---
title: What would happen if you said "mà" (scold) when you meant "mā" (moth… — Mandarin compared with English · tree and pragmatics
description: What would happen if you said "mà" (scold) when you meant "mā" (mother)? Test 2 · ★ 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 right.
---

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# Test 2 · ★ · Mandarin compared with English

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
What would happen if you said "mà" (scold) when you meant "mā" (mother)?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 4 · **The right answer:** option 4 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** you · **What happens:** happen, say, mean · **To what, where:** mà, mā · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 2 · ★ 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/#t2).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:34-mandarin-compared-with-english:t2:1
# text = What would happen if you said "mà" (scold) when you meant "mā" (mother)?
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	3	nsubj	_	_
2	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	3	aux	_	_
3	happen	happen	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
4	if	if	SCONJ	IN	_	6	mark	_	_
5	you	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Person=2|PronType=Prs	6	nsubj	_	_
6	said	say	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=2|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	advcl	_	_
7	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	8	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	mà	mà	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	8	punct	_	_
10	(	(	PUNCT	-LRB-	_	11	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	scold	scold	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	appos	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	)	)	PUNCT	-RRB-	_	11	punct	_	_
13	when	when	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	15	advmod	_	_
14	you	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Person=2|PronType=Prs	15	nsubj	_	_
15	meant	mean	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=2|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	6	advcl	_	_
16	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	17	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	mā	mā	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	15	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
18	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	17	punct	_	_
19	(	(	PUNCT	-LRB-	_	20	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
20	mother	mother	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	17	appos	_	SpaceAfter=No
21	)	)	PUNCT	-RRB-	_	20	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
22	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **happen** | would |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn occur-48.3-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 2 | **say** *speech: assert* *a condition, not said to happen* | past | you | mà |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V NP.topic»: agent=Agent mà=Topic |
| 3 | **mean** | past | you | mā |  |  |  |  | vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent mā=Topic |

<!-- .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 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Nothing, people wouldn't notice

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:34-mandarin-compared-with-english:t2:o1:1
# text = Nothing, people wouldn't notice
1	Nothing	nothing	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Neg	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	1	punct	_	_
3	people	people	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	nsubj	_	_
4	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	6	aux	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	n't	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	6	advmod	_	_
6	notice	notice	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	1	acl:relcl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **notice** | would | people |  |  |  |  |  | vn see-30.1-1 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Experiencer |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It would mean "father"

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:34-mandarin-compared-with-english:t2:o2:1
# text = It would mean "father"
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	3	aux	_	_
3	mean	mean	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
4	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	5	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	father	father	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	5	punct	_	_
```

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

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It would mean "horse"

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:34-mandarin-compared-with-english:t2:o3:1
# text = It would mean "horse"
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	3	aux	_	_
3	mean	mean	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
4	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	5	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	horse	horse	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	5	punct	_	_
```

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

### Option 4 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
You'd say a different word

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:34-mandarin-compared-with-english:t2:o4:1
# text = You'd say a different word
1	You	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Person=2|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	'd	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	3	aux	_	_
3	say	say	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
4	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
5	different	different	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	word	word	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **say** *speech: assert* | would | You | a different word |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V NP.topic»: agent=Agent word=Topic |

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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.

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