---
title: Your little brother insists "two gooses" is fine because "two mongoo… — Plurals that make no sense: mice, shee… · tree and pragmatics
description: Your little brother insists "two gooses" is fine because "two mongooses" is. What's true? Test 3 · ★★★ of lesson 10 «Plurals that make no sense: mice, sheep and geese» of the language course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each option; Mova's 
---

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# Test 3 · ★★★ · Plurals that make no sense: mice, sheep and geese

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Your little brother insists "two gooses" is fine because "two mongooses" is. What's true?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 2 · **The right answer:** option 2 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** little brother, two mongooses · **What happens:** insist, be · **To what, where:** two gooses

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 3 · ★★★ of lesson 10 «Plurals that make no sense: mice, sheep and geese» 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/10-plurals-mice-sheep-and-geese/#t3).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* Your little brother insists "two gooses" is fine because "two mongooses" is.

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:10-plurals-mice-sheep-and-geese:t3:1
# text = Your little brother insists "two gooses" is fine because "two mongooses" is.
1	Your	your	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Person=2|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	3	nmod:poss	_	_
2	little	little	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	brother	brother	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
4	insists	insist	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	7	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	two	two	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	7	nummod	_	_
7	gooses	goose	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	7	punct	_	_
9	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	10	cop	_	_
10	fine	fine	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	conj	_	_
11	because	because	SCONJ	IN	_	16	mark	_	_
12	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	14	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	two	two	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	14	nummod	_	_
14	mongooses	mongoose	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	16	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	14	punct	_	_
16	is	be	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	10	advcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **insist** *speech: other* | present | Your little brother | two gooses |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1 «NP V NP.topic»: agent=Agent goose=Topic |
| 2 | **is** | present | Your little brother *not said here* |  |  |  |  | fine *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **does** | present | two mongooses |  |  |  |  |  | vn exist-47.1 «NP V»: agent=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:* What's true?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:10-plurals-mice-sheep-and-geese:t3:2
# text = What's true?
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	true	true	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 |  |  |  |  |  | true *property* | tree rules |

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Both should change to -geese

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:10-plurals-mice-sheep-and-geese:t3:o1:1
# text = Both should change to -geese
1	Both	both	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	3	nsubj	_	_
2	should	should	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	3	aux	_	_
3	change	change	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
4	to	to	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	4	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	geese	goose	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **change** | should | Both |  |  |  |  | to geese *result* | vn turn-26.6.1-1 «NP V PP.result»: agent=Agent to goose=Result |

### Option 2 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Goose is old English and changes to geese; mongoose is from Marathi

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:10-plurals-mice-sheep-and-geese:t3:o2:1
# text = Goose is old English and changes to geese; mongoose is from Marathi
1	Goose	goose	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
3	old	old	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	amod	_	_
4	English	English	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
5	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	6	cc	_	_
6	changes	change	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	conj	_	_
7	to	to	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
8	geese	goose	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	;	;	PUNCT	:	_	13	punct	_	_
10	mongoose	mongoose	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	nsubj	_	_
11	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	13	cop	_	_
12	from	from	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
13	Marathi	Marathi	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	4	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | Goose | old English and Marathi |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **change** | present | Goose *not said here* |  |  |  |  | to geese *result* | vn turn-26.6.1-1 «NP V PP.result»: agent=Agent to goose=Result |
| 3 | **is** | present | mongoose |  |  | Marathi |  |  | tree rules |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
He's right, both words just add -es like every other word

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:10-plurals-mice-sheep-and-geese:t3:o3:1
# text = He's right, both words just add -es like every other word
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	's	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	cop	_	_
3	right	right	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	8	punct	_	_
5	both	both	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	6	det	_	_
6	words	word	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	nsubj	_	_
7	just	just	ADV	RB	_	8	advmod	_	_
8	add	add	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	parataxis	_	_
9	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	10	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	es	e	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	obj	_	_
11	like	like	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
12	every	every	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	14	det	_	_
13	other	other	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	14	amod	_	_
14	word	word	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | He |  |  |  |  | right *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **add** *speech: assert* | infinitive | both words | es |  |  |  | like every other word | vn mix-22.1-2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent e=Patient |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Neither word has a plural

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:10-plurals-mice-sheep-and-geese:t3:o4:1
# text = Neither word has a plural
1	Neither	neither	DET	DT	PronType=Neg	2	det	_	_
2	word	word	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	has	have	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	plural	plural	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **have** | present | neither word | a plural |  |  |  |  | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent plural=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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