---
title: My mate says potatoes are an old Irish food, been there forever. True? — Food and farming around the world · tree and pragmatics
description: My mate says potatoes are an old Irish food, been there forever. True? Test 1 of lesson 26 «Food and farming around the world» of the geography 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 1 · Food and farming around the world

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
My mate says potatoes are an old Irish food, been there forever. True?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 4 · **The right answer:** option 2 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** mate, potatoes · **What happens:** say, be · **To what, where:** old Irish food · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 1 of lesson 26 «Food and farming around the world» of the geography 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/geography/26-food-and-farming-around-the-world/#t1).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* My mate says potatoes are an old Irish food, been there forever.

```conllu
# sent_id = question:geography:26-food-and-farming-around-the-world:t1:1
# text = My mate says potatoes are an old Irish food, been there forever.
1	My	my	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Sing|Person=1|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	2	nmod:poss	_	_
2	mate	mate	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	says	say	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	potatoes	potato	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	9	nsubj	_	_
5	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	9	cop	_	_
6	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
7	old	old	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	amod	_	_
8	Irish	Irish	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	amod	_	_
9	food	food	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	ccomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	12	punct	_	_
11	been	be	AUX	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	12	cop	_	_
12	there	there	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	9	advmod	_	_
13	forever	forever	ADV	RB	_	12	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **say** *speech: assert* | present | My mate |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **is a** | present | potatoes | a old Irish food |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 3 | **is** | participle |  |  |  |  |  | forever, there *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:* True?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:geography:26-food-and-farming-around-the-world:t1:2
# text = True?
1	True	true	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

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

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Yes, the Romans brought them to Ireland

```conllu
# sent_id = question:geography:26-food-and-farming-around-the-world:t1:o1:1
# text = Yes, the Romans brought them to Ireland
1	Yes	yes	INTJ	UH	Polarity=Pos	5	discourse	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	1	punct	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	Romans	Roman	PROPN	NNPS	Number=Plur	5	nsubj	_	_
5	brought	bring	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
6	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	5	obj	_	_
7	to	to	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
8	Ireland	Ireland	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **bring** | past | the Romans | them *= they* | Ireland |  |  |  | vn bring-11.3-1 «NP V NP PP.destination»: agent=Agent they=Theme to ireland=Destination |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
No, they came from the Andes and reached Europe after 1492

```conllu
# sent_id = question:geography:26-food-and-farming-around-the-world:t1:o2:1
# text = No, they came from the Andes and reached Europe after 1492
1	No	no	INTJ	UH	Polarity=Neg	4	discourse	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	4	punct	_	_
3	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
4	came	come	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	from	from	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	Andes	Ande	PROPN	NNPS	Number=Plur	4	obl	_	_
8	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	9	cc	_	_
9	reached	reach	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	conj	_	_
10	Europe	Europe	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	9	obj	_	_
11	after	after	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
12	1492	1492	NUM	CD	NumForm=Digit|NumType=Card	9	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **come** | past | they |  |  | the Andes |  |  | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V PP.initial\_location»: agent=Theme from ande=Initial\_Location |
| 2 | **reach** | past | they *not said here* | Europe |  |  | after 1492 |  | vn body\_motion-49.2-1-1 «NP V NP ADV»: agent=Agent europe=Theme |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
No, they came from China along the Silk Road

```conllu
# sent_id = question:geography:26-food-and-farming-around-the-world:t1:o3:1
# text = No, they came from China along the Silk Road
1	No	no	INTJ	UH	Polarity=Neg	4	discourse	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	4	punct	_	_
3	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
4	came	come	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	from	from	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	China	China	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
7	along	along	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
9	Silk	Silk	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	10	compound	_	_
10	Road	Road	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **come** | past | they |  |  | China |  | along the Silk Road | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V PP.initial\_location PP.destination»: agent=Theme from china=Initial\_Location along road=Destination |

### Option 4 · ← Mova's choice {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Yes, the potato was first farmed in Ireland

```conllu
# sent_id = question:geography:26-food-and-farming-around-the-world:t1:o4:1
# text = Yes, the potato was first farmed in Ireland
1	Yes	yes	INTJ	UH	Polarity=Pos	7	discourse	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	1	punct	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	potato	potato	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nsubj:pass	_	_
5	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	7	aux:pass	_	_
6	first	first	ADV	RB	NumForm=Word|NumType=Ord	7	advmod	_	_
7	farmed	farm	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
8	in	in	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
9	Ireland	Ireland	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	7	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **farm** | past · passive |  | the potato |  | Ireland |  | first *property* | vn rear-26.2.2-1 «NP V NP»: subject=Patient |

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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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