---
title: Your little cousin writes "the herd of cows" and her friend says it… — Homophones: words that sound the same · tree and pragmatics
description: Your little cousin writes "the herd of cows" and her friend says it should be "heard". Who's right? Test 2 of lesson 27 «Homophones: words that sound the same» 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 w
---

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# Test 2 · Homophones: words that sound the same

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Your little cousin writes "the herd of cows" and her friend says it should be "heard". Who's right?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 1 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** little cousin, friend · **What happens:** write, say, be · **To what, where:** herd, heard · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 2 of lesson 27 «Homophones: words that sound the same» 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/27-homophones-words-that-sound-the-same/#t2).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* Your little cousin writes "the herd of cows" and her friend says it should be "heard".

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:27-homophones-words-that-sound-the-same:t2:1
# text = Your little cousin writes "the herd of cows" and her friend says it should be "heard".
1	Your	your	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Person=2|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	3	nmod:poss	_	_
2	little	little	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	cousin	cousin	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
4	writes	write	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	7	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	herd	herd	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obj	_	_
8	of	of	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
9	cows	cow	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	7	punct	_	_
11	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	14	cc	_	_
12	her	her	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	13	nmod:poss	_	_
13	friend	friend	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	nsubj	_	_
14	says	say	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	conj	_	_
15	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	19	nsubj	_	_
16	should	should	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	19	aux	_	_
17	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	19	cop	_	_
18	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	19	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
19	heard	heard	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	ccomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
20	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	19	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
21	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **write** | present | Your little cousin | the herd of cows |  |  |  |  | vn scribble-25.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent herd=Theme |
| 2 | **say** *speech: assert* | present | cousin's friend |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **is a** *in a quote* | should | friend | heard |  |  |  |  | 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:* Who's right?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:27-homophones-words-that-sound-the-same:t2:2
# text = Who's right?
1	Who	who	PRON	WP	PronType=Rel	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	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

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

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Your cousin, a herd is a group of animals

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:27-homophones-words-that-sound-the-same:t2:o1:1
# text = Your cousin, a herd is a group of animals
1	Your	your	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Person=2|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	2	nmod:poss	_	_
2	cousin	cousin	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	8	punct	_	_
4	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	herd	herd	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nsubj	_	_
6	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	8	cop	_	_
7	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	group	group	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	appos	_	_
9	of	of	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
10	animals	animal	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	nmod	_	_
```

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

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The friend, it's always spelled "heard" whatever it means

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:27-homophones-words-that-sound-the-same:t2:o2:1
# text = The friend, it's always spelled "heard" whatever it means
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	friend	friend	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	2	punct	_	_
4	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	7	nsubj:pass	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	's	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	7	aux	_	_
6	always	always	ADV	RB	PronType=Tot	7	advmod	_	_
7	spelled	spell	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
8	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	9	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	heard	heard	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	9	punct	_	_
11	whatever	whatever	PRON	WP	PronType=Rel	13	obj	_	_
12	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	13	nsubj	_	_
13	means	mean	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	7	acl:relcl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **spell** | present · passive |  | the friend |  |  |  | always *property* | vn pronounce-29.3.1 «NP V NP NP»: subject=Theme heard=Manner |
| 2 | **mean** | present | friend | whatever |  |  |  |  | vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent whatever=Topic |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Both spellings mean animals

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:27-homophones-words-that-sound-the-same:t2:o3:1
# text = Both spellings mean animals
1	Both	both	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	2	det	_	_
2	spellings	spelling	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj	_	_
3	mean	mean	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	animals	animal	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obj	_	_
```

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

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Neither, it's "hurd"

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:27-homophones-words-that-sound-the-same:t2:o4:1
# text = Neither, it's "hurd"
1	Neither	neither	ADV	RB	_	6	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	1	punct	_	_
3	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	6	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	's	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	cop	_	_
5	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	6	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	hurd	hurd	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	6	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** *in a quote* | present | it | hurd |  |  |  | neither *property* | tree rules |

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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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