---
title: What would happen if you read an old poem where a knight is "silly"… — Words that changed their meaning · tree and pragmatics
description: What would happen if you read an old poem where a knight is "silly" and you used today's meaning? Test 3 of lesson 38 «Words that changed their meaning» 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 wron
---

<!-- md -->
[Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/language/38-words-that-changed-their-meaning/t3/)

<!-- 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/) / [Words that changed their meaning](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/language/38-words-that-changed-their-meaning/) / t3

# Test 3 · Words that changed their meaning

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
What would happen if you read an old poem where a knight is "silly" and you used today's meaning?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 2 · **The right answer:** option 4 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** you, knight, today · **What happens:** happen, read, be, use, mean · **To what, where:** old poem, meaning

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 3 of lesson 38 «Words that changed their meaning» 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/38-words-that-changed-their-meaning/#t3).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:38-words-that-changed-their-meaning:t3:1
# text = What would happen if you read an old poem where a knight is "silly" and you used today's meaning?
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	read	read	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=2|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	advcl	_	_
7	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
8	old	old	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	amod	_	_
9	poem	poem	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obj	_	_
10	where	where	ADV	WRB	PronType=Rel	15	advmod	_	_
11	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
12	knight	knight	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	15	nsubj	_	_
13	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	15	cop	_	_
14	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	15	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	silly	silly	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	acl:relcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	15	punct	_	_
17	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	19	cc	_	_
18	you	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Person=2|PronType=Prs	19	nsubj	_	_
19	used	use	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=2|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	6	conj	_	_
20	today	today	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	22	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
21	's	's	PART	POS	_	20	case	_	_
22	meaning	meaning	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	19	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
23	?	?	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 | **read** *a condition, not said to happen* | present | you | a old poem |  |  |  |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent poem=Topic |
| 3 | **is** *in a quote* | present | a knight |  |  |  |  | silly *property* | tree rules |
| 4 | **use** | past | you | today's meaning |  |  |  |  | vn eat-39.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent meaning=Patient |
| 5 | **mean** |  | today |  |  |  |  |  | nom meaning «communication transitive»: poss=agent |

<!-- .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, because "silly" has never changed meaning

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:38-words-that-changed-their-meaning:t3:o1:1
# text = Nothing, because "silly" has never changed meaning
1	Nothing	nothing	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Neg	9	nsubj:pass	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	5	punct	_	_
3	because	because	SCONJ	IN	_	5	mark	_	_
4	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	5	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	silly	silly	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	1	appos	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	5	punct	_	_
7	has	have	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	9	aux	_	_
8	never	never	ADV	RB	PronType=Neg	9	advmod	_	_
9	changed	change	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
10	meaning	meaning	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **change** | present · perfect · passive |  | Nothing |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

### Option 2 · ← Mova's choice {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
You'd understand the poem exactly as the poet meant it

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:38-words-that-changed-their-meaning:t3:o2:1
# text = You'd understand the poem exactly as the poet meant it
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	understand	understand	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	poem	poem	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
6	exactly	exactly	ADV	RB	_	10	advmod	_	_
7	as	as	SCONJ	IN	_	10	mark	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	poet	poet	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	nsubj	_	_
10	meant	mean	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	advcl	_	_
11	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	10	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **understand** | would | You | the poem |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1-1 «NP V NP PP.attribute»: agent=Experiencer poem=Stimulus |
| 2 | **mean** | past | the poet | poem |  |  |  | exactly *property* | vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent it=Topic |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
You'd find out the knight was a clown at the court

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:38-words-that-changed-their-meaning:t3:o3:1
# text = You'd find out the knight was a clown at the court
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	find	find	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
4	out	out	ADP	RP	_	3	compound:prt	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	knight	knight	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	nsubj	_	_
7	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	9	cop	_	_
8	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	clown	clown	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	ccomp	_	_
10	at	at	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
11	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
12	court	court	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **find out** | would | You |  |  | the court |  |  | vn learn-14-2-1 «NP V PP.topic»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **is a** | past | the knight | a clown |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
You'd wrongly think he was foolish instead of blessed

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:38-words-that-changed-their-meaning:t3:o4:1
# text = You'd wrongly think he was foolish instead of blessed
1	You	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Person=2|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	'd	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
3	wrongly	wrongly	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
4	think	think	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
5	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	7	nsubj	_	_
6	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	7	cop	_	_
7	foolish	foolish	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	ccomp	_	_
8	instead	instead	ADV	RB	ExtPos=ADP	10	case	_	_
9	of	of	ADP	IN	_	8	fixed	_	_
10	blessed	blessed	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **think** *speech: other* | would | You |  |  |  |  | instead blessed; wrongly *property* | vn focus-87.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **is** | past | he |  |  |  |  | foolish *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: [Words that changed their meaning, test 2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/language/38-words-that-changed-their-meaning/t2/)
- next →: [Words that changed their meaning, test 4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/language/38-words-that-changed-their-meaning/t4/)
- ↑ back to [Words that changed their meaning](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/language/38-words-that-changed-their-meaning/)