---
title: «gran said it's a bit nippy so I'm going out in my t-shirt lol» Ther… — A bit nippy and not ideal: British und… · tree and pragmatics
description: «gran said it's a bit nippy so I'm going out in my t-shirt lol» There is snow on the ground. What is the problem? Test 1 · ★ of lesson 49 «A bit nippy and not ideal: British understatement» of the language course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and o
---

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# Test 1 · ★ · A bit nippy and not ideal: British understatement

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
«gran said it's a bit nippy so I'm going out in my t-shirt lol» There is snow on the ground. What is the problem?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 3 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** gran, snow, problem · **What happens:** say, be, go out · **To what, where:** t shirt, ground · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 1 · ★ of lesson 49 «A bit nippy and not ideal: British understatement» 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/49-a-bit-nippy-and-not-ideal-british-understatement/#t1).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* «gran said it's a bit nippy so I'm going out in my t-shirt lol» There is snow on the ground.

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:49-a-bit-nippy-and-not-ideal-british-understatement:t1:1
# text = «gran said it's a bit nippy so I'm going out in my t-shirt lol» There is snow on the ground.
1	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	3	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	gran	gran	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	said	say	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	8	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	's	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	8	cop	_	_
6	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	bit	bit	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obl:unmarked	_	_
8	nippy	nippy	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	ccomp	_	_
9	so	so	ADV	RB	_	12	advmod	_	_
10	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	12	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	'm	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	12	aux	_	_
12	going	go	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	3	ccomp	_	_
13	out	out	ADV	RB	_	12	advmod	_	_
14	in	in	ADP	IN	_	18	case	_	_
15	my	my	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Sing|Person=1|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	18	nmod:poss	_	_
16	t	t	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	18	compound	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	16	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
18	shirt	shirt	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	obl	_	_
19	lol	lol	INTJ	UH	_	12	discourse	_	SpaceAfter=No
20	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	3	punct	_	_
21	There	there	PRON	EX	PronType=Dem	22	expl	_	_
22	is	be	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	ccomp	_	_
23	snow	snow	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	22	nsubj	_	_
24	on	on	ADP	IN	_	26	case	_	_
25	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	26	det	_	_
26	ground	ground	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	22	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
27	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **say** *speech: assert* *in a quote* | past | gran |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 2 | **is** *in a quote* | present | gran |  |  |  |  | a bit *obl:unmarked*; nippy *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **go out** *in a quote* | present · progressive | gran |  |  | my t shirt |  | out *property* | vn interact-36.6 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 4 | **be** | present | snow |  |  | the ground; there |  |  | vn exist-47.1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme on ground=Location |

<!-- .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 problem?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:49-a-bit-nippy-and-not-ideal-british-understatement:t1:2
# text = What is the problem?
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	4	det	_	_
4	problem	problem	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | the problem |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 · ← Mova's choice {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
There is no problem, snow is warm if you keep moving about

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:49-a-bit-nippy-and-not-ideal-british-understatement:t1:o1:1
# text = There is no problem, snow is warm if you keep moving about
1	There	there	PRON	EX	PronType=Dem	2	expl	_	_
2	is	be	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	no	no	DET	DT	PronType=Neg	4	det	_	_
4	problem	problem	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	8	punct	_	_
6	snow	snow	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nsubj	_	_
7	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	8	cop	_	_
8	warm	warm	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	parataxis	_	_
9	if	if	SCONJ	IN	_	11	mark	_	_
10	you	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Person=2|PronType=Prs	11	nsubj	_	_
11	keep	keep	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=2|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	8	advcl	_	_
12	moving	move	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	11	xcomp	_	_
13	about	about	ADV	RB	_	12	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **be** | present | no problem |  |  | there |  |  | vn exist-47.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 2 | **is** | present | snow |  |  |  |  | warm *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **keep** *a condition, not said to happen* | present | you |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 4 | **move about** | gerund | you *not said here* |  |  |  |  | about *property* | vn roll-51.3.1 «NP.theme V»: agent=Theme |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Nothing, «a bit nippy» means a T-shirt is all you need on a snowy day like this one

<!-- fold The tree, 19 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:49-a-bit-nippy-and-not-ideal-british-understatement:t1:o2:1
# text = Nothing, «a bit nippy» means a T-shirt is all you need on a snowy day like this one
1	Nothing	nothing	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Neg	8	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	6	punct	_	_
3	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	6	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	bit	bit	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obl:unmarked	_	_
6	nippy	nippy	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	1	amod	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	6	punct	_	_
8	means	mean	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
9	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
10	T	t	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	compound	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	10	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	shirt	shirt	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obj	_	_
13	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	16	cop	_	_
14	all	all	ADV	RB	_	16	advmod	_	_
15	you	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Person=2|PronType=Prs	16	nsubj	_	_
16	need	need	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=2|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	12	acl:relcl	_	_
17	on	on	ADP	IN	_	20	case	_	_
18	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	20	det	_	_
19	snowy	snowy	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	20	amod	_	_
20	day	day	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	16	obl	_	_
21	like	like	ADP	IN	_	23	case	_	_
22	this	this	DET	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	23	det	_	_
23	one	one	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	20	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **mean** | present | Nothing | a T shirt |  |  |  |  | vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent shirt=Topic |
| 2 | **is** | present | you | a T shirt *not said here* |  |  | day | all, need *property* | tree rules |

### Option 3 · ✓ the right answer {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
«A bit nippy» was understatement; the snow shows it's freezing, so wrap up

<!-- fold The tree, 14 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:49-a-bit-nippy-and-not-ideal-british-understatement:t1:o3:1
# text = «A bit nippy» was understatement; the snow shows it's freezing, so wrap up
1	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	4	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	bit	bit	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl:unmarked	_	_
4	nippy	nippy	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	4	punct	_	_
6	was	be	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	conj	_	_
7	understatement	understatement	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	;	;	PUNCT	,	_	11	punct	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	snow	snow	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	nsubj	_	_
11	shows	show	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	conj	_	_
12	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	14	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	's	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	14	aux	_	_
14	freezing	freeze	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	11	ccomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	17	punct	_	_
16	so	so	ADV	RB	_	17	advmod	_	_
17	wrap	wrap	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	4	parataxis	_	_
18	up	up	ADP	RP	_	17	compound:prt	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **be** | past | understatement |  |  |  |  |  | vn exist-47.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 2 | **show** | present | the snow |  |  |  |  |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V how S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 3 | **freeze** | present · progressive | snow |  |  |  |  |  | vn other\_cos-45.4-1 «NP.patient V»: agent=Patient |
| 4 | **wrap up** | infinitive |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn spray-9.7-1 «NP V PP.destination»: agent=Theme |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The problem is that Gran should have said it was boiling hot outside

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:49-a-bit-nippy-and-not-ideal-british-understatement:t1:o4:1
# text = The problem is that Gran should have said it was boiling hot outside
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	problem	problem	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nsubj:pass	_	_
3	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	8	cop	_	_
4	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	8	mark	_	_
5	Gran	Gran	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	8	nsubj	_	_
6	should	should	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	8	aux	_	_
7	have	have	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	8	aux	_	_
8	said	say	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
9	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	11	nsubj	_	_
10	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	11	aux	_	_
11	boiling	boil	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	8	ccomp	_	_
12	hot	hot	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	11	xcomp	_	_
13	outside	outside	ADV	RB	_	11	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **be** *speech: assert* | should · present · perfect · passive |  | the problem |  |  |  | say *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **boil** | past · progressive | problem |  |  |  |  | hot, outside *property* | vn cooking-45.3 «NP.patient V»: agent=Patient |

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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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