---
title: Puzzle: in standard English one negative is enough. Which sentence m… — Is there one proper English? The big a… · tree and pragmatics
description: Puzzle: in standard English one negative is enough. Which sentence means the same as "I don't want no dinner" in standard English? Test 11 · ★★★ 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 t
---

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# Test 11 · ★★★ · Is there one proper English? The big arguments

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Puzzle: in standard English one negative is enough. Which sentence means the same as "I don't want no dinner" in standard English?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 2 · **The right answer:** option 4 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** one negative, sentence, I · **What happens:** be, mean, not want · **To what, where:** standard English, same, dinner · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 11 · ★★★ of lesson 20 «Is there one proper English? The big arguments» 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/20-is-there-one-proper-english/#t11).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* Puzzle: in standard English one negative is enough.

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:20-is-there-one-proper-english:t11:1
# text = Puzzle: in standard English one negative is enough.
1	Puzzle	puzzle	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	:	:	PUNCT	:	_	9	punct	_	_
3	in	in	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
4	standard	standard	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	English	English	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	9	obl	_	_
6	one	one	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	7	nummod	_	_
7	negative	negative	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	nsubj	_	_
8	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	9	cop	_	_
9	enough	enough	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	1	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | one negative |  |  | standard English |  | enough *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:* Which sentence means the same as "I don't want no dinner" in standard English?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:20-is-there-one-proper-english:t11:2
# text = Which sentence means the same as "I don't want no dinner" in standard English?
1	Which	which	DET	WDT	PronType=Int	2	det	_	_
2	sentence	sentence	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	means	mean	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	same	same	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	obj	_	_
6	as	as	SCONJ	IN	_	11	mark	_	_
7	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	11	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	11	nsubj	_	_
9	do	do	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	11	aux	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	n't	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	11	advmod	_	_
11	want	want	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	ccomp	_	_
12	no	no	DET	DT	PronType=Neg	13	det	_	_
13	dinner	dinner	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	13	punct	_	_
15	in	in	ADP	IN	_	17	case	_	_
16	standard	standard	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	17	amod	_	_
17	English	English	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	11	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
18	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **mean** | present | which sentence | the same |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **not** **want** *in a quote* | present · do-support | I | no dinner |  | standard English |  |  | vn want-32.1-1-1 «NP V NP ADV»: agent=Pivot dinner=Theme |

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
I want no dinner and some

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:20-is-there-one-proper-english:t11:o1:1
# text = I want no dinner and some
1	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	want	want	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	no	no	DET	DT	PronType=Neg	4	det	_	_
4	dinner	dinner	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
5	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	6	cc	_	_
6	some	some	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	2	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **want** | present | I | no dinner |  |  |  |  | vn want-32.1-1-1 «NP V NP ADV»: agent=Pivot dinner=Theme |

### Option 2 · ← Mova's choice {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
I don't not want dinner

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:20-is-there-one-proper-english:t11:o2:1
# text = I don't not want dinner
1	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	5	nsubj	_	_
2	do	do	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	aux	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	n't	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	5	advmod	_	_
4	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	5	advmod	_	_
5	want	want	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
6	dinner	dinner	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **want** | present · do-support | I | dinner |  |  |  |  | vn want-32.1-1-1 «NP V NP ADV»: agent=Pivot dinner=Theme |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
I do want some dinner

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:20-is-there-one-proper-english:t11:o3:1
# text = I do want some dinner
1	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	do	do	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux	_	_
3	want	want	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
4	some	some	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	5	det	_	_
5	dinner	dinner	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **want** | present · do-support | I | some dinner |  |  |  |  | vn want-32.1-1-1 «NP V NP ADV»: agent=Pivot dinner=Theme |

### Option 4 · ✓ the right answer {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
I don't want any dinner

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:20-is-there-one-proper-english:t11:o4:1
# text = I don't want any dinner
1	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
2	do	do	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	n't	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	4	advmod	_	_
4	want	want	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
5	any	any	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	6	det	_	_
6	dinner	dinner	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **want** | present · do-support | I | any dinner |  |  |  |  | vn want-32.1-1-1 «NP V NP ADV»: agent=Pivot dinner=Theme |

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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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