---
title: In a cartoon, an alien says "Take me to your leader" and every human… — What language is: sounds, words and ru… · tree and pragmatics
description: In a cartoon, an alien says "Take me to your leader" and every human understands instantly, in every country. What's wrong? Test 7 of lesson 1 «What language is: sounds, words and rules everyone shares» of the language course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the q
---

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# Test 7 · What language is: sounds, words and rules everyone shares

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
In a cartoon, an alien says "Take me to your leader" and every human understands instantly, in every country. What's wrong?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 3 · **The right answer:** option 2 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** alien, human · **What happens:** say, take, understand, be · **To what, where:** cartoon, alien, leader · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 7 of lesson 1 «What language is: sounds, words and rules everyone shares» of the language 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/language/1-what-language-is-sounds-words-and-rules/#t7).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* In a cartoon, an alien says "Take me to your leader" and every human understands instantly, in every country.

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:1-what-language-is-sounds-words-and-rules:t7:1
# text = In a cartoon, an alien says "Take me to your leader" and every human understands instantly, in every country.
1	In	in	ADP	IN	_	3	case	_	_
2	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	cartoon	cartoon	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	3	punct	_	_
5	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	alien	alien	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nsubj	_	_
7	says	say	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
8	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	9	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	Take	take	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	7	ccomp	_	_
10	me	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	9	obj	_	_
11	to	to	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
12	your	your	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Person=2|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	13	nmod:poss	_	_
13	leader	leader	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	9	punct	_	_
15	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	18	cc	_	_
16	every	every	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	17	det	_	_
17	human	human	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	18	nsubj	_	_
18	understands	understand	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	7	conj	_	_
19	instantly	instantly	ADV	RB	_	18	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
20	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	23	punct	_	_
21	in	in	ADP	IN	_	23	case	_	_
22	every	every	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	23	det	_	_
23	country	country	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	18	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
24	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	7	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **say** *speech: assert* | present | a alien |  |  | a cartoon |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 2 | **take** *in a quote* | infinitive |  | a alien *= alien* |  | your leader |  |  | vn bring-11.3 «NP V NP PP.destination»: agent=Agent i=Theme to leader=Destination |
| 3 | **understand** | present | every human |  |  |  |  | instantly *property* | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Experiencer |

<!-- .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 wrong?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:1-what-language-is-sounds-words-and-rules:t7:2
# text = What's wrong?
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	3	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	's	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	cop	_	_
3	wrong	wrong	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

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

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Nothing, because everyone on Earth speaks English already

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:1-what-language-is-sounds-words-and-rules:t7:o1:1
# text = Nothing, because everyone on Earth speaks English already
1	Nothing	nothing	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Neg	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	7	punct	_	_
3	because	because	SCONJ	IN	_	7	mark	_	_
4	everyone	everyone	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Tot	7	nsubj	_	_
5	on	on	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	Earth	Earth	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	4	nmod	_	_
7	speaks	speak	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	1	acl	_	_
8	English	English	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	7	obj	_	_
9	already	already	ADV	RB	_	7	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **speak** *speech: other* | present | everyone | English |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
People in different places speak different languages

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:1-what-language-is-sounds-words-and-rules:t7:o2:1
# text = People in different places speak different languages
1	People	people	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	nsubj	_	_
2	in	in	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
3	different	different	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	amod	_	_
4	places	place	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	1	nmod	_	_
5	speak	speak	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
6	different	different	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
7	languages	language	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **speak** *speech: other* | present | People in different places | different languages |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

### Option 3 · ← Mova's choice {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Humans only understand written messages

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:1-what-language-is-sounds-words-and-rules:t7:o3:1
# text = Humans only understand written messages
1	Humans	human	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj	_	_
2	only	only	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	_
3	understand	understand	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	written	write	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	5	amod	_	_
5	messages	message	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **understand** | present | Humans | written messages |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1-1 «NP V NP PP.attribute»: agent=Experiencer message=Stimulus |
| 2 | **write** | participle |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn scribble-25.2-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Aliens would speak too quietly to hear

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:1-what-language-is-sounds-words-and-rules:t7:o4:1
# text = Aliens would speak too quietly to hear
1	Aliens	alien	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj	_	_
2	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	3	aux	_	_
3	speak	speak	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
4	too	too	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
5	quietly	quietly	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	_
6	to	to	PART	TO	_	7	mark	_	_
7	hear	hear	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	advcl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **speak** *speech: other* | would | Aliens |  |  |  |  | quietly *property* | vn talk-37.5 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **hear** | to-infinitive | Aliens *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn see-30.1-1-1 «NP V PP.stimulus»: agent=Experiencer |

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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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