---
title: «how old is that telly then, older than the hills?» What is the best… — Dead, a mile long and everyone: more e… · tree and pragmatics
description: «how old is that telly then, older than the hills?» What is the best way to find its real age? Test 8 of lesson 45 «Dead, a mile long and everyone: more everyday hyperbole» of the language course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each option; Mo
---

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# Test 8 · Dead, a mile long and everyone: more everyday hyperbole

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
«how old is that telly then, older than the hills?» What is the best way to find its real age?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 2 · **The right answer:** option 4 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** best way · **What happens:** be, find · **To what, where:** old telly, real age

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 8 of lesson 45 «Dead, a mile long and everyone: more everyday hyperbole» 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/45-dead-a-mile-long-and-everyone-more-everyday-hyperbole/#t8).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* «how old is that telly then, older than the hills?»

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:45-dead-a-mile-long-and-everyone-more-everyday-hyperbole:t8:1
# text = «how old is that telly then, older than the hills?»
1	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	6	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	how	how	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	3	advmod	_	_
3	old	old	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
4	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	cop	_	_
5	that	that	DET	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	6	det	_	_
6	telly	telly	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
7	then	then	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	6	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	9	punct	_	_
9	older	old	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	6	amod	_	_
10	than	than	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
11	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
12	hills	hill	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	9	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	6	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	6	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** *in a quote* | present |  | that old telly |  |  | then |  | 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 is the best way to find its real age?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:45-dead-a-mile-long-and-everyone-more-everyday-hyperbole:t8:2
# text = What is the best way to find its real age?
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	0	root	_	_
2	is	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	best	good	ADJ	JJS	Degree=Sup	5	amod	_	_
5	way	way	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	nsubj	_	_
6	to	to	PART	TO	_	7	mark	_	_
7	find	find	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	acl	_	_
8	its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	10	nmod:poss	_	_
9	real	real	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	10	amod	_	_
10	age	age	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | the best way |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **find** | to-infinitive | the best way *not said here* | way's real age |  |  |  |  | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent age=Topic |

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Guess, because nobody can ever know

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:45-dead-a-mile-long-and-everyone-more-everyday-hyperbole:t8:o1:1
# text = Guess, because nobody can ever know
1	Guess	guess	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	7	punct	_	_
3	because	because	SCONJ	IN	_	7	mark	_	_
4	nobody	nobody	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Neg	7	nsubj	_	_
5	can	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	7	aux	_	_
6	ever	ever	ADV	RB	PronType=Ind	7	advmod	_	_
7	know	know	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	1	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **guess** | imperative | you *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn conjecture-29.5-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **know** | can | nobody |  |  |  | ever |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Experiencer |

### Option 2 · ← Mova's choice {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Find out how old the hills behind the house are

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:45-dead-a-mile-long-and-everyone-more-everyday-hyperbole:t8:o2:1
# text = Find out how old the hills behind the house are
1	Find	find	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	out	out	ADP	RP	_	1	compound:prt	_	_
3	how	how	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	4	advmod	_	_
4	old	old	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	1	ccomp	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	hills	hill	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj	_	_
7	behind	behind	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	house	house	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nmod	_	_
10	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **find out** | imperative | you *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn learn-14-2-1 «NP V PP.topic»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **is** | present | the hills behind the house |  |  |  |  | old *property* | tree rules |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Multiply the age of Grandad by two

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:45-dead-a-mile-long-and-everyone-more-everyday-hyperbole:t8:o3:1
# text = Multiply the age of Grandad by two
1	Multiply	multiply	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	age	age	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
4	of	of	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	Grandad	Grandad	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	3	nmod	_	_
6	by	by	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	two	two	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	1	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **multiply** | imperative | you *not said here* | the age of Grandad |  |  |  | by two | vn multiply-108-1 «NP V NP PP.co-theme»: agent=Agent age=Theme by two=Co-Theme |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Look for a date on the back or ask when he bought it

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:45-dead-a-mile-long-and-everyone-more-everyday-hyperbole:t8:o4:1
# text = Look for a date on the back or ask when he bought it
1	Look	look	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	for	for	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
3	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	date	date	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obl	_	_
5	on	on	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	back	back	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obl	_	_
8	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	9	cc	_	_
9	ask	ask	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	1	conj	_	_
10	when	when	SCONJ	WRB	_	12	mark	_	_
11	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	12	nsubj	_	_
12	bought	buy	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	9	ccomp	_	_
13	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	12	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **look** | imperative | you *not said here* |  |  | the back |  | for a date | vn rummage-35.5 «NP V PP.location PP.theme»: agent=Agent for date=Theme on back=Location |
| 2 | **ask** *speech: ask* | infinitive | you *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn inquire-37.1.2 «NP V how S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 3 | **buy** | past | he | back |  |  |  |  | vn accept-77.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent it=Theme |

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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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