---
title: My sister says an argument means a fight. In ethics, what is it real… — How to argue: reasons and evidence · tree and pragmatics
description: My sister says an argument means a fight. In ethics, what is it really? Test 1 · ★★ of lesson 39 «How to argue: reasons and evidence» of the religion ethics 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 1 · ★★ · How to argue: reasons and evidence

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
My sister says an argument means a fight. In ethics, what is it really?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 4 · **The right answer:** option 4 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** sister, argument · **What happens:** say, mean, be · **To what, where:** fight, argument · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 1 · ★★ of lesson 39 «How to argue: reasons and evidence» of the religion ethics 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/religion-ethics/39-how-to-argue-reasons-and-evidence/#t1).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* My sister says an argument means a fight.

```conllu
# sent_id = question:religion-ethics:39-how-to-argue-reasons-and-evidence:t1:1
# text = My sister says an argument means a fight.
1	My	my	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Sing|Person=1|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	2	nmod:poss	_	_
2	sister	sister	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	says	say	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	argument	argument	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	_
6	means	mean	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	ccomp	_	_
7	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	fight	fight	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **say** *speech: assert* | present | My sister |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 2 | **mean** | present | a argument | a fight |  |  |  |  | vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent fight=Topic |

<!-- .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:* In ethics, what is it really?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:religion-ethics:39-how-to-argue-reasons-and-evidence:t1:2
# text = In ethics, what is it really?
1	In	in	ADP	IN	_	2	case	_	_
2	ethics	ethic	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	2	punct	_	_
4	what	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	0	root	_	_
5	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	cop	_	_
6	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
7	really	really	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

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

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Shouting until the other person gives up

```conllu
# sent_id = question:religion-ethics:39-how-to-argue-reasons-and-evidence:t1:o1:1
# text = Shouting until the other person gives up
1	Shouting	shout	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	6	csubj	_	_
2	until	until	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	other	other	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	person	person	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obl	_	_
6	gives	give	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
7	up	up	ADP	RP	_	6	compound:prt	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **shout** *speech: express* | gerund |  |  |  |  | until the other person |  | vn manner\_speaking-37.3 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **give up** | present | Shouting |  |  |  |  |  | vn resign-10.11-2 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Refusing to listen to anything

```conllu
# sent_id = question:religion-ethics:39-how-to-argue-reasons-and-evidence:t1:o2:1
# text = Refusing to listen to anything
1	Refusing	refuse	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
2	to	to	PART	TO	_	3	mark	_	_
3	listen	listen	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	1	xcomp	_	_
4	to	to	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	anything	anything	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Ind	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **refuse** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn reject-77.2 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Agent clause=Theme |
| 2 | **not** **listen** | to-infinitive |  |  |  |  |  | to anything | vn peer-30.3 «NP V PP.theme»: agent=Agent to anything=Theme |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Calling the other person names

```conllu
# sent_id = question:religion-ethics:39-how-to-argue-reasons-and-evidence:t1:o3:1
# text = Calling the other person names
1	Calling	call	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
3	other	other	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
4	person	person	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	compound	_	_
5	names	name	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	1	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **call** | gerund |  | the other person names |  |  |  |  | vn initiate\_communication-37.4.2-1 «NP V NP.recipient»: agent=Agent name=Recipient |

### Option 4 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Giving reasons and evidence for a claim

```conllu
# sent_id = question:religion-ethics:39-how-to-argue-reasons-and-evidence:t1:o4:1
# text = Giving reasons and evidence for a claim
1	Giving	give	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
2	reasons	reason	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	1	obj	_	_
3	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	4	cc	_	_
4	evidence	evidence	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	conj	_	_
5	for	for	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	claim	claim	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **give** | gerund |  | reasons and evidence |  |  |  | for a claim | vn give-13.1-1 «NP V NP PP.asset»: agent=Agent reason=Theme for claim=Asset |

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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: [The Golden Rule in many traditions, exam 4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/religion-ethics/38-the-golden-rule-in-many-traditions/e4/)
- next →: [How to argue: reasons and evidence, test 2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/religion-ethics/39-how-to-argue-reasons-and-evidence/t2/)
- ↑ back to [How to argue: reasons and evidence](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/religion-ethics/39-how-to-argue-reasons-and-evidence/)