---
title: Megan says, "Bet you don't believe seahorse dads give birth!" What's… — Animals in the sea and the river · tree and pragmatics
description: Megan says, "Bet you don't believe seahorse dads give birth!" What's the wise reaction? Test 8 · ★ of lesson 11 «Animals in the sea and the river» of the myths course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each option; Mova's choice was wrong.
---

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# Test 8 · ★ · Animals in the sea and the river

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Megan says, "Bet you don't believe seahorse dads give birth!" What's the wise reaction?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 3 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** Megan, you, seahorse dads, wise reaction · **What happens:** say, not believe, give, be · **To what, where:** birth · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 8 · ★ of lesson 11 «Animals in the sea and the river» of the myths 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/myths/11-animals-in-the-sea-and-the-river/#t8).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* Megan says, "Bet you don't believe seahorse dads give birth!"

```conllu
# sent_id = question:myths:11-animals-in-the-sea-and-the-river:t8:1
# text = Megan says, "Bet you don't believe seahorse dads give birth!"
1	Megan	Megan	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	2	nsubj	_	_
2	says	say	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	2	punct	_	_
4	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	9	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	Bet	bet	INTJ	UH	_	9	discourse	_	_
6	you	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Person=2|PronType=Prs	9	nsubj	_	_
7	do	do	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=2|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	9	aux	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	n't	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	9	advmod	_	_
9	believe	believe	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	2	ccomp	_	_
10	seahorse	seahorse	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	compound	_	_
11	dads	dad	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	12	nsubj	_	_
12	give	give	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	9	ccomp	_	_
13	birth	birth	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	!	!	PUNCT	.	_	9	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	9	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **say** *speech: express* | present | Megan |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 2 | **not** **believe** *in a quote* | present · do-support | you |  |  |  |  |  | vn admire-31.2 «NP V that S»: agent=Experiencer clause=Stimulus |
| 3 | **give** *in a quote* | present | seahorse dads | birth |  |  |  |  | vn give-13.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent birth=Theme |

<!-- .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 the wise reaction?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:myths:11-animals-in-the-sea-and-the-river:t8:2
# text = What's the wise reaction?
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	's	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	wise	wise	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	reaction	reaction	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

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

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 · ← Mova's choice {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Say only mammal dads can do that

```conllu
# sent_id = question:myths:11-animals-in-the-sea-and-the-river:t8:o1:1
# text = Say only mammal dads can do that
1	Say	say	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	only	only	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	_
3	mammal	mammal	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	compound	_	_
4	dads	dad	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	nsubj	_	_
5	can	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	6	aux	_	_
6	do	do	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	1	ccomp	_	_
7	that	that	PRON	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	6	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **say** *speech: assert* | imperative | you *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 2 | **do** | can | mammal dads | that |  |  |  |  | vn act-114-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent that=Eventuality |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Laugh it off without ever checking

```conllu
# sent_id = question:myths:11-animals-in-the-sea-and-the-river:t8:o2:1
# text = Laugh it off without ever checking
1	Laugh	laugh	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	1	obj	_	_
3	off	off	ADP	RP	_	1	compound:prt	_	_
4	without	without	SCONJ	IN	_	6	mark	_	_
5	ever	ever	ADV	RB	PronType=Ind	6	advmod	_	_
6	checking	check	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	1	advcl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **laugh off** | imperative | you *not said here* | it |  |  |  |  | vn nonverbal\_expression-40.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent it=Theme |
| 2 | **check** | gerund | you *not said here* |  |  |  | ever |  | vn assessment-34.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Check it, and admit it's true

```conllu
# sent_id = question:myths:11-animals-in-the-sea-and-the-river:t8:o3:1
# text = Check it, and admit it's true
1	Check	check	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	1	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	5	punct	_	_
4	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	5	cc	_	_
5	admit	admit	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	1	ccomp	_	_
6	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	8	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	's	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	8	cop	_	_
8	true	true	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	ccomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **check** | imperative | you *not said here* | it |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **admit** *speech: other* | present | you *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn confess-37.10 «NP V how S»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **is** | present | it |  |  |  |  | true *property* | tree rules |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Say all fish dads do that, so it's nothing special

```conllu
# sent_id = question:myths:11-animals-in-the-sea-and-the-river:t8:o4:1
# text = Say all fish dads do that, so it's nothing special
1	Say	say	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	all	all	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	4	det	_	_
3	fish	fish	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	compound	_	_
4	dads	dad	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	nsubj	_	_
5	do	do	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	1	ccomp	_	_
6	that	that	PRON	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	5	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	11	punct	_	_
8	so	so	ADV	RB	_	11	advmod	_	_
9	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	11	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	's	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	11	cop	_	_
11	nothing	nothing	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Neg	1	parataxis	_	_
12	special	special	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	11	amod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **say** *speech: assert* | imperative | you *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 2 | **do** | present | all fish dads | that |  |  |  |  | vn act-114-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent that=Eventuality |
| 3 | **is a** | present | it | nothing |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

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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.

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