---
title: Your mate goes "tones are just a Chinese accent, innit, doesn't chan… — Mandarin compared with English · tree and pragmatics
description: Your mate goes "tones are just a Chinese accent, innit, doesn't change nothin'." What's true? Test 1 · ★ of lesson 34 «Mandarin compared with English» 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.
---

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# Test 1 · ★ · Mandarin compared with English

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Your mate goes "tones are just a Chinese accent, innit, doesn't change nothin'." What's true?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 4 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** mate, tones · **What happens:** go, be, not change · **To what, where:** Chinese accent, nothin · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 1 · ★ of lesson 34 «Mandarin compared with English» 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/34-mandarin-compared-with-english/#t1).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* Your mate goes "tones are just a Chinese accent, innit, doesn't change nothin'."

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:34-mandarin-compared-with-english:t1:1
# text = Your mate goes "tones are just a Chinese accent, innit, doesn't change nothin'."
1	Your	your	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Person=2|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	2	nmod:poss	_	_
2	mate	mate	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	goes	go	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	10	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	tones	tone	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	10	nsubj	_	_
6	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	10	cop	_	_
7	just	just	ADV	RB	_	10	advmod	_	_
8	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
9	Chinese	Chinese	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	10	amod	_	_
10	accent	accent	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	12	punct	_	_
12	innit	innit	INTJ	UH	_	10	discourse	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	16	punct	_	_
14	does	do	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	16	aux	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	n't	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	16	advmod	_	_
16	change	change	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	3	parataxis	_	_
17	nothin	nothin	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	16	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
18	'	'	PUNCT	''	_	16	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
19	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
20	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **go** | present | Your mate |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7 «NP V S-Quote»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 2 | **is a** *in a quote* | present | tones | a Chinese accent |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 3 | **not** **change** *in a quote* | present · do-support |  | nothin |  |  |  |  | vn dress-41.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent nothin=Patient |

<!-- .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 true?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:34-mandarin-compared-with-english:t1:2
# text = What's true?
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	true	true	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 |  |  |  |  |  | true *property* | tree rules |

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 · ← Mova's choice {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Tones only matter in songs

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:34-mandarin-compared-with-english:t1:o1:1
# text = Tones only matter in songs
1	Tones	tone	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj	_	_
2	only	only	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	_
3	matter	matter	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	in	in	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	songs	song	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **matter** | present | Tones |  |  | songs |  |  | vn matter-91 «NP V»: agent=Stimulus |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
He's right, tones are just a kind of accent

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:34-mandarin-compared-with-english:t1:o2:1
# text = He's right, tones are just a kind of accent
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	,	_	9	punct	_	_
5	tones	tone	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	9	nsubj	_	_
6	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	9	cop	_	_
7	just	just	ADV	RB	_	9	advmod	_	_
8	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	kind	kind	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	parataxis	_	_
10	of	of	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
11	accent	accent	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | He |  |  |  |  | right *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **is a** | present | tones | a kind |  |  |  | of accent | tree rules |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Tones only show if you're angry

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:34-mandarin-compared-with-english:t1:o3:1
# text = Tones only show if you're angry
1	Tones	tone	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj	_	_
2	only	only	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	_
3	show	show	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	if	if	SCONJ	IN	_	7	mark	_	_
5	you	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Person=2|PronType=Prs	7	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	're	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=2|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	7	cop	_	_
7	angry	angry	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	ccomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **show** | present | Tones |  |  |  |  |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **is** *a condition, not said to happen* | present | you |  |  |  |  | angry *property* | tree rules |

### Option 4 · ✓ the right answer {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Tones change which word you're saying

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:34-mandarin-compared-with-english:t1:o4:1
# text = Tones change which word you're saying
1	Tones	tone	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nsubj	_	_
2	change	change	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	which	which	DET	WDT	PronType=Int	4	det	_	_
4	word	word	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
5	you	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Person=2|PronType=Prs	7	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	're	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=2|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	7	aux	_	_
7	saying	say	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	2	advcl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **change** | present | Tones | which word |  |  |  |  | vn dress-41.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent word=Patient |
| 2 | **say** *speech: assert* | present · progressive | you |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent |

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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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