---
title: Your mate says "Dickens never used literally just to exaggerate, kid… — Adjectives and adverbs: describing thi… · tree and pragmatics
description: Your mate says "Dickens never used literally just to exaggerate, kids started that." What's true? Test 11 of lesson 4 «Adjectives and adverbs: describing things and actions» of the language course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each option; M
---

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# Test 11 · Adjectives and adverbs: describing things and actions

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Your mate says "Dickens never used literally just to exaggerate, kids started that." What's true?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 1 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** mate, Dickens, kids · **What happens:** say, not use, exaggerate, start, be · **To what, where:** that · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 11 of lesson 4 «Adjectives and adverbs: describing things and actions» 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/4-adjectives-and-adverbs/#t11).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* Your mate says "Dickens never used literally just to exaggerate, kids started that."

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:4-adjectives-and-adverbs:t11:1
# text = Your mate says "Dickens never used literally just to exaggerate, kids started that."
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	says	say	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	5	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	Dickens	Dickens	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	7	nsubj	_	_
6	never	never	ADV	RB	PronType=Neg	7	advmod	_	_
7	used	use	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	ccomp	_	_
8	literally	literally	ADV	RB	_	7	advmod	_	_
9	just	just	ADV	RB	_	11	advmod	_	_
10	to	to	PART	TO	_	11	mark	_	_
11	exaggerate	exaggerate	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	7	advcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	14	punct	_	_
13	kids	kid	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	14	nsubj	_	_
14	started	start	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	7	conj	_	_
15	that	that	PRON	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	14	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **say** *speech: assert* | present | Your mate |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 2 | **not** **use** *in a quote* | past | Dickens |  |  |  |  | literally *property* | vn eat-39.1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **exaggerate** *in a quote* | to-infinitive | Dickens *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 4 | **start** *in a quote* | past | kids | that |  |  |  |  | vn begin-55.1-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent that=Eventuality |

<!-- .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:4-adjectives-and-adverbs:t11:2
# 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 · ✓ the right answer {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Writers like Dickens used it that way long ago

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:4-adjectives-and-adverbs:t11:o1:1
# text = Writers like Dickens used it that way long ago
1	Writers	writer	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj	_	_
2	like	like	ADP	IN	_	3	case	_	_
3	Dickens	Dickens	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	1	nmod	_	_
4	used	use	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	obj	_	_
6	that	that	DET	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	7	det	_	_
7	way	way	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl:unmarked	_	_
8	long	long	ADV	RB	Degree=Pos	9	advmod	_	_
9	ago	ago	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **use** | past | Writers like Dickens | it |  |  |  | that way *obl:unmarked*; ago *property* | vn eat-39.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent it=Patient |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
He's right, it began last year

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:4-adjectives-and-adverbs:t11:o2:1
# text = He's right, it began last year
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	,	_	6	punct	_	_
5	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	6	nsubj	_	_
6	began	begin	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	conj	_	_
7	last	last	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	amod	_	_
8	year	year	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obl:unmarked	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | He |  |  |  |  | right *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **begin** | past | it |  |  |  | year |  | vn begin-55.1-1-1 «NP.eventuality V»: agent=Eventuality |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Nobody has ever used it to exaggerate

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:4-adjectives-and-adverbs:t11:o3:1
# text = Nobody has ever used it to exaggerate
1	Nobody	nobody	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Neg	4	nsubj:pass	_	_
2	has	have	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
3	ever	ever	ADV	RB	PronType=Ind	4	advmod	_	_
4	used	use	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
5	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	obj	_	_
6	to	to	PART	TO	_	7	mark	_	_
7	exaggerate	exaggerate	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	advcl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **use** | present · perfect · passive |  | Nobody |  |  | ever |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **exaggerate** | to-infinitive |  |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It began on TikTok

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:4-adjectives-and-adverbs:t11:o4:1
# text = It began on TikTok
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	began	begin	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	on	on	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
4	TikTok	TikTok	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **begin** | past | It |  |  | TikTok |  |  | vn begin-55.1-1-1 «NP.eventuality V»: agent=Eventuality |

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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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- ← previous: [Adjectives and adverbs: describing thi…, test 10](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/language/4-adjectives-and-adverbs/t10/)
- next →: [Adjectives and adverbs: describing thi…, exam 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/language/4-adjectives-and-adverbs/e1/)
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