---
title: Your little cousin says English has no future at all "cos there's no… — Tenses: past, present and future · tree and pragmatics
description: Your little cousin says English has no future at all "cos there's no future ending." What's true? Test 7 · ★★ of lesson 8 «Tenses: past, present and future» of the language course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each option; Mova's choice was 
---

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# Test 7 · ★★ · Tenses: past, present and future

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Your little cousin says English has no future at all "cos there's no future ending." What's true?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 2 · **The right answer:** option 2 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** little cousin, English · **What happens:** say, have, be · **To what, where:** future, future ending · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 7 · ★★ of lesson 8 «Tenses: past, present and future» 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/8-tenses-past-present-future/#t7).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* Your little cousin says English has no future at all "cos there's no future ending."

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:8-tenses-past-present-future:t7:1
# text = Your little cousin says English has no future at all "cos there's no future ending."
1	Your	your	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Person=2|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	3	nmod:poss	_	_
2	little	little	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	cousin	cousin	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
4	says	say	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	English	English	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	_
6	has	have	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	ccomp	_	_
7	no	no	DET	DT	PronType=Neg	8	det	_	_
8	future	future	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obj	_	_
9	at	at	ADP	IN	_	17	case	_	_
10	all	all	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	17	det	_	_
11	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	17	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	cos	cos	SCONJ	IN	_	14	mark	_	_
13	there	there	PRON	EX	PronType=Dem	14	expl	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	's	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	17	cop	_	_
15	no	no	DET	DT	PronType=Neg	17	det	_	_
16	future	future	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	17	amod	_	_
17	ending	ending	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
18	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
19	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **say** *speech: assert* | present | Your little cousin |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 2 | **have** | present | English | no future |  |  |  |  | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent future=Patient |
| 3 | **is** *in a quote* | present |  |  |  | all future ending |  |  | 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's true?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:8-tenses-past-present-future:t7:2
# 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 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
English has a future ending -ed

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:8-tenses-past-present-future:t7:o1:1
# text = English has a future ending -ed
1	English	English	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	2	nsubj	_	_
2	has	have	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
4	future	future	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
5	ending	ending	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	compound	_	_
6	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	5	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	ed	ed	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **have** | present | English | a future ending ed |  |  |  |  | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent ed=Patient |

### Option 2 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
English shows the future with helpers like will and going to

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:8-tenses-past-present-future:t7:o2:1
# text = English shows the future with helpers like will and going to
1	English	English	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	2	nsubj	_	_
2	shows	show	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	future	future	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
5	with	with	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	helpers	helper	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obl	_	_
7	like	like	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
8	will	will	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	6	acl:relcl	_	_
9	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	10	cc	_	_
10	going	go	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	2	conj	_	_
11	to	to	PART	TO	_	10	fixed	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **show** | present | English | the future |  |  |  | with helpers | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP.recipient»: agent=Agent future=Recipient |
| 2 | **go** | gerund | English *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn disappearance-48.2-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
English uses only "shall" for the future

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:8-tenses-past-present-future:t7:o3:1
# text = English uses only "shall" for the future
1	English	English	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	2	nsubj	_	_
2	uses	use	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	only	only	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
4	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	5	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	shall	shall	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	2	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	5	punct	_	_
7	for	for	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	future	future	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **use** | present | English |  |  |  |  | for the future | vn use-105.1 «NP V NP PP.predicate»: agent=Agent shall=Theme for future=Eventuality |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
He's right, English has no way at all to talk about tomorrow

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:8-tenses-past-present-future:t7:o4:1
# text = He's right, English has no way at all to talk about tomorrow
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	English	English	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	_
6	has	have	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	csubj	_	_
7	no	no	DET	DT	PronType=Neg	8	det	_	_
8	way	way	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obj	_	_
9	at	at	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
10	all	all	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	8	nmod	_	_
11	to	to	PART	TO	_	12	mark	_	_
12	talk	talk	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	8	acl	_	_
13	about	about	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
14	tomorrow	tomorrow	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | He |  |  |  |  | right *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **have** | present | English | no way |  | all |  |  | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent way=Patient |
| 3 | **talk** | to-infinitive | English *not said here* | no way *not said here* |  |  | tomorrow |  | vn talk-37.5 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

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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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