---
title: A boomer neighbour's sign says "Slow children at play." What makes i… — Punctuation that changes meaning · tree and pragmatics
description: A boomer neighbour's sign says "Slow children at play." What makes it funny, and what's the fix? Test 6 · ★ of lesson 14 «Punctuation that changes meaning» 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 w
---

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# Test 6 · ★ · Punctuation that changes meaning

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A boomer neighbour's sign says "Slow children at play." What makes it funny, and what's the fix?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 2 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** sign, boomer neighbour · **What happens:** say, sign, make, be · **To what, where:** neighbour, fix · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 6 · ★ of lesson 14 «Punctuation that changes meaning» 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/14-punctuation-that-changes-meaning/#t6).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* A boomer neighbour's sign says "Slow children at play."

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:14-punctuation-that-changes-meaning:t6:1
# text = A boomer neighbour's sign says "Slow children at play."
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	boomer	boomer	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	compound	_	_
3	neighbour	neighbour	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	's	's	PART	POS	_	3	case	_	_
5	sign	sign	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	_
6	says	say	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
7	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	9	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	Slow	slow	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	amod	_	_
9	children	child	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	ccomp	_	_
10	at	at	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
11	play	play	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	9	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	9	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **say** *speech: assert* | present | a boomer neighbour's sign |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **sign** |  | a boomer neighbour |  |  |  |  |  | nom sign «communication transitive»: poss=agent |

<!-- .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 makes it funny, and what's the fix?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:14-punctuation-that-changes-meaning:t6:2
# text = What makes it funny, and what's the fix?
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	2	nsubj	_	_
2	makes	make	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	obj	_	_
4	funny	funny	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	xcomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	10	punct	_	_
6	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	10	cc	_	_
7	what	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	10	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	's	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	10	cop	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	fix	fix	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	parataxis	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **make** | present |  | neighbour |  |  |  | funny *property* | vn build-26.1-1 «NP.material V NP»: agent=Material it=Product |
| 2 | **is a** | present |  | the fix |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 · ← Mova's choice {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The sign should say "Fast children"

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:14-punctuation-that-changes-meaning:t6:o1:1
# text = The sign should say "Fast children"
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	sign	sign	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
3	should	should	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
4	say	say	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
5	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	7	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	Fast	fast	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
7	children	child	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	7	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **say** *speech: assert* | should | the sign | Fast children |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V NP.topic»: agent=Agent child=Topic |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It sounds like the children are slow; "Slow: children at play"

<!-- fold The tree, 11 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:14-punctuation-that-changes-meaning:t6:o2:1
# text = It sounds like the children are slow; "Slow: children at play"
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	sounds	sound	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	like	like	SCONJ	IN	_	7	mark	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	children	child	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	nsubj	_	_
6	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	7	cop	_	_
7	slow	slow	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	advcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	;	;	PUNCT	,	_	10	punct	_	_
9	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	10	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	Slow	slow	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	:	:	PUNCT	:	_	12	punct	_	_
12	children	child	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obl	_	_
13	at	at	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
14	play	play	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **sound** | present | It | children at play |  |  |  |  | vn stimulus\_subject-30.4 «NP V PP.attribute»: agent=Stimulus |
| 2 | **is** | present | the children |  |  |  |  | slow *property* | tree rules |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Nothing is funny about it

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:14-punctuation-that-changes-meaning:t6:o3:1
# text = Nothing is funny about it
1	Nothing	nothing	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Neg	3	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	cop	_	_
3	funny	funny	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
4	about	about	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | Nothing |  |  |  |  | about it; funny *property* | tree rules |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Children never play near roads

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:14-punctuation-that-changes-meaning:t6:o4:1
# text = Children never play near roads
1	Children	child	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj	_	_
2	never	never	ADV	RB	PronType=Neg	3	advmod	_	_
3	play	play	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	near	near	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	roads	road	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **play** | present | Children |  |  | roads |  |  | vn performance-26.7-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

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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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