---
title: Why is "be" so hard to spot as a verb? — Verbs: doing words and being words · tree and pragmatics
description: Why is "be" so hard to spot as a verb? Test 11 of lesson 3 «Verbs: doing words and being 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 right.
---

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# Test 11 · Verbs: doing words and being words

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Why is "be" so hard to spot as a verb?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 1 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** you · **What happens:** be, spot

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 11 of lesson 3 «Verbs: doing words and being 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/3-verbs-doing-words-and-being-words/#t11).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:3-verbs-doing-words-and-being-words:t11:1
# text = Why is "be" so hard to spot as a verb?
1	Why	why	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	4	advmod	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
3	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	4	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	7	cop	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	4	punct	_	_
6	so	so	ADV	RB	_	7	advmod	_	_
7	hard	hard	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
8	to	to	PART	TO	_	9	mark	_	_
9	spot	spot	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	7	xcomp	_	_
10	as	as	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
11	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
12	verb	verb	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	7	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | imperative | you *not said here* |  |  |  |  | hard *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **spot** | to-infinitive | you *not said here* |  |  |  |  | as a verb | vn weather-57 «It V PP.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.

## The options {#options}

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It shows being, not action, and changes form: am, is, was

<!-- fold The tree, 11 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:3-verbs-doing-words-and-being-words:t11:o1:1
# text = It shows being, not action, and changes form: am, is, was
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	shows	show	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	being	be	AUX	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	6	cop	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	6	punct	_	_
5	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	6	advmod	_	_
6	action	action	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	9	punct	_	_
8	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	9	cc	_	_
9	changes	change	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	2	parataxis	_	_
10	form	form	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	:	:	PUNCT	:	_	12	punct	_	_
12	am	a.m.	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	14	punct	_	_
14	is	be	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	2	parataxis	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	2	punct	_	_
16	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	2	cop	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | past | It |  |  |  |  | show *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **not** **is a** | gerund |  | action |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 3 | **change** | present |  | form and am |  |  |  |  | vn dress-41.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent form=Patient |
| 4 | **be** | present |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn exist-47.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It is spelled differently in every English-speaking country

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:3-verbs-doing-words-and-being-words:t11:o2:1
# text = It is spelled differently in every English-speaking country
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj:pass	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux:pass	_	_
3	spelled	spell	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
4	differently	differently	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	_
5	in	in	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
6	every	every	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	10	det	_	_
7	English	English	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	compound	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	7	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	speaking	speak	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	10	amod	_	_
10	country	country	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **spell** | present · passive |  | It |  | every speaking country |  | differently *property* | vn pronounce-29.3.1 «NP V NP PP.manner»: subject=Theme in country=Manner |
| 2 | **speak** *speech: other* | gerund |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn talk-37.5 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It is usually left out of sentences

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:3-verbs-doing-words-and-being-words:t11:o3:1
# text = It is usually left out of sentences
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj:pass	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux:pass	_	_
3	usually	usually	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
4	left	leave	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
5	out	out	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	of	of	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	sentences	sentence	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **leave out** | present · passive |  | It |  | sentences |  | usually *property* | tree rules |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It only appears in questions

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:3-verbs-doing-words-and-being-words:t11:o4:1
# text = It only appears in questions
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	only	only	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	_
3	appears	appear	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	in	in	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	questions	question	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **appear** | present | It |  |  | questions |  |  | vn appear-48.1.1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme in question=Location |

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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 -->

<!-- pn -->
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