---
title: Grandad says: «back in my day we didn't need a UN, kiddo, countries… — Why wars happen and why they are hard… · tree and pragmatics
description: Grandad says: «back in my day we didn't need a UN, kiddo, countries just sorted it out.» What is true? Test 1 of lesson 23 «Why wars happen and why they are hard to stop; the UN and NATO» of the politics course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of 
---

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# Test 1 · Why wars happen and why they are hard to stop; the UN and…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Grandad says: «back in my day we didn't need a UN, kiddo, countries just sorted it out.» What is true?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 2 · **The right answer:** option 2 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** Grandad, we, countries · **What happens:** say, not need, sort out, be · **To what, where:** UN · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 1 of lesson 23 «Why wars happen and why they are hard to stop; the UN and NATO» of the politics 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/politics/23-why-wars-happen-the-un-and-nato/#t1).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* Grandad says: «back in my day we didn't need a UN, kiddo, countries just sorted it out.»

```conllu
# sent_id = question:politics:23-why-wars-happen-the-un-and-nato:t1:1
# text = Grandad says: «back in my day we didn't need a UN, kiddo, countries just sorted it out.»
1	Grandad	Grandad	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	:	_	12	punct	_	_
4	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	5	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	back	back	ADV	RB	_	12	advmod	_	_
6	in	in	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	my	my	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Sing|Person=1|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	8	nmod:poss	_	_
8	day	day	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	obl	_	_
9	we	we	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=1|PronType=Prs	12	nsubj	_	_
10	did	do	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=1|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	12	aux	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	n't	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	12	advmod	_	_
12	need	need	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	2	ccomp	_	_
13	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	14	det	_	_
14	UN	UN	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	12	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	16	punct	_	_
16	kiddo	kiddo	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	appos	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	20	punct	_	_
18	countries	country	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	20	nsubj	_	_
19	just	just	ADV	RB	_	20	advmod	_	_
20	sorted	sort	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	2	conj	_	_
21	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	20	obj	_	_
22	out	out	ADP	RP	_	20	compound:prt	_	SpaceAfter=No
23	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
24	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **say** *speech: assert* | present | Grandad |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 2 | **not** **need** *in a quote* | past · do-support | we | a UN |  |  | day |  | vn want-32.1-1-1 «NP V NP ADV»: agent=Pivot un=Theme |
| 3 | **sort out** *in a quote* | past | countries | UN |  |  |  |  | vn classify-29.10 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent it=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 is true?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:politics:23-why-wars-happen-the-un-and-nato:t1:2
# text = What is true?
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	3	nsubj	_	_
2	is	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 -->
Countries never fought each other before the UN

```conllu
# sent_id = question:politics:23-why-wars-happen-the-un-and-nato:t1:o1:1
# text = Countries never fought each other before the UN
1	Countries	country	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj	_	_
2	never	never	ADV	RB	PronType=Neg	3	advmod	_	_
3	fought	fight	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	each	each	DET	DT	ExtPos=PRON|PronType=Rcp	3	obj	_	_
5	other	other	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	fixed	_	_
6	before	before	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	UN	UN	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **fight** | past | Countries | each |  |  | before the UN |  | vn battle-36.4-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent each=Co-Agent |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The UN was set up in 1945 after a terrible world war so countries could talk

<!-- fold The tree, 16 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:politics:23-why-wars-happen-the-un-and-nato:t1:o2:1
# text = The UN was set up in 1945 after a terrible world war so countries could talk
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	UN	UN	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	4	nsubj:pass	_	_
3	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux:pass	_	_
4	set	set	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
5	up	up	ADP	RP	_	4	compound:prt	_	_
6	in	in	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	1945	1945	NUM	CD	NumForm=Digit|NumType=Card	4	obl	_	_
8	after	after	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
9	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
10	terrible	terrible	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	12	amod	_	_
11	world	world	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	compound	_	_
12	war	war	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
13	so	so	SCONJ	IN	_	16	mark	_	_
14	countries	country	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	16	nsubj	_	_
15	could	could	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	16	aux	_	_
16	talk	talk	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	advcl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **set up** | past · passive |  | the UN |  | 1945 | after a terrible world war |  | vn put-9.1-2 «NP V NP PP.destination»: subject=Theme in 1945=Destination |
| 2 | **talk** | could | countries |  |  |  |  |  | vn talk-37.5 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The UN is an army that wins wars for its members

```conllu
# sent_id = question:politics:23-why-wars-happen-the-un-and-nato:t1:o3:1
# text = The UN is an army that wins wars for its members
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	UN	UN	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
3	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
4	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	army	army	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
6	that	that	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	7	nsubj	_	_
7	wins	win	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	acl:relcl	_	_
8	wars	war	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	obj	_	_
9	for	for	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
10	its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	11	nmod:poss	_	_
11	members	member	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | the UN | a army |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **win** | present | a army | wars |  |  |  | for UN's members | vn get-13.5.1 «NP V NP PP.beneficiary»: agent=Agent war=Theme for member=Beneficiary |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The UN has existed since Roman times, long before Grandad was born

```conllu
# sent_id = question:politics:23-why-wars-happen-the-un-and-nato:t1:o4:1
# text = The UN has existed since Roman times, long before Grandad was born
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	UN	UN	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
3	has	have	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
4	existed	exist	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
5	since	since	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	Roman	roman	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
7	times	time	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	9	punct	_	_
9	long	long	ADV	RB	Degree=Pos	4	advmod	_	_
10	before	before	SCONJ	IN	_	13	mark	_	_
11	Grandad	Grandad	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	13	nsubj:pass	_	_
12	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	13	aux:pass	_	_
13	born	bear	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	4	advcl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **exist** | present · perfect | the UN |  |  |  | time | long *property* | vn exist-47.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 2 | **bear** | past · passive |  | Grandad |  |  |  |  | vn birth-28.2-1-1 «NP V NP»: subject=Patient |

<!-- div src -->

**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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