---
title: In a cartoon, a fisherman shouts "I caught five fishes!" holding fiv… — Plurals that make no sense: mice, shee… · tree and pragmatics
description: In a cartoon, a fisherman shouts "I caught five fishes!" holding five cod. What's the normal way to say it? Test 6 · ★★★ 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 ea
---

<!-- md -->
[Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/language/10-plurals-mice-sheep-and-geese/t6/)

<!-- crumbs -->
[home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/) / [questions](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/) / [Language](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/language/) / [Plurals that make no sense: mice, shee…](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/language/10-plurals-mice-sheep-and-geese/) / t6

# Test 6 · ★★★ · Plurals that make no sense: mice, sheep and geese

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
In a cartoon, a fisherman shouts "I caught five fishes!" holding five cod. What's the normal way to say it?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 3 · **The right answer:** option 1 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** fisherman, I, normal way · **What happens:** shout, catch, hold, be, say · **To what, where:** cartoon, five fishes, five cod, way · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 6 · ★★★ 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/#t6).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* In a cartoon, a fisherman shouts "I caught five fishes!" holding five cod.

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:10-plurals-mice-sheep-and-geese:t6:1
# text = In a cartoon, a fisherman shouts "I caught five fishes!" holding five cod.
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	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	fisherman	fisherman	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nsubj	_	_
7	shouts	shout	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
8	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	10	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	10	nsubj	_	_
10	caught	catch	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	7	ccomp	_	_
11	five	five	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	12	nummod	_	_
12	fishes	fish	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	10	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	!	!	PUNCT	.	_	10	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	10	punct	_	_
15	holding	hold	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	10	advcl	_	_
16	five	five	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	17	nummod	_	_
17	cod	cod	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	15	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
18	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	7	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **shout** *speech: express* | present | a fisherman |  |  | a cartoon |  |  | vn manner\_speaking-37.3 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 2 | **catch** *in a quote* | past | a fisherman *= fisherman* | five fishes |  |  |  |  | vn get-13.5.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent fish=Theme |
| 3 | **hold** | gerund | I *not said here* | five cod |  |  |  |  | vn keep-15.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent cod=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 the normal way to say it?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:10-plurals-mice-sheep-and-geese:t6:2
# text = What's the normal way to say it?
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	's	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	1	cop	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	normal	normal	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	way	way	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	nsubj	_	_
6	to	to	PART	TO	_	7	mark	_	_
7	say	say	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	acl	_	_
8	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	7	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | the normal way |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **say** *speech: assert* | to-infinitive | the normal way *not said here* | way |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V NP.topic»: agent=Agent it=Topic |

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 · ✓ the right answer {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
I caught five fish

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:10-plurals-mice-sheep-and-geese:t6:o1:1
# text = I caught five fish
1	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	caught	catch	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	five	five	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	4	nummod	_	_
4	fish	fish	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **catch** | past | I | five fish |  |  |  |  | vn get-13.5.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent fish=Theme |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
I caught five fishies

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:10-plurals-mice-sheep-and-geese:t6:o2:1
# text = I caught five fishies
1	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	caught	catch	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	five	five	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	4	nummod	_	_
4	fishies	fishy	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **catch** | past | I | five fishies |  |  |  |  | vn get-13.5.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent fishy=Theme |

### Option 3 · ← Mova's choice {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It's perfect, fishes is the only plural

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:10-plurals-mice-sheep-and-geese:t6:o3:1
# text = It's perfect, fishes is the only plural
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|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	perfect	perfect	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	5	punct	_	_
5	fishes	fish	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	conj	_	_
6	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	9	cop	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
8	only	only	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	amod	_	_
9	plural	plural	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	parataxis	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | It |  |  |  |  | perfect *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **fish** | present |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn hunt-35.1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **is a** | present |  | the only plural |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
I caught five fishs

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:10-plurals-mice-sheep-and-geese:t6:o4:1
# text = I caught five fishs
1	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	caught	catch	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	five	five	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	4	nummod	_	_
4	fishs	fish	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **catch** | past | I | five fishs |  |  |  |  | vn get-13.5.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent fish=Theme |

<!-- div src -->

**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.

<!-- /div -->

<!-- pn -->
- ← previous: [Plurals that make no sense: mice, shee…, test 5](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/language/10-plurals-mice-sheep-and-geese/t5/)
- next →: [Plurals that make no sense: mice, shee…, test 7](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/language/10-plurals-mice-sheep-and-geese/t7/)
- ↑ back to [Plurals that make no sense: mice, sheep and geese](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/language/10-plurals-mice-sheep-and-geese/)