---
title: In a cartoon, an American kid says "pavement" and points at the road… — British and American words · tree and pragmatics
description: In a cartoon, an American kid says "pavement" and points at the road itself. Could that be right? Test 3 of lesson 21 «British and American words» 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 wrong.
---

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# Test 3 · British and American words

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
In a cartoon, an American kid says "pavement" and points at the road itself. Could that be right?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 3 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** American kid, that · **What happens:** say, point, be · **To what, where:** pavement, cartoon, road · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 3 of lesson 21 «British and American words» 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/21-british-and-american-words/#t3).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* In a cartoon, an American kid says "pavement" and points at the road itself.

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:21-british-and-american-words:t3:1
# text = In a cartoon, an American kid says "pavement" and points at the road itself.
1	In	in	ADP	IN	_	3	case	_	_
2	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	cartoon	cartoon	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	3	punct	_	_
5	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
6	American	American	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
7	kid	kid	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nsubj	_	_
8	says	say	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
9	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	10	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	pavement	pavement	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	10	punct	_	_
12	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	13	cc	_	_
13	points	point	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	8	conj	_	_
14	at	at	ADP	IN	_	16	case	_	_
15	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	16	det	_	_
16	road	road	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	obl	_	_
17	itself	itself	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Emp|Reflex=Yes	16	nmod:unmarked	_	SpaceAfter=No
18	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	8	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **say** *speech: assert* | present | a American kid | pavement |  | a cartoon |  |  | vn pronounce-29.3.1 «NP V NP PP.manner»: agent=Agent pavement=Theme in cartoon=Manner |
| 2 | **point** | present | a American kid *not said here* |  |  | the road  kid |  |  | vn wink-40.3.1 «NP V»: agent=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:* Could that be right?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:21-british-and-american-words:t3:2
# text = Could that be right?
1	Could	could	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
2	that	that	PRON	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	4	nsubj	_	_
3	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	cop	_	_
4	right	right	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | could | that |  |  |  |  | right *property* | tree rules |

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 · ← Mova's choice {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
No, Americans never use the word "pavement" at all, ever

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:21-british-and-american-words:t3:o1:1
# text = No, Americans never use the word "pavement" at all, ever
1	No	no	INTJ	UH	Polarity=Neg	3	discourse	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	1	punct	_	_
3	Americans	American	PROPN	NNPS	Number=Plur	5	nsubj	_	_
4	never	never	ADV	RB	PronType=Neg	5	advmod	_	_
5	use	use	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	word	word	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obj	_	_
8	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	9	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	pavement	pavement	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	appos	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	9	punct	_	_
11	at	at	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
12	all	all	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	5	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	14	punct	_	_
14	ever	ever	ADV	RB	PronType=Ind	5	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **use** | present | Americans | the word |  | all | ever |  | vn eat-39.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent word=Patient |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
No, in America the pavement means only the grass verge

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:21-british-and-american-words:t3:o2:1
# text = No, in America the pavement means only the grass verge
1	No	no	INTJ	UH	Polarity=Neg	4	discourse	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	4	punct	_	_
3	in	in	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
4	America	America	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	7	obl	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	pavement	pavement	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nsubj	_	_
7	means	mean	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
8	only	only	ADV	RB	_	11	advmod	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
10	grass	grass	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	compound	_	_
11	verge	verge	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **mean** | present | the pavement | the grass verge |  |  |  | in America | vn representation-110.1 «NP V NP PP.attribute»: agent=Pivot verge=Theme in america=Attribute |

### Option 3 · ✓ the right answer {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Yes, in America "pavement" can mean the road surface

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:21-british-and-american-words:t3:o3:1
# text = Yes, in America "pavement" can mean the road surface
1	Yes	yes	INTJ	UH	Polarity=Pos	9	discourse	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	1	punct	_	_
3	in	in	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
4	America	America	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	9	obl	_	_
5	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	6	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	pavement	pavement	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	6	punct	_	_
8	can	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	9	aux	_	_
9	mean	mean	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
10	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
11	road	road	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	compound	_	_
12	surface	surface	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **mean** | can | pavement | the road surface |  |  |  | in America | vn representation-110.1 «NP V NP PP.attribute»: agent=Pivot surface=Theme in america=Attribute |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Yes, but only in Canada

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:21-british-and-american-words:t3:o4:1
# text = Yes, but only in Canada
1	Yes	yes	INTJ	UH	Polarity=Pos	6	discourse	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	1	punct	_	_
3	but	but	CCONJ	CC	_	6	cc	_	_
4	only	only	ADV	RB	_	6	advmod	_	_
5	in	in	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	Canada	Canada	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .note -->
The frames reader finds no event or fact in this sentence.

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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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