---
title: how'd people send a long msg before the telegraph — Communication: letters, phones, radio… · tree and pragmatics
description: how'd people send a long msg before the telegraph Test 12 · ★★★ of lesson 100 «Communication: letters, phones, radio and the internet» of the world 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 12 · ★★★ · Communication: letters, phones, radio and the internet

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
how'd people send a long msg before the telegraph

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 1 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** 'd people · **What happens:** send · **To what, where:** long msg

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 12 · ★★★ of lesson 100 «Communication: letters, phones, radio and the internet» of the world 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/world/100-communication-letters-to-internet/#t12).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:100-communication-letters-to-internet:t12:1
# text = how'd people send a long msg before the telegraph
1	how	how	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	2	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	'd	'd	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	people	people	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj	_	_
4	send	send	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
6	long	long	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
7	msg	msg	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obj	_	_
8	before	before	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	telegraph	telegraph	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **send** | present | 'd people | a long msg |  |  | before the telegraph |  | vn confine-92-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent msg=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.

## The options {#options}

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Someone had to carry it by foot, horse or ship

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:100-communication-letters-to-internet:t12:o1:1
# text = Someone had to carry it by foot, horse or ship
1	Someone	someone	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Ind	2	nsubj	_	_
2	had	have	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	to	to	PART	TO	_	4	mark	_	_
4	carry	carry	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	2	xcomp	_	_
5	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	obj	_	_
6	by	by	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	foot	foot	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	9	punct	_	_
9	horse	horse	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	conj	_	_
10	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	11	cc	_	_
11	ship	ship	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **have** | past | Someone |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **carry** | to-infinitive | Someone *not said here* | it |  |  |  | by foot and horse or ship | vn carry-11.4 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent it=Theme |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
They sent it by radio

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:100-communication-letters-to-internet:t12:o2:1
# text = They sent it by radio
1	They	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	sent	send	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	obj	_	_
4	by	by	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	radio	radio	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **send** | past | They | it |  |  |  | by radio | vn confine-92-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent it=Theme |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
They just rang them up on the telephone from home

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:100-communication-letters-to-internet:t12:o3:1
# text = They just rang them up on the telephone from home
1	They	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	just	just	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	_
3	rang	ring	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	obj	_	_
5	up	up	ADP	RP	_	3	compound:prt	_	_
6	on	on	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	telephone	telephone	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
9	from	from	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
10	home	home	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **ring up** | past | They | them *= they* |  | the telephone |  | from home | vn sound\_emission-43.2 «PP.location V NP»: agent=Location they=Theme |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
They emailed it

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:100-communication-letters-to-internet:t12:o4:1
# text = They emailed it
1	They	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	emailed	email	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **email** | past | They | it |  |  |  |  | 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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- ← previous: [Communication: letters, phones, radio…, test 11](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/world/100-communication-letters-to-internet/t11/)
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