---
title: Your cousin says octopi is the "real Latin" plural. What's the catch? — Plurals that make no sense: mice, shee… · tree and pragmatics
description: Your cousin says octopi is the "real Latin" plural. What's the catch? Test 7 · ★★★ 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 choice was wrong.
---

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# Test 7 · ★★★ · Plurals that make no sense: mice, sheep and geese

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Your cousin says octopi is the "real Latin" plural. What's the catch?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 3 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** cousin, octopi, catch · **What happens:** say, be · **To what, where:** Latin plural · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 7 · ★★★ 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/#t7).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* Your cousin says octopi is the "real Latin" plural.

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:10-plurals-mice-sheep-and-geese:t7:1
# text = Your cousin says octopi is the "real Latin" plural.
1	Your	your	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Person=2|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	2	nmod:poss	_	_
2	cousin	cousin	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	says	say	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	octopi	octopi	X	FW	Foreign=Yes	11	nsubj	_	_
5	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	11	cop	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
7	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	9	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	real	real	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	amod	_	_
9	Latin	Latin	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	11	compound	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	9	punct	_	_
11	plural	plural	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	ccomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **say** *speech: assert* | present | Your cousin |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **is a** | present | octopi | the Latin plural |  |  |  |  | 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:* What's the catch?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:10-plurals-mice-sheep-and-geese:t7:2
# text = What's the catch?
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	4	det	_	_
4	catch	catch	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

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

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 · ← Mova's choice {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Octopi is the only plural in dictionaries

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:10-plurals-mice-sheep-and-geese:t7:o1:1
# text = Octopi is the only plural in dictionaries
1	Octopi	Octopi	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	only	only	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	plural	plural	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
6	in	in	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	dictionaries	dictionary	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | Octopi | the only plural |  | dictionaries |  |  | tree rules |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The plural is octopus-es-i

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:10-plurals-mice-sheep-and-geese:t7:o2:1
# text = The plural is octopus-es-i
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	plural	plural	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	_
3	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	cop	_	_
4	octopus	octopus	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	compound	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	4	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	es	e	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	-	-	PUNCT	:	_	8	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	i	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	6	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | the plural | octopus es |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

### Option 3 · ✓ the right answer {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Octopus is Greek, so octopi is built on a mistake, though dictionaries accept it

<!-- fold The tree, 14 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:10-plurals-mice-sheep-and-geese:t7:o3:1
# text = Octopus is Greek, so octopi is built on a mistake, though dictionaries accept it
1	Octopus	octopus	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	cop	_	_
3	Greek	Greek	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	8	punct	_	_
5	so	so	ADV	RB	_	8	advmod	_	_
6	octopi	octopi	X	FW	Foreign=Yes	8	nsubj:pass	_	_
7	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	8	aux:pass	_	_
8	built	build	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	3	advcl	_	_
9	on	on	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
10	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	mistake	mistake	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	15	punct	_	_
13	though	though	SCONJ	IN	_	15	mark	_	_
14	dictionaries	dictionary	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	15	nsubj	_	_
15	accept	accept	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	conj	_	_
16	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	15	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | Octopus |  |  |  |  | greek *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **build** | present · passive |  | octopi |  | a mistake |  |  | vn base-97.1 «NP V NP PP.source»: subject=Theme on mistake=Source |
| 3 | **accept** | present | dictionaries | Octopus |  |  |  |  | vn obtain-13.5.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent it=Theme |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
He's right, octopus is Latin

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:10-plurals-mice-sheep-and-geese:t7:o4:1
# text = He's right, octopus is Latin
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	,	_	7	punct	_	_
5	octopus	octopus	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nsubj	_	_
6	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	7	cop	_	_
7	Latin	Latin	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | He |  |  |  |  | right *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **is a** | present | octopus | Latin |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

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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.

<!-- /div -->

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