---
title: A boy says, "If you change your mind, you're a loser." What is the b… — Arguing politely and never calling names · tree and pragmatics
description: A boy says, "If you change your mind, you're a loser." What is the better view? Test 5 · ★★ of lesson 39 «Arguing politely and never calling names» of the politics course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each option; Mova's choice was right.
---

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# Test 5 · ★★ · Arguing politely and never calling names

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A boy says, "If you change your mind, you're a loser." What is the better view?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 2 · **The right answer:** option 2 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** boy, you, your, better view · **What happens:** say, change, be, mind · **To what, where:** mind, loser · **Speech:** someone speaks here

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This is test 5 · ★★ of lesson 39 «Arguing politely and never calling names» 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/39-arguing-politely-and-never-calling-names/#t5).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* A boy says, "If you change your mind, you're a loser."

```conllu
# sent_id = question:politics:39-arguing-politely-and-never-calling-names:t5:1
# text = A boy says, "If you change your mind, you're a loser."
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	boy	boy	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	says	say	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	3	punct	_	_
5	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	8	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	If	if	SCONJ	IN	_	8	mark	_	_
7	you	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Person=2|PronType=Prs	8	nsubj	_	_
8	change	change	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=2|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	parataxis	_	_
9	your	your	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Person=2|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	10	nmod:poss	_	_
10	mind	mind	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	15	punct	_	_
12	you	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Person=2|PronType=Prs	15	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	're	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=2|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	15	cop	_	_
14	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	15	det	_	_
15	loser	loser	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	8	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	8	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **say** *speech: assert* | present | a boy |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 2 | **change** *a condition, not said to happen, in a quote* | present | you | your mind |  |  |  |  | vn dress-41.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent mind=Patient |
| 3 | **is a** *in a quote* | present | you | a loser |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 4 | **mind** *in a quote* |  | your |  |  |  |  |  | nom mind «cognition transitive»: poss=agent |

<!-- .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 the better view?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:politics:39-arguing-politely-and-never-calling-names:t5:2
# text = What is the better view?
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	0	root	_	_
2	is	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	better	good	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	5	amod	_	_
5	view	view	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 better view |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
People who change their minds were lying about what they thought

```conllu
# sent_id = question:politics:39-arguing-politely-and-never-calling-names:t5:o1:1
# text = People who change their minds were lying about what they thought
1	People	people	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	nsubj	_	_
2	who	who	PRON	WP	PronType=Rel	3	nsubj	_	_
3	change	change	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	1	acl:relcl	_	_
4	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	5	nmod:poss	_	_
5	minds	mind	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obj	_	_
6	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	7	aux	_	_
7	lying	lie	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
8	about	about	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
9	what	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Rel	7	obl	_	_
10	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	11	nsubj	_	_
11	thought	think	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	9	acl:relcl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **change** | present | People | People's minds |  |  |  |  | vn dress-41.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent mind=Patient |
| 2 | **lie** | past · progressive | People |  |  |  |  |  | vn assuming\_position-50 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Agent about what=Location |
| 3 | **think** *speech: other* | past | People |  |  |  |  |  | vn focus-87.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 4 | **mind** |  | People |  |  |  |  |  | nom mind «cognition transitive»: poss=agent |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Changing your mind after learning is a sign of thinking

```conllu
# sent_id = question:politics:39-arguing-politely-and-never-calling-names:t5:o2:1
# text = Changing your mind after learning is a sign of thinking
1	Changing	change	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	8	csubj	_	_
2	your	your	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Person=2|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	3	nmod:poss	_	_
3	mind	mind	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
4	after	after	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	learning	learning	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obl	_	_
6	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	8	cop	_	_
7	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	sign	sign	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
9	of	of	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
10	thinking	thinking	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **change** | gerund |  | your mind |  |  | after learning |  | vn dress-41.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent mind=Patient |
| 2 | **is a** | present | Changing | a sign |  |  |  | of thinking | tree rules |
| 3 | **mind** |  | your |  |  |  |  |  | nom mind «cognition transitive»: poss=agent |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
He is right, a real winner never changes his mind about anything

```conllu
# sent_id = question:politics:39-arguing-politely-and-never-calling-names:t5:o3:1
# text = He is right, a real winner never changes his mind about anything
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	is	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	,	_	9	punct	_	_
5	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
6	real	real	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
7	winner	winner	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	nsubj	_	_
8	never	never	ADV	RB	PronType=Neg	9	advmod	_	_
9	changes	change	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	conj	_	_
10	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	11	nmod:poss	_	_
11	mind	mind	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obj	_	_
12	about	about	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
13	anything	anything	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Ind	9	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | He |  |  |  |  | right *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **not** **change** | present | a real winner | winner's mind |  |  |  | about anything | vn dress-41.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent mind=Patient |
| 3 | **mind** |  | winner |  |  |  |  |  | nom mind «cognition transitive»: poss=agent |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Only grown-ups are allowed to change their minds, not children

```conllu
# sent_id = question:politics:39-arguing-politely-and-never-calling-names:t5:o4:1
# text = Only grown-ups are allowed to change their minds, not children
1	Only	only	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
2	grown	grow	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	4	amod	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	2	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	ups	up	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	nsubj:pass	_	_
5	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	aux:pass	_	_
6	allowed	allow	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
7	to	to	PART	TO	_	8	mark	_	_
8	change	change	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	6	xcomp	_	_
9	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	10	nmod:poss	_	_
10	minds	mind	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	13	punct	_	_
12	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	13	advmod	_	_
13	children	child	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **grow** | participle |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn appear-48.1.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 2 | **allow** | present · passive |  | grown ups |  |  |  | children *obl* | vn allow-64.1-1 «NP V NP S»: subject=Beneficiary clause=Eventuality |
| 3 | **change** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive | grown ups *not said here* | ups's minds |  |  |  |  | vn dress-41.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent mind=Patient |
| 4 | **mind** |  | ups *= up* |  |  |  |  |  | nom mind «cognition transitive»: poss=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.

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