---
title: Your dad says "too late for me to learn Ukrainian, I'm 40." What's t… — How babies learn to talk · tree and pragmatics
description: Your dad says "too late for me to learn Ukrainian, I'm 40." What's the encouraging truth? Test 9 · ★ of lesson 31 «How babies learn to talk» 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.
---

<!-- md -->
[Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/language/31-how-babies-learn-to-talk/t9/)

<!-- 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/) / [How babies learn to talk](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/language/31-how-babies-learn-to-talk/) / t9

# Test 9 · ★ · How babies learn to talk

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Your dad says "too late for me to learn Ukrainian, I'm 40." What's the encouraging truth?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 4 · **The right answer:** option 1 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** dad, encouraging truth · **What happens:** say, learn, be, encourage · **To what, where:** Ukrainian, 40 · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 9 · ★ of lesson 31 «How babies learn to talk» 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/31-how-babies-learn-to-talk/#t9).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* Your dad says "too late for me to learn Ukrainian, I'm 40."

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:31-how-babies-learn-to-talk:t9:1
# text = Your dad says "too late for me to learn Ukrainian, I'm 40."
1	Your	your	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Person=2|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	2	nmod:poss	_	_
2	dad	dad	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	says	say	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	6	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	too	too	ADV	RB	_	6	advmod	_	_
6	late	late	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	ccomp	_	_
7	for	for	SCONJ	IN	_	10	mark	_	_
8	me	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	10	nsubj	_	_
9	to	to	PART	TO	_	10	mark	_	_
10	learn	learn	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	6	advcl	_	_
11	Ukrainian	Ukrainian	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	10	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	15	punct	_	_
13	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	15	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	'm	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	15	cop	_	_
15	40	40	NUM	CD	NumForm=Digit|NumType=Card	10	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	6	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	6	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **say** *speech: assert* | present | Your dad |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **learn** *in a quote* | to-infinitive | Your dad *= dad* | Ukrainian |  |  |  |  | vn learn-14-2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent ukrainian=Topic |
| 3 | **is a** *in a quote* | present | Your dad *= dad* | 40 |  |  |  |  | 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 the encouraging truth?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:31-how-babies-learn-to-talk:t9:2
# text = What's the encouraging truth?
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	5	det	_	_
4	encouraging	encourage	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	5	amod	_	_
5	truth	truth	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | the encouraging truth |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **encourage** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V ADV-Middle»: agent=Experiencer |

## The options {#options}

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Adults can learn languages well, it's never too late

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:31-how-babies-learn-to-talk:t9:o1:1
# text = Adults can learn languages well, it's never too late
1	Adults	adult	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj	_	_
2	can	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	3	aux	_	_
3	learn	learn	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
4	languages	language	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obj	_	_
5	well	well	ADV	RB	Degree=Pos	3	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	11	punct	_	_
7	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	11	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	's	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	11	cop	_	_
9	never	never	ADV	RB	PronType=Neg	11	advmod	_	_
10	too	too	ADV	RB	_	11	advmod	_	_
11	late	late	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	advcl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **learn** | can | Adults | languages |  |  |  | well *property* | vn learn-14-2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent language=Topic |
| 2 | **not** **is** | present | it |  |  |  |  | late *property* | tree rules |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Adults can only learn sign language

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:31-how-babies-learn-to-talk:t9:o2:1
# text = Adults can only learn sign language
1	Adults	adult	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj	_	_
2	can	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
3	only	only	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
4	learn	learn	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
5	sign	sign	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	compound	_	_
6	language	language	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **learn** | can | Adults | sign language |  |  |  |  | vn learn-14-2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent language=Topic |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Only children can learn Ukrainian

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:31-how-babies-learn-to-talk:t9:o3:1
# text = Only children can learn Ukrainian
1	Only	only	ADV	RB	_	2	advmod	_	_
2	children	child	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj	_	_
3	can	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
4	learn	learn	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
5	Ukrainian	Ukrainian	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	4	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **learn** | can | children | Ukrainian |  |  |  |  | vn learn-14-2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent ukrainian=Topic |

### Option 4 · ← Mova's choice {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
He's right, learning a language is impossible after the age of 12

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:31-how-babies-learn-to-talk:t9:o4:1
# text = He's right, learning a language is impossible after the age of 12
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	9	csubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	5	punct	_	_
5	learning	learn	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	3	advcl	_	_
6	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	language	language	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obj	_	_
8	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	9	cop	_	_
9	impossible	impossible	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
10	after	after	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
11	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
12	age	age	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obl	_	_
13	of	of	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
14	12	12	NUM	CD	NumForm=Digit|NumType=Card	12	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | He |  |  |  |  | right *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **learn** | gerund | He *not said here* | a language |  |  |  |  | vn learn-14-2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent language=Topic |
| 3 | **is** | present |  |  |  |  | after the age of 12 | impossible *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: [How babies learn to talk, test 8](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/language/31-how-babies-learn-to-talk/t8/)
- next →: [How babies learn to talk, test 10](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/language/31-how-babies-learn-to-talk/t10/)
- ↑ back to [How babies learn to talk](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/language/31-how-babies-learn-to-talk/)