---
title: Lucy's neighbour in Japan gives her a beautiful scarf: «it's just a… — Told you a hundred times: how other la… · tree and pragmatics
description: Lucy's neighbour in Japan gives her a beautiful scarf: «it's just a boring little thing». Lucy says «oh, okay» and puts it away. What would have been better? Test 6 of lesson 53 «Told you a hundred times: how other languages exaggerate and play down» of the language course of Mova's primary school, 
---

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# Test 6 · Told you a hundred times: how other languages exaggerate a…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Lucy's neighbour in Japan gives her a beautiful scarf: «it's just a boring little thing». Lucy says «oh, okay» and puts it away. What would have been better?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 1 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** neighbour, Lucy · **What happens:** give, be, say, put away · **To what, where:** beautiful scarf, Japan, boring little thing, scarf · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 6 of lesson 53 «Told you a hundred times: how other languages exaggerate and play down» 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/53-told-you-a-hundred-times-how-other-languages-exaggerate-and-play-down/#t6).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* Lucy's neighbour in Japan gives her a beautiful scarf: «it's just a boring little thing».

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:53-told-you-a-hundred-times-how-other-languages-exaggerate-and-play-down:t6:1
# text = Lucy's neighbour in Japan gives her a beautiful scarf: «it's just a boring little thing».
1	Lucy	Lucy	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	3	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	's	's	PART	POS	_	1	case	_	_
3	neighbour	neighbour	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	_
4	in	in	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	Japan	Japan	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	3	nmod	_	_
6	gives	give	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
7	her	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	6	iobj	_	_
8	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
9	beautiful	beautiful	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	10	amod	_	_
10	scarf	scarf	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	:	:	PUNCT	:	_	19	punct	_	_
12	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	19	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	19	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	's	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	19	cop	_	_
15	just	just	ADV	RB	_	19	advmod	_	_
16	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	19	det	_	_
17	boring	boring	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	19	amod	_	_
18	little	little	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	19	amod	_	_
19	thing	thing	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	parataxis	_	SpaceAfter=No
20	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	19	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
21	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	6	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **give** | present | Lucy's neighbour in Japan | a beautiful scarf | Japan |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **is a** *in a quote* | present | neighbour | a boring little thing |  |  |  |  | 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:* Lucy says «oh, okay» and puts it away.

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:53-told-you-a-hundred-times-how-other-languages-exaggerate-and-play-down:t6:2
# text = Lucy says «oh, okay» and puts it away.
1	Lucy	Lucy	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	2	nsubj	_	_
2	says	say	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	6	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	oh	oh	INTJ	UH	_	6	discourse	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	4	punct	_	_
6	okay	okay	INTJ	UH	_	2	discourse	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	6	punct	_	_
8	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	9	cc	_	_
9	puts	put	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	2	conj	_	_
10	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	9	obj	_	_
11	away	away	ADV	RB	_	9	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **say** *speech: assert* | present | Lucy |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **put away** | present | Lucy *not said here* | scarf |  |  |  | away *property* | vn invest-13.5.4-1 «NP V PP»: agent=Agent it=Goal |

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 3:* What would have been better?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:53-told-you-a-hundred-times-how-other-languages-exaggerate-and-play-down:t6:3
# text = What would have been better?
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	0	root	_	_
2	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	5	aux	_	_
3	have	have	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	aux	_	_
4	been	be	AUX	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	5	cop	_	_
5	better	good	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	1	amod	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | would · perfect |  |  |  |  |  | good *property* | tree rules |

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A big thank you, because playing it down is a polite custom

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:53-told-you-a-hundred-times-how-other-languages-exaggerate-and-play-down:t6:o1:1
# text = A big thank you, because playing it down is a polite custom
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	big	big	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	nsubj	_	_
3	thank	thank	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	you	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Person=2|PronType=Prs	3	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	13	punct	_	_
6	because	because	SCONJ	IN	_	13	mark	_	_
7	playing	play	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	13	csubj	_	_
8	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	7	obj	_	_
9	down	down	ADP	RP	_	7	compound:prt	_	_
10	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	13	cop	_	_
11	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
12	polite	polite	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	13	amod	_	_
13	custom	custom	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **thank** *speech: thank* | present | a big |  | you |  |  |  | vn judgment-33.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent you=Theme |
| 2 | **play down** | gerund |  | it |  |  |  |  | vn use-105.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent it=Theme |
| 3 | **is a** | present | playing | a polite custom |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Asking how much it cost in the shop

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:53-told-you-a-hundred-times-how-other-languages-exaggerate-and-play-down:t6:o2:1
# text = Asking how much it cost in the shop
1	Asking	ask	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	5	csubj	_	_
2	how	how	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	3	advmod	_	_
3	much	much	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	1	obj	_	_
4	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
5	cost	cost	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
6	in	in	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	shop	shop	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **ask** *speech: ask* | gerund |  | much |  |  |  |  | vn inquire-37.1.2 «NP V NP.recipient»: agent=Agent much=Recipient |
| 2 | **cost** | past | Asking |  |  | the shop |  |  | vn cost-54.2 «NP V NP.value»: agent=Theme |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Agreeing with her that it is boring

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:53-told-you-a-hundred-times-how-other-languages-exaggerate-and-play-down:t6:o3:1
# text = Agreeing with her that it is boring
1	Agreeing	agree	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	7	csubj	_	_
2	with	with	ADP	IN	_	3	case	_	_
3	her	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	1	obl	_	_
4	that	that	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	1	obl	_	_
6	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	7	cop	_	_
7	boring	boring	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **agree** *speech: agree* | gerund |  |  |  |  |  | with her *= she*; that it | vn correspond-36.1-1 «NP V PP.co-agent how S»: agent=Agent with she=Co-Agent |
| 2 | **is** | present | Agreeing |  |  |  |  | boring *property* | tree rules |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Giving it back, since she didn't like it

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:53-told-you-a-hundred-times-how-other-languages-exaggerate-and-play-down:t6:o4:1
# text = Giving it back, since she didn't like it
1	Giving	give	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	9	csubj	_	_
2	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	1	obj	_	_
3	back	back	ADV	RB	_	1	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	9	punct	_	_
5	since	since	SCONJ	IN	_	9	mark	_	_
6	she	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	9	nsubj	_	_
7	did	do	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	9	aux	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	n't	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	9	advmod	_	_
9	like	like	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
10	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	9	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **give back** | gerund |  | it |  |  |  |  | vn give-13.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent it=Theme |
| 2 | **not** **like** | past · do-support | she | it |  |  |  |  | vn want-32.1-1-1 «NP V NP ADV»: agent=Pivot 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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