---
title: Identify the meaning ordinarily conveyed by the utterance "I don't w… — Is there one proper English? The big a… · tree and pragmatics
description: Identify the meaning ordinarily conveyed by the utterance "I don't want no dinner". Exam question 2 of lesson 20 «Is there one proper English? The big arguments» 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
---

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# Exam question 2 · Is there one proper English? The big arguments

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Identify the meaning ordinarily conveyed by the utterance "I don't want no dinner".

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 1 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** you, I · **What happens:** identify, convey, not want · **To what, where:** meaning, dinner · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 2 of lesson 20 «Is there one proper English? The big arguments» of the language course of Mova's primary school, asked in stiff, formal language. 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/20-is-there-one-proper-english/#e2).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:20-is-there-one-proper-english:e2:1
# text = Identify the meaning ordinarily conveyed by the utterance "I don't want no dinner".
1	Identify	identify	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	meaning	meaning	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
4	ordinarily	ordinarily	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
5	conveyed	convey	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	3	acl	_	_
6	by	by	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	utterance	utterance	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	_
9	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	13	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	13	nsubj	_	_
11	do	do	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	13	aux	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	n't	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	13	advmod	_	_
13	want	want	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	ccomp	_	_
14	no	no	DET	DT	PronType=Neg	15	det	_	_
15	dinner	dinner	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	13	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **identify** | imperative | you *not said here* | the meaning |  |  |  |  | vn characterize-29.2-1-1 «NP V NP S\_ING»: agent=Agent meaning=Theme |
| 2 | **convey** | participle |  | the meaning *not said here* |  |  |  | by the utterance; ordinarily *property* | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 3 | **not** **want** *in a quote* | present · do-support | I | no dinner |  |  |  |  | vn want-32.1-1-1 «NP V NP ADV»: agent=Pivot dinner=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.

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The speaker does not wish to have dinner

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:20-is-there-one-proper-english:e2:o1:1
# text = The speaker does not wish to have dinner
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	speaker	speaker	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
3	does	do	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	aux	_	_
4	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	5	advmod	_	_
5	wish	wish	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
6	to	to	PART	TO	_	7	mark	_	_
7	have	have	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	xcomp	_	_
8	dinner	dinner	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **wish** | present · do-support | the speaker |  |  |  |  |  | vn wish-62 «NP V for NP S\_INF»: agent=Pivot clause=Theme |
| 2 | **have** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive | the speaker *not said here* | dinner |  |  |  |  | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent dinner=Patient |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The speaker wishes to have dinner

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:20-is-there-one-proper-english:e2:o2:1
# text = The speaker wishes to have dinner
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	speaker	speaker	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	wishes	wish	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	to	to	PART	TO	_	5	mark	_	_
5	have	have	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	ccomp	_	_
6	dinner	dinner	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **wish** | present | the speaker |  |  |  |  |  | vn wish-62 «NP V for NP S\_INF»: agent=Pivot clause=Theme |
| 2 | **have** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive |  | dinner |  |  |  |  | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent dinner=Patient |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The utterance conveys no meaning whatsoever

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:20-is-there-one-proper-english:e2:o3:1
# text = The utterance conveys no meaning whatsoever
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	utterance	utterance	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	conveys	convey	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	no	no	DET	DT	PronType=Neg	5	det	_	_
5	meaning	meaning	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
6	whatsoever	whatsoever	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **convey** | present | the utterance | no meaning |  |  |  | whatsoever *property* | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V NP.topic»: agent=Agent meaning=Topic |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The speaker wishes to have two dinners

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:20-is-there-one-proper-english:e2:o4:1
# text = The speaker wishes to have two dinners
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	speaker	speaker	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	wishes	wish	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	to	to	PART	TO	_	5	mark	_	_
5	have	have	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	ccomp	_	_
6	two	two	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	7	nummod	_	_
7	dinners	dinner	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **wish** | present | the speaker |  |  |  |  |  | vn wish-62 «NP V for NP S\_INF»: agent=Pivot clause=Theme |
| 2 | **have** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive |  | two dinners |  |  |  |  | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent dinner=Patient |

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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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