---
title: Sam reads "Fruit flies like a banana" and thinks fruit can fly. What… — Puns and jokes that need a pun · tree and pragmatics
description: Sam reads "Fruit flies like a banana" and thinks fruit can fly. What's the trick? Test 5 · ★★★ of lesson 28 «Puns and jokes that need a pun» 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 right.
---

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# Test 5 · ★★★ · Puns and jokes that need a pun

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Sam reads "Fruit flies like a banana" and thinks fruit can fly. What's the trick?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 1 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** Sam, Fruit, trick · **What happens:** read, fly, think, be · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 5 · ★★★ of lesson 28 «Puns and jokes that need a pun» 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/28-puns-and-jokes-that-need-a-pun/#t5).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* Sam reads "Fruit flies like a banana" and thinks fruit can fly.

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:28-puns-and-jokes-that-need-a-pun:t5:1
# text = Sam reads "Fruit flies like a banana" and thinks fruit can fly.
1	Sam	Sam	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	2	nsubj	_	_
2	reads	read	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	5	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	Fruit	fruit	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
5	flies	fly	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	2	conj	_	_
6	like	like	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	banana	banana	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	5	punct	_	_
10	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	11	cc	_	_
11	thinks	think	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	2	conj	_	_
12	fruit	fruit	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	nsubj	_	_
13	can	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	14	aux	_	_
14	fly	fly	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	11	ccomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **read** | present | Sam |  |  |  |  |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **fly** *in a quote* | present | Fruit |  |  |  |  | like a banana | vn spatial\_configuration-47.6-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 3 | **think** *speech: other* | present | Sam *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn consider-29.9-2 «NP V how S»: agent=Agent clause=Theme |
| 4 | **fly** | can | fruit |  |  |  |  |  | vn spatial\_configuration-47.6-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

<!-- .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 the trick?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:28-puns-and-jokes-that-need-a-pun:t5:2
# text = What's the trick?
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	trick	trick	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 trick |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

## The options {#options}

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
"Fruit flies" are insects, and "like" means enjoy

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:28-puns-and-jokes-that-need-a-pun:t5:o1:1
# text = "Fruit flies" are insects, and "like" means enjoy
1	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	3	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	Fruit	fruit	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	compound	_	_
3	flies	fly	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	3	punct	_	_
5	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	cop	_	_
6	insects	insect	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	12	punct	_	_
8	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	12	cc	_	_
9	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	10	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	like	like	INTJ	UH	_	12	discourse	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	10	punct	_	_
12	means	mean	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	parataxis	_	_
13	enjoy	enjoy	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	12	ccomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | Fruit flies | insects |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **mean** | present |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 3 | **enjoy** | infinitive |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn admire-31.2 «NP V that S»: agent=Experiencer |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
"Like" means "as fast as"

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:28-puns-and-jokes-that-need-a-pun:t5:o2:1
# text = "Like" means "as fast as"
1	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	4	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	Like	like	INTJ	UH	_	4	discourse	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	2	punct	_	_
4	means	mean	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	7	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	as	as	ADV	RB	_	7	advmod	_	_
7	fast	fast	ADV	RB	Degree=Pos	4	advmod	_	_
8	as	as	ADP	IN	_	7	fixed	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	8	punct	_	_
```

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

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It's a spelling mistake

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:28-puns-and-jokes-that-need-a-pun:t5:o3:1
# text = It's a spelling mistake
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	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	spelling	spelling	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	compound	_	_
5	mistake	mistake	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
```

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

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Bananas really can fly when you throw them hard

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:28-puns-and-jokes-that-need-a-pun:t5:o4:1
# text = Bananas really can fly when you throw them hard
1	Bananas	banana	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj	_	_
2	really	really	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
3	can	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
4	fly	fly	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
5	when	when	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	7	advmod	_	_
6	you	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Person=2|PronType=Prs	7	nsubj	_	_
7	throw	throw	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=2|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	advcl	_	_
8	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	7	obj	_	_
9	hard	hard	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	xcomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **fly** | can | Bananas |  |  |  |  |  | vn spatial\_configuration-47.6-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 2 | **throw** | present | you | Bananas *= banana* |  |  |  | hard *property* | vn throw-17.1-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent they=Theme |

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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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