---
title: You and a friend still disagree after a long talk. What is the wises… — How to argue: counter-arguments and re… · tree and pragmatics
description: You and a friend still disagree after a long talk. What is the wisest thing to think? Test 9 · ★★★ of lesson 40 «How to argue: counter-arguments and respect» 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 cho
---

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# Test 9 · ★★★ · How to argue: counter-arguments and respect

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
You and a friend still disagree after a long talk. What is the wisest thing to think?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 1 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** You, wisest thing · **What happens:** disagree, be, think

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 9 · ★★★ of lesson 40 «How to argue: counter-arguments and respect» 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/40-how-to-argue-counter-arguments-and-respect/#t9).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* You and a friend still disagree after a long talk.

```conllu
# sent_id = question:religion-ethics:40-how-to-argue-counter-arguments-and-respect:t9:1
# text = You and a friend still disagree after a long talk.
1	You	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Person=2|PronType=Prs	6	nsubj	_	_
2	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	4	cc	_	_
3	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	friend	friend	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	conj	_	_
5	still	still	ADV	RB	_	6	advmod	_	_
6	disagree	disagree	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
7	after	after	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
8	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
9	long	long	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	10	amod	_	_
10	talk	talk	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	6	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **disagree** | present | You |  |  |  | after a long talk; still |  | vn correspond-36.1 «NP V»: agent=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 wisest thing to think?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:religion-ethics:40-how-to-argue-counter-arguments-and-respect:t9:2
# text = What is the wisest thing to think?
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	wisest	wise	ADJ	JJS	Degree=Sup	5	amod	_	_
5	thing	thing	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	nsubj	_	_
6	to	to	PART	TO	_	7	mark	_	_
7	think	think	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	acl	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | the wisest thing |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **think** *speech: other* | to-infinitive | the wisest thing *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn focus-87.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Thoughtful people can disagree; the friendship still matters

```conllu
# sent_id = question:religion-ethics:40-how-to-argue-counter-arguments-and-respect:t9:o1:1
# text = Thoughtful people can disagree; the friendship still matters
1	Thoughtful	thoughtful	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	amod	_	_
2	people	people	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj	_	_
3	can	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
4	disagree	disagree	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	;	;	PUNCT	:	_	9	punct	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	friendship	friendship	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	nsubj	_	_
8	still	still	ADV	RB	_	9	advmod	_	_
9	matters	matter	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	ccomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **disagree** | can | Thoughtful people |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **matter** | present | the friendship |  |  |  | still |  | vn matter-91 «NP V»: agent=Stimulus |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The friendship is over, because friends always agree

```conllu
# sent_id = question:religion-ethics:40-how-to-argue-counter-arguments-and-respect:t9:o2:1
# text = The friendship is over, because friends always agree
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	friendship	friendship	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
3	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
4	over	over	ADV	RB	_	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	9	punct	_	_
6	because	because	SCONJ	IN	_	9	mark	_	_
7	friends	friend	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	9	nsubj	_	_
8	always	always	ADV	RB	PronType=Tot	9	advmod	_	_
9	agree	agree	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	parataxis	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | the friendship |  |  |  |  | over *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **agree** *speech: agree* | present | friends |  |  |  |  | always *property* | vn correspond-36.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
One of us must be stupid, or we would have agreed by now

```conllu
# sent_id = question:religion-ethics:40-how-to-argue-counter-arguments-and-respect:t9:o3:1
# text = One of us must be stupid, or we would have agreed by now
1	One	one	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	6	nsubj	_	_
2	of	of	ADP	IN	_	3	case	_	_
3	us	we	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=1|PronType=Prs	1	nmod	_	_
4	must	must	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	6	aux	_	_
5	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	6	cop	_	_
6	stupid	stupid	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	12	punct	_	_
8	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	12	cc	_	_
9	we	we	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=1|PronType=Prs	12	nsubj	_	_
10	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	12	aux	_	_
11	have	have	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	12	aux	_	_
12	agreed	agree	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	6	advcl	_	_
13	by	by	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
14	now	now	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	12	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | must | One of us |  |  |  |  | stupid *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **agree** *speech: agree* | would · perfect | we |  |  |  |  |  | vn correspond-36.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
I must keep arguing tomorrow until they finally give in

```conllu
# sent_id = question:religion-ethics:40-how-to-argue-counter-arguments-and-respect:t9:o4:1
# text = I must keep arguing tomorrow until they finally give in
1	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	must	must	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	3	aux	_	_
3	keep	keep	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
4	arguing	argue	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	3	xcomp	_	_
5	tomorrow	tomorrow	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl:unmarked	_	_
6	until	until	SCONJ	IN	_	9	mark	_	_
7	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	9	nsubj	_	_
8	finally	finally	ADV	RB	_	9	advmod	_	_
9	give	give	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	advcl	_	_
10	in	in	ADP	RP	_	9	compound:prt	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **keep** | must | I |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **argue** *speech: disagree* | gerund | I *not said here* |  |  |  | tomorrow |  | vn correspond-36.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **give in** | present | they |  |  |  |  | finally *property* | vn acquiesce-95.1-1 «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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- ← previous: [How to argue: counter-arguments and re…, test 8](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/religion-ethics/40-how-to-argue-counter-arguments-and-respect/t8/)
- next →: [How to argue: counter-arguments and re…, test 10](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/religion-ethics/40-how-to-argue-counter-arguments-and-respect/t10/)
- ↑ back to [How to argue: counter-arguments and respect](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/religion-ethics/40-how-to-argue-counter-arguments-and-respect/)