---
title: My mate says the Indian Ocean was an empty sea till the Portuguese s… — The spice trade and the Indian Ocean · tree and pragmatics
description: My mate says the Indian Ocean was an empty sea till the Portuguese showed up. Right? Test 2 · ★ of lesson 29 «The spice trade and the Indian Ocean» 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 right.
---

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# Test 2 · ★ · The spice trade and the Indian Ocean

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
My mate says the Indian Ocean was an empty sea till the Portuguese showed up. Right?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 1 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** mate, Indian Ocean, Portuguese · **What happens:** say, be, show up · **To what, where:** empty sea · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 2 · ★ of lesson 29 «The spice trade and the Indian Ocean» 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/29-the-spice-trade-and-the-indian-ocean/#t2).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* My mate says the Indian Ocean was an empty sea till the Portuguese showed up.

```conllu
# sent_id = question:geography:29-the-spice-trade-and-the-indian-ocean:t2:1
# text = My mate says the Indian Ocean was an empty sea till the Portuguese showed up.
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	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
5	Indian	Indian	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	Ocean	Ocean	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	10	nsubj	_	_
7	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	10	cop	_	_
8	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
9	empty	empty	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	10	amod	_	_
10	sea	sea	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	ccomp	_	_
11	till	till	SCONJ	IN	_	14	mark	_	_
12	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
13	Portuguese	Portuguese	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	14	nsubj	_	_
14	showed	show	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	10	acl:relcl	_	_
15	up	up	ADP	RP	_	14	compound:prt	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	.	.	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** | past | the Indian Ocean | a empty sea |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 3 | **show up** | past | the Portuguese | a empty sea *not said here* |  |  |  |  | vn appear-48.1.1 «PP.location V NP»: agent=Location sea=Theme |

<!-- .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:* Right?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:geography:29-the-spice-trade-and-the-indian-ocean:t2:2
# text = Right?
1	Right	right	INTJ	UH	_	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 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
No, it was a busy trade world long before them

```conllu
# sent_id = question:geography:29-the-spice-trade-and-the-indian-ocean:t2:o1:1
# text = No, it was a busy trade world long before them
1	No	no	INTJ	UH	Polarity=Neg	8	discourse	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	1	punct	_	_
3	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	8	nsubj	_	_
4	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	8	cop	_	_
5	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
6	busy	busy	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	amod	_	_
7	trade	trade	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	compound	_	_
8	world	world	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
9	long	long	ADV	RB	Degree=Pos	8	advmod	_	_
10	before	before	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
11	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	8	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | past | it | a busy trade world |  |  | before them *= they* | long *property* | tree rules |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Yes, nobody sailed it before 1498

```conllu
# sent_id = question:geography:29-the-spice-trade-and-the-indian-ocean:t2:o2:1
# text = Yes, nobody sailed it before 1498
1	Yes	yes	INTJ	UH	Polarity=Pos	4	discourse	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	1	punct	_	_
3	nobody	nobody	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Neg	4	nsubj	_	_
4	sailed	sail	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	obj	_	_
6	before	before	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	1498	1498	NUM	CD	NumForm=Digit|NumType=Card	4	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **sail** | past | nobody | it |  |  | before 1498 |  | vn nonvehicle-51.4.2-1 «NP V NP.location»: agent=Agent it=Location |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
No, but only Chinese ships ever used it

```conllu
# sent_id = question:geography:29-the-spice-trade-and-the-indian-ocean:t2:o3:1
# text = No, but only Chinese ships ever used it
1	No	no	INTJ	UH	Polarity=Neg	8	discourse	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	8	punct	_	_
3	but	but	CCONJ	CC	_	8	cc	_	_
4	only	only	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
5	Chinese	Chinese	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	ships	ship	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	nsubj	_	_
7	ever	ever	ADV	RB	PronType=Ind	8	advmod	_	_
8	used	use	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
9	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	8	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **use** | past | Chinese ships | it |  |  | ever |  | vn eat-39.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent it=Patient |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Yes, only the Romans had ever sailed across it before them

```conllu
# sent_id = question:geography:29-the-spice-trade-and-the-indian-ocean:t2:o4:1
# text = Yes, only the Romans had ever sailed across it before them
1	Yes	yes	INTJ	UH	Polarity=Pos	8	discourse	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	1	punct	_	_
3	only	only	ADV	RB	_	8	advmod	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	Romans	Roman	PROPN	NNPS	Number=Plur	8	nsubj	_	_
6	had	have	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	8	aux	_	_
7	ever	ever	ADV	RB	PronType=Ind	8	advmod	_	_
8	sailed	sail	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
9	across	across	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
10	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	8	obl	_	_
11	before	before	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
12	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	8	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **sail** | past · perfect | the Romans |  |  | it | before them *= they*; ever |  | vn nonvehicle-51.4.2-1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Agent across it=Trajectory |

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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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