---
title: Rory says "maths ends in s, so it's 'maths are hard'." What's the ri… — Nouns: the names of things, people, pl… · tree and pragmatics
description: Rory says "maths ends in s, so it's 'maths are hard'." What's the right reply? Test 8 of lesson 2 «Nouns: the names of things, people, places and ideas» 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 wron
---

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# Test 8 · Nouns: the names of things, people, places and ideas

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Rory says "maths ends in s, so it's 'maths are hard'." What's the right reply?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 2 · **The right answer:** option 1 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** Rory, maths, it, right reply · **What happens:** say, end, be · **To what, where:** s · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 8 of lesson 2 «Nouns: the names of things, people, places and ideas» 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/2-nouns-names-of-things-people-places-ideas/#t8).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* Rory says "maths ends in s, so it's 'maths are hard'."

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:2-nouns-names-of-things-people-places-ideas:t8:1
# text = Rory says "maths ends in s, so it's 'maths are hard'."
1	Rory	Rory	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	2	nsubj	_	_
2	says	say	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	4	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	maths	math	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	nsubj	_	_
5	ends	end	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	2	ccomp	_	_
6	in	in	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	s	s	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	15	punct	_	_
9	so	so	ADV	RB	_	15	advmod	_	_
10	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	15	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	's	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	15	cop	_	_
12	'	'	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	13	amod	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	maths	math	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	15	nsubj	_	_
14	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	15	cop	_	_
15	hard	hard	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	ccomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	'	'	PUNCT	''	_	15	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	15	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
18	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	15	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **say** *speech: assert* | present | Rory |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 2 | **end** *in a quote* | present | maths |  |  | s |  |  | vn stop-55.4-1-1 «NP.eventuality V»: agent=Eventuality |
| 3 | **is** *in a quote* | present | it |  |  |  |  | hard *property* | 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 right reply?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:2-nouns-names-of-things-people-places-ideas:t8:2
# text = What's the right reply?
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	right	right	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	reply	reply	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

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

## The options {#options}

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Maths takes a singular verb: "maths is hard"

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:2-nouns-names-of-things-people-places-ideas:t8:o1:1
# text = Maths takes a singular verb: "maths is hard"
1	Maths	math	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nsubj	_	_
2	takes	take	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	singular	singular	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	verb	verb	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	:	:	PUNCT	:	_	10	punct	_	_
7	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	10	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	maths	math	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	10	nsubj	_	_
9	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	10	cop	_	_
10	hard	hard	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	parataxis	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	10	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **take** | present | Maths | a singular verb |  |  |  |  | vn characterize-29.2 «NP V NP to be ADJ»: agent=Agent verb=Theme clause=Attribute |
| 2 | **is** *in a quote* | present | maths |  |  |  |  | hard *property* | tree rules |

### Option 2 · ← Mova's choice {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
He's right, every word ending in s is plural

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:2-nouns-names-of-things-people-places-ideas:t8:o2:1
# text = He's right, every word ending in s is plural
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	,	_	6	punct	_	_
5	every	every	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	6	det	_	_
6	word	word	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	nsubj	_	_
7	ending	end	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	6	acl	_	_
8	in	in	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
9	s	s	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obl	_	_
10	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	11	cop	_	_
11	plural	plural	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	parataxis	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | He |  |  |  |  | right *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **end** | gerund | every word *not said here* |  |  | s |  |  | vn stop-55.4-1-1 «NP.eventuality V»: agent=Eventuality |
| 3 | **is** | present | every word |  |  |  |  | plural *property* | tree rules |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Maths has no verb at all

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:2-nouns-names-of-things-people-places-ideas:t8:o3:1
# text = Maths has no verb at all
1	Maths	math	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nsubj	_	_
2	has	have	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	no	no	DET	DT	PronType=Neg	4	det	_	_
4	verb	verb	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
5	at	at	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	all	all	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	4	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **have** | present | Maths | no verb |  | all |  |  | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent verb=Patient |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It should be "math are hard"

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:2-nouns-names-of-things-people-places-ideas:t8:o4:1
# text = It should be "math are hard"
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	7	nsubj	_	_
2	should	should	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	7	aux	_	_
3	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	7	cop	_	_
4	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	7	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	math	math	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nsubj	_	_
6	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	7	cop	_	_
7	hard	hard	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	7	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** *in a quote* | should | It |  |  |  |  | hard *property* | 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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