---
title: A Gen Z cousin says "ain't is lowkey a poor people's word, always wa… — Is there one proper English? The big a… · tree and pragmatics
description: A Gen Z cousin says "ain't is lowkey a poor people's word, always was." ("Lowkey" means kind of.) What's the fact? Test 3 · ★★★ 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 o
---

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# Test 3 · ★★★ · Is there one proper English? The big arguments

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A Gen Z cousin says "ain't is lowkey a poor people's word, always was." ("Lowkey" means kind of.) What's the fact?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 2 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** Z cousin, ai, Lowkey, fact · **What happens:** say, not be, be, mean · **To what, where:** word, kind · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 3 · ★★★ 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/#t3).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* A Gen Z cousin says "ain't is lowkey a poor people's word, always was."

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:20-is-there-one-proper-english:t3:1
# text = A Gen Z cousin says "ain't is lowkey a poor people's word, always was."
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
2	Gen	gen	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	compound	_	_
3	Z	z	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	compound	_	_
4	cousin	cousin	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
5	says	say	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
6	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	15	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	ai	ai	X	FW	Foreign=Yes	15	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	n't	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	15	advmod	_	_
9	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	15	cop	_	_
10	lowkey	lowkey	ADV	RB	_	15	advmod	_	_
11	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
12	poor	poor	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	13	amod	_	_
13	people	people	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	15	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	's	's	PART	POS	_	13	case	_	_
15	word	word	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	ccomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	17	punct	_	_
17	always	always	ADV	RB	PronType=Tot	15	nmod	_	_
18	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	17	cop	_	SpaceAfter=No
19	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	15	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
20	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	15	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **say** *speech: assert* | present | a Z cousin |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **not** **is a** *in a quote* | present | ai | a poor people's word |  |  |  | lowkey *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **is** *in a quote* | past |  |  |  |  |  | always *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:* ("Lowkey" means kind of.)

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:20-is-there-one-proper-english:t3:2
# text = ("Lowkey" means kind of.)
1	(	(	PUNCT	-LRB-	_	5	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	3	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	Lowkey	Lowkey	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	3	punct	_	_
5	means	mean	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
6	kind	kind	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obj	_	_
7	of	of	ADP	IN	_	6	fixed	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	)	)	PUNCT	-RRB-	_	5	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **mean** | present | Lowkey | kind |  |  |  |  | vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent kind=Topic |

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 3:* What's the fact?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:20-is-there-one-proper-english:t3:3
# text = What's the fact?
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	4	det	_	_
4	fact	fact	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

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

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 · ← Mova's choice {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It was only ever used in America

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:20-is-there-one-proper-english:t3:o1:1
# text = It was only ever used in America
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	5	nsubj:pass	_	_
2	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	aux	_	_
3	only	only	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
4	ever	ever	ADV	RB	PronType=Ind	5	advmod	_	_
5	used	use	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
6	in	in	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	America	America	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **use** | past · passive |  | It |  | America | ever |  | vn eat-39.1 «NP V NP»: subject=Patient |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Posh people used it too in the 1700s

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:20-is-there-one-proper-english:t3:o2:1
# text = Posh people used it too in the 1700s
1	Posh	posh	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	amod	_	_
2	people	people	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj	_	_
3	used	use	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	obj	_	_
5	too	too	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	_
6	in	in	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	1700s	1700	NOUN	NNS	Number=Ptan|NumForm=Combi|NumType=Card	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **use** | past | Posh people | it |  | the 1700s |  |  | vn eat-39.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent it=Patient |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It was invented by rappers in the 1990s

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:20-is-there-one-proper-english:t3:o3:1
# text = It was invented by rappers in the 1990s
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj:pass	_	_
2	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux:pass	_	_
3	invented	invent	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
4	by	by	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	rappers	rapper	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obl	_	_
6	in	in	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	1990s	1990s	NOUN	NNS	Number=Ptan|NumForm=Combi|NumType=Card	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **invent** | past · passive | rappers | It |  | the 1990s |  |  | vn create-26.4-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent subject=Result |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
She's right, rich people never used it

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:20-is-there-one-proper-english:t3:o4:1
# text = She's right, rich people never used it
1	She	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|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	,	_	8	punct	_	_
5	rich	rich	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	people	people	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	nsubj	_	_
7	never	never	ADV	RB	PronType=Neg	8	advmod	_	_
8	used	use	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	conj	_	_
9	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	8	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | She |  |  |  |  | right *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **not** **use** | past | rich people | it |  |  |  |  | vn eat-39.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent it=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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