---
title: Rosa's bro ("bro" means brother) says Middle English is "impossible,… — Where English came from · tree and pragmatics
description: Rosa's bro ("bro" means brother) says Middle English is "impossible, it's a different language". What's fairer? Test 4 · ★ of lesson 22 «Where English came from» 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
---

<!-- md -->
[Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/language/22-where-english-came-from/t4/)

<!-- crumbs -->
[home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/) / [questions](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/) / [Language](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/language/) / [Where English came from](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/language/22-where-english-came-from/) / t4

# Test 4 · ★ · Where English came from

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Rosa's bro ("bro" means brother) says Middle English is "impossible, it's a different language". What's fairer?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 3 · **The right answer:** option 1 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** bro, Middle English · **What happens:** mean, say, be · **To what, where:** brother, different language · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 4 · ★ of lesson 22 «Where English came from» 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/22-where-english-came-from/#t4).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* Rosa's bro ("bro" means brother) says Middle English is "impossible, it's a different language".

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:22-where-english-came-from:t4:1
# text = Rosa's bro ("bro" means brother) says Middle English is "impossible, it's a different language".
1	Rosa	Rosa	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	3	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	's	's	PART	POS	_	1	case	_	_
3	bro	bro	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	nsubj	_	_
4	(	(	PUNCT	-LRB-	_	8	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	6	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	bro	bro	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	6	punct	_	_
8	means	mean	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	parataxis	_	_
9	brother	brother	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	)	)	PUNCT	-RRB-	_	8	punct	_	_
11	says	say	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
12	Middle	Middle	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	13	compound	_	_
13	English	English	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	16	nsubj	_	_
14	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	16	cop	_	_
15	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	16	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	impossible	impossible	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	11	ccomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	22	punct	_	_
18	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	22	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
19	's	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	22	cop	_	_
20	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	22	det	_	_
21	different	different	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	22	amod	_	_
22	language	language	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	16	parataxis	_	SpaceAfter=No
23	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	22	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
24	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	11	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **mean** | present | bro | brother |  |  |  |  | vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent brother=Topic |
| 2 | **say** *speech: assert* | present | Rosa's bro |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **is** *in a quote* | present | Middle English |  |  |  |  | impossible *property* | tree rules |
| 4 | **is a** *in a quote* | present | bro | a different language |  |  |  |  | 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:* What's fairer?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:22-where-english-came-from:t4:2
# text = What's fairer?
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	3	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	's	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	cop	_	_
3	fairer	fair	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

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

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 · ✓ the right answer {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
With patience and some help you can guess a lot of it

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:22-where-english-came-from:t4:o1:1
# text = With patience and some help you can guess a lot of it
1	With	with	ADP	IN	_	2	case	_	_
2	patience	patience	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
3	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	2	cc	_	_
4	some	some	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	5	nsubj	_	_
5	help	help	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
6	you	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Person=2|PronType=Prs	8	nsubj	_	_
7	can	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	8	aux	_	_
8	guess	guess	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	xcomp	_	_
9	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	lot	lot	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obj	_	_
11	of	of	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
12	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	10	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **help** | present | patience |  |  |  |  |  | vn help-72.1-1-1 «NP V NP S\_INF»: agent=Agent clause=Theme |
| 2 | **guess** | can | you | a lot of patience |  |  |  |  | vn conjecture-29.5-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent lot=Theme |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It's just modern English with typos

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:22-where-english-came-from:t4:o2:1
# text = It's just modern English with typos
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	5	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	's	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
3	just	just	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
4	modern	modern	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	English	English	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
6	with	with	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	typos	typo	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	nmod	_	_
```

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

### Option 3 · ← Mova's choice {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
He's right, nobody can read it

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:22-where-english-came-from:t4:o3:1
# text = He's right, nobody can read it
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|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	,	_	7	punct	_	_
5	nobody	nobody	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Neg	7	nsubj	_	_
6	can	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	7	aux	_	_
7	read	read	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	parataxis	_	_
8	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	7	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | He |  |  |  |  | right *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **read** | can | nobody | it |  |  |  |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent it=Topic |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It's actually just Latin

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:22-where-english-came-from:t4:o4:1
# text = It's actually just Latin
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	5	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	's	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
3	actually	actually	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
4	just	just	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
5	Latin	Latin	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
```

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

<!-- div src -->

**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 -->

<!-- pn -->
- ← previous: [Where English came from, test 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/language/22-where-english-came-from/t3/)
- next →: [Where English came from, test 5](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/language/22-where-english-came-from/t5/)
- ↑ back to [Where English came from](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/language/22-where-english-came-from/)