---
title: A boomer gran says "Neither the twins nor Tom is coming, dear." Is t… — Grammar puzzles, part one · tree and pragmatics
description: A boomer gran says "Neither the twins nor Tom is coming, dear." Is that right? Test 8 · ★★ of lesson 11 «Grammar puzzles, part one» 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 8 · ★★ · Grammar puzzles, part one

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A boomer gran says "Neither the twins nor Tom is coming, dear." Is that right?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 3 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** boomer gran, Tom, that · **What happens:** say, come, be · **To what, where:** twins · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 8 · ★★ of lesson 11 «Grammar puzzles, part one» 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/11-grammar-puzzles-part-one/#t8).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* A boomer gran says "Neither the twins nor Tom is coming, dear."

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:11-grammar-puzzles-part-one:t8:1
# text = A boomer gran says "Neither the twins nor Tom is coming, dear."
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	boomer	boomer	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	compound	_	_
3	gran	gran	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
4	says	say	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	8	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	Neither	neither	CCONJ	CC	Polarity=Neg	8	cc:preconj	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	twins	twin	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obj	_	_
9	nor	nor	CCONJ	CC	Polarity=Neg	12	cc	_	_
10	Tom	Tom	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	12	nsubj	_	_
11	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	12	aux	_	_
12	coming	come	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	4	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	14	punct	_	_
14	dear	dear	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	12	parataxis	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	12	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	12	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **say** *speech: assert* | present | a boomer gran | the twins |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V NP.topic»: agent=Agent twin=Topic |
| 2 | **come** *in a quote* | present · progressive | Tom |  |  |  |  |  | vn escape-51.1-1 «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:* Is that right?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:11-grammar-puzzles-part-one:t8:2
# text = Is that right?
1	Is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	cop	_	_
2	that	that	PRON	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	3	nsubj	_	_
3	right	right	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 | that |  |  |  |  | right *property* | tree rules |

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 · ← Mova's choice {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
No, neither always takes "am"

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:11-grammar-puzzles-part-one:t8:o1:1
# text = No, neither always takes "am"
1	No	no	INTJ	UH	Polarity=Neg	5	discourse	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	5	punct	_	_
3	neither	neither	CCONJ	CC	Polarity=Neg	5	cc	_	_
4	always	always	ADV	RB	PronType=Tot	5	advmod	_	_
5	takes	take	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
6	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	7	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	am	a.m.	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	7	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **take** | present |  | am |  |  |  | always *property* | vn bring-11.3 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent a.m.=Theme |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
No, it must be "are" because the twins are two people

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:11-grammar-puzzles-part-one:t8:o2:1
# text = No, it must be "are" because the twins are two people
1	No	no	INTJ	UH	Polarity=Neg	14	discourse	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	1	punct	_	_
3	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	7	nsubj	_	_
4	must	must	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	7	aux	_	_
5	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	7	cop	_	_
6	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	7	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	14	cop	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	7	punct	_	_
9	because	because	SCONJ	IN	_	14	mark	_	_
10	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	twins	twin	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	14	nsubj	_	_
12	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	14	cop	_	_
13	two	two	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	14	nummod	_	_
14	people	people	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	0	root	_	_
```

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

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Yes, the verb agrees with Tom, the closer subject

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:11-grammar-puzzles-part-one:t8:o3:1
# text = Yes, the verb agrees with Tom, the closer subject
1	Yes	yes	INTJ	UH	Polarity=Pos	5	discourse	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	1	punct	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	verb	verb	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
5	agrees	agree	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
6	with	with	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	Tom	Tom	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	11	punct	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
10	closer	close	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	11	amod	_	_
11	subject	subject	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	appos	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **agree** *speech: agree* | present | the verb |  |  |  |  | with Tom | vn correspond-36.1-1 «NP V PP.co-agent how S»: agent=Agent with tom=Co-Agent |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Yes, but only because she's a gran

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:11-grammar-puzzles-part-one:t8:o4:1
# text = Yes, but only because she's a gran
1	Yes	yes	INTJ	UH	Polarity=Pos	9	discourse	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	1	punct	_	_
3	but	but	CCONJ	CC	_	9	cc	_	_
4	only	only	ADV	RB	_	9	advmod	_	_
5	because	because	SCONJ	IN	_	9	mark	_	_
6	she	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	9	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	's	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	9	cop	_	_
8	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	gran	gran	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | she | a gran |  |  |  |  | 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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- ← previous: [Grammar puzzles, part one, test 7](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/language/11-grammar-puzzles-part-one/t7/)
- next →: [Grammar puzzles, part one, test 9](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/language/11-grammar-puzzles-part-one/t9/)
- ↑ back to [Grammar puzzles, part one](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/language/11-grammar-puzzles-part-one/)