccomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	4	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **fixin** *in a quote* | present · progressive | I |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **tell** *speech: assert* *in a quote* | to-infinitive | I *not said here* |  | Mom |  |  |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP.recipient»: agent=Agent mom=Recipient |
| 3 | **is** *in a quote* | present | the whole hedge war |  |  |  |  | dumb *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:* («fixin' to» is Southern US for «about to».)

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:474-feuds-between-families:t2:2
# text = («fixin' to» is Southern US for «about to».)
1	(	(	PUNCT	-LRB-	_	9	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	3	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	fixin	fixin	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	'	'	PUNCT	''	_	3	punct	_	_
5	to	to	PART	TO	_	3	fixed	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	3	punct	_	_
7	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	9	cop	_	_
8	Southern	southern	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	amod	_	_
9	US	US	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
10	for	for	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
11	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	12	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	about	about	ADV	RB	_	9	obl	_	_
13	to	to	PART	TO	_	12	fixed	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	12	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	9	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	)	)	PUNCT	-RRB-	_	9	punct	_	_
```

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

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 3:* Is it OK to tell a parent how a feud feels?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:474-feuds-between-families:t2:3
# text = Is it OK to tell a parent how a feud feels?
1	Is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	cop	_	_
2	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
3	OK	ok	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
4	to	to	PART	TO	_	5	mark	_	_
5	tell	tell	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	csubj	_	_
6	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	parent	parent	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obj	_	_
8	how	how	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	11	advmod	_	_
9	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	feud	feud	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	nsubj	_	_
11	feels	feel	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	ccomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | it |  |  |  |  | ok *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **tell** *speech: assert* | to-infinitive |  |  | a parent |  |  |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP what S»: agent=Agent parent=Recipient clause=Topic |
| 3 | **feel** | present | a feud |  |  |  |  |  | vn stimulus\_subject-30.4 «NP V PP.attribute»: agent=Stimulus |

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Yes, by shouting at the neighbours

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:474-feuds-between-families:t2:o1:1
# text = Yes, by shouting at the neighbours
1	Yes	yes	INTJ	UH	Polarity=Pos	4	discourse	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	4	punct	_	_
3	by	by	SCONJ	IN	_	4	mark	_	_
4	shouting	shout	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
5	at	at	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	neighbours	neighbour	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **shout** *speech: express* | gerund |  |  |  | the neighbours |  |  | vn manner\_speaking-37.3 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Yes, honestly and calmly

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:474-feuds-between-families:t2:o2:1
# text = Yes, honestly and calmly
1	Yes	yes	INTJ	UH	Polarity=Pos	3	discourse	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	3	punct	_	_
3	honestly	honestly	ADV	RB	_	0	root	_	_
4	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	5	cc	_	_
5	calmly	calmly	ADV	RB	_	3	conj	_	_
```

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

### Option 3 · ← Mova's choice {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
No, kids must never mention it

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:474-feuds-between-families:t2:o3:1
# text = No, kids must never mention it
1	No	no	INTJ	UH	Polarity=Neg	6	discourse	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	1	punct	_	_
3	kids	kid	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	nsubj	_	_
4	must	must	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	6	aux	_	_
5	never	never	ADV	RB	PronType=Neg	6	advmod	_	_
6	mention	mention	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
7	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	6	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **mention** *speech: other* | must | kids | it |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V NP.topic»: agent=Agent it=Topic |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
No, only write it on the wall

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:474-feuds-between-families:t2:o4:1
# text = No, only write it on the wall
1	No	no	INTJ	UH	Polarity=Neg	4	discourse	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	1	punct	_	_
3	only	only	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
4	write	write	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	obj	_	_
6	on	on	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	wall	wall	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **write** | imperative | you *not said here* | it |  | the wall |  |  | vn scribble-25.2-1 «NP V NP PP.destination»: agent=Agent it=Theme on wall=Destination |

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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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