---
title: Your mate goes "prepositions are well pointless, tiny words innit."… — Prepositions and conjunctions: little… · tree and pragmatics
description: Your mate goes "prepositions are well pointless, tiny words innit." What sentence shows they matter? Test 1 · ★ of lesson 6 «Prepositions and conjunctions: little words that hold sentences together» of the language course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the quest
---

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# Test 1 · ★ · Prepositions and conjunctions: little words that hold sent…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Your mate goes "prepositions are well pointless, tiny words innit." What sentence shows they matter?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 4 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** mate, prepositions, sentence · **What happens:** go, be, show · **To what, where:** prepositions · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 1 · ★ of lesson 6 «Prepositions and conjunctions: little words that hold sentences together» 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/6-prepositions-and-conjunctions/#t1).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* Your mate goes "prepositions are well pointless, tiny words innit."

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:6-prepositions-and-conjunctions:t1:1
# text = Your mate goes "prepositions are well pointless, tiny words innit."
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	goes	go	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	8	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	prepositions	preposition	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	nsubj	_	_
6	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	8	cop	_	_
7	well	well	ADV	RB	Degree=Pos	8	advmod	_	_
8	pointless	pointless	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	parataxis	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	12	punct	_	_
10	tiny	tiny	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	11	amod	_	_
11	words	word	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	12	compound	_	_
12	innit	innit	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	8	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **go** | present | Your mate |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7 «NP V S-Quote»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 2 | **is** *in a quote* | present | prepositions |  |  |  |  | words innit *obl*; pointless, well *property* | 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 sentence shows they matter?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:6-prepositions-and-conjunctions:t1:2
# text = What sentence shows they matter?
1	What	what	DET	WDT	PronType=Int	2	det	_	_
2	sentence	sentence	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	shows	show	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	iobj	_	_
5	matter	mat	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	3	xcomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **show** | present | what sentence |  | prepositions *= preposition* |  |  | mat *property* | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP.recipient»: agent=Agent they=Recipient |

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 · ← Mova's choice {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
"The cat sat" needs no small words, so they can always go

<!-- fold The tree, 12 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:6-prepositions-and-conjunctions:t1:o1:1
# text = "The cat sat" needs no small words, so they can always go
1	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	4	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	cat	cat	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
4	sat	sit	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	6	ccomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	4	punct	_	_
6	needs	need	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
7	no	no	DET	DT	PronType=Neg	9	det	_	_
8	small	small	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	amod	_	_
9	words	word	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	15	punct	_	_
11	so	so	ADV	RB	_	15	advmod	_	_
12	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	15	nsubj	_	_
13	can	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	15	aux	_	_
14	always	always	ADV	RB	PronType=Tot	15	advmod	_	_
15	go	go	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	6	parataxis	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **sit** *in a quote* | past | the cat |  |  |  |  |  | vn assuming\_position-50 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **need** | present |  | no small words |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 3 | **go** | can | words *= word* |  |  |  |  | always *property* | vn disappearance-48.2-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Prepositions only matter in French

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:6-prepositions-and-conjunctions:t1:o2:1
# text = Prepositions only matter in French
1	Prepositions	preposition	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj	_	_
2	only	only	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	_
3	matter	matter	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	in	in	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	French	French	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **matter** | present | Prepositions |  |  | French |  |  | vn matter-91 «NP V»: agent=Stimulus |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Small words never change meaning

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:6-prepositions-and-conjunctions:t1:o3:1
# text = Small words never change meaning
1	Small	small	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	amod	_	_
2	words	word	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj	_	_
3	never	never	ADV	RB	PronType=Neg	4	advmod	_	_
4	change	change	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	meaning	meaning	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **change** | present | Small words | meaning |  |  |  |  | vn dress-41.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent meaning=Patient |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
"The cat is in the box" and "The cat is on the box" mean different things

<!-- fold The tree, 16 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:6-prepositions-and-conjunctions:t1:o4:1
# text = "The cat is in the box" and "The cat is on the box" mean different things
1	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	7	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	cat	cat	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nsubj	_	_
4	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	7	cop	_	_
5	in	in	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	box	box	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	18	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	7	punct	_	_
9	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	16	cc	_	_
10	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	16	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
12	cat	cat	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	16	nsubj	_	_
13	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	16	cop	_	_
14	on	on	ADP	IN	_	16	case	_	_
15	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	16	det	_	_
16	box	box	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	16	punct	_	_
18	mean	mean	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
19	different	different	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	20	amod	_	_
20	things	thing	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	18	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** *in a quote* | present | the cat |  |  | the box and the box |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **is** *in a quote* | present | the cat |  |  | the box |  |  | tree rules |
| 3 | **mean** | present | the box and the box | different things |  |  |  |  | vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent thing=Topic |

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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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- ← previous: [Pronouns: I, me, you, they and who, exam 4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/language/5-pronouns-i-me-you-they-and-who/e4/)
- next →: [Prepositions and conjunctions: little…, test 2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/language/6-prepositions-and-conjunctions/t2/)
- ↑ back to [Prepositions and conjunctions: little words that hold sentences together](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/language/6-prepositions-and-conjunctions/)