---
title: Your teacher in Leeds marks "color" wrong in your British essay. Is… — British and American words · tree and pragmatics
description: Your teacher in Leeds marks "color" wrong in your British essay. Is the teacher being unfair? Test 6 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 6 · British and American words

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Your teacher in Leeds marks "color" wrong in your British essay. Is the teacher being unfair?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 4 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** your · **What happens:** essay, be · **To what, where:** teacher

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 6 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/#t6).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* Your teacher in Leeds marks "color" wrong in your British essay.

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:21-british-and-american-words:t6:1
# text = Your teacher in Leeds marks "color" wrong in your British essay.
1	Your	your	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Person=2|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	2	nmod:poss	_	_
2	teacher	teacher	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	in	in	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
4	Leeds	Leeds	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	5	compound	_	_
5	marks	mark	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nmod	_	_
6	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	7	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	color	color	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	7	punct	_	_
9	wrong	wrong	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
10	in	in	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
11	your	your	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Person=2|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	13	nmod:poss	_	_
12	British	British	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	13	amod	_	_
13	essay	essay	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **essay** |  | your |  |  |  |  |  | nom essay «communication transitive»: poss=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:* Is the teacher being unfair?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:21-british-and-american-words:t6:2
# text = Is the teacher being unfair?
1	Is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	cop	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	teacher	teacher	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	csubj	_	_
4	being	be	AUX	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	5	cop	_	_
5	unfair	unfair	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present |  | the teacher |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **is** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  | unfair *property* | tree rules |

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 · ← Mova's choice {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Yes, American spelling is newer and so always better

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:21-british-and-american-words:t6:o1:1
# text = Yes, American spelling is newer and so always better
1	Yes	yes	INTJ	UH	Polarity=Pos	6	discourse	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	1	punct	_	_
3	American	American	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	amod	_	_
4	spelling	spelling	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	_
5	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	cop	_	_
6	newer	new	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	0	root	_	_
7	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	10	cc	_	_
8	so	so	ADV	RB	_	10	advmod	_	_
9	always	always	ADV	RB	PronType=Tot	10	advmod	_	_
10	better	good	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	6	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | American spelling |  |  |  |  | new *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **be** |  | American spelling *not said here* |  |  |  |  | always *property* | tree rules |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Yes, spelling never matters as long as people understand

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:21-british-and-american-words:t6:o2:1
# text = Yes, spelling never matters as long as people understand
1	Yes	yes	INTJ	UH	Polarity=Pos	5	discourse	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	1	punct	_	_
3	spelling	spelling	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
4	never	never	ADV	RB	PronType=Neg	5	advmod	_	_
5	matters	matter	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
6	as	as	ADV	RB	_	7	advmod	_	_
7	long	long	ADV	RB	Degree=Pos	5	advmod	_	_
8	as	as	SCONJ	IN	_	10	mark	_	_
9	people	people	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	10	nsubj	_	_
10	understand	understand	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	7	advcl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **matter** | present | spelling |  |  |  |  | long *property* | vn matter-91 «NP V»: agent=Stimulus |
| 2 | **understand** | present | people |  |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Experiencer |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
No, because "color" is wrong everywhere

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:21-british-and-american-words:t6:o3:1
# text = No, because "color" is wrong everywhere
1	No	no	INTJ	UH	Polarity=Neg	8	discourse	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	8	punct	_	_
3	because	because	SCONJ	IN	_	8	mark	_	_
4	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	5	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	color	color	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	5	punct	_	_
7	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	8	cop	_	_
8	wrong	wrong	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
9	everywhere	everywhere	ADV	RB	PronType=Tot	8	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | color |  |  |  |  | everywhere, wrong *property* | tree rules |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
No, in a British essay use British spelling

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:21-british-and-american-words:t6:o4:1
# text = No, in a British essay use British spelling
1	No	no	INTJ	UH	Polarity=Neg	7	discourse	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	7	punct	_	_
3	in	in	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
4	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
5	British	British	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	essay	essay	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obl	_	_
7	use	use	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
8	British	British	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	amod	_	_
9	spelling	spelling	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **use** | imperative | you *not said here* | British spelling |  | a British essay |  |  | vn eat-39.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent spelling=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.

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- ← previous: [British and American words, test 5](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/language/21-british-and-american-words/t5/)
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