---
title: Ali, proper mardy: "I've been waiting ages!" He came at 3:50 and it'… — How long since? Counting back · tree and pragmatics
description: Ali, proper mardy: "I've been waiting ages!" He came at 3:50 and it's 4:05. What's the truth? Test 1 of lesson 108 «How long since? Counting back» 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 wrong.
---

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# Test 1 · How long since? Counting back

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Ali, proper mardy: "I've been waiting ages!" He came at 3:50 and it's 4:05. What's the truth?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 3 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** I, He, mardy, truth · **What happens:** wait, come, be · **To what, where:** ages, 3:50, 4:05

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 1 of lesson 108 «How long since? Counting back» 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/108-how-long-since-counting-back/#t1).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* Ali, proper mardy: "I've been waiting ages!"

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:108-how-long-since-counting-back:t1:1
# text = Ali, proper mardy: "I've been waiting ages!"
1	Ali	Ali	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	4	compound	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	1	punct	_	_
3	proper	proper	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	amod	_	_
4	mardy	mardy	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	:	:	PUNCT	:	_	10	punct	_	_
6	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	10	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	10	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	've	have	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	10	aux	_	_
9	been	be	AUX	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	10	aux	_	_
10	waiting	wait	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	4	parataxis	_	_
11	ages	age	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	10	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	!	!	PUNCT	.	_	10	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	10	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **wait** *in a quote* | present · perfect · progressive | I | ages |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

<!-- .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:* He came at 3:50 and it's 4:05.

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:108-how-long-since-counting-back:t1:2
# text = He came at 3:50 and it's 4:05.
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	came	come	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	at	at	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
4	3:50	3:50	NUM	CD	NumForm=Digit|NumType=Card	2	obl	_	_
5	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	8	cc	_	_
6	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	8	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	's	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	8	cop	_	_
8	4:05	4:05	NUM	CD	NumForm=Digit|NumType=Card	2	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **come** | past | He |  |  | 3:50 |  |  | vn appear-48.1.1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme at 3:50=Location |
| 2 | **is a** | present | mardy | 4:05 |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 3:* What's the truth?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:108-how-long-since-counting-back:t1:3
# text = What's the truth?
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	's	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	1	cop	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	truth	truth	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

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

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 · ← Mova's choice {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
55 minutes

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:108-how-long-since-counting-back:t1:o1:1
# text = 55 minutes
1	55	55	NUM	CD	NumForm=Digit|NumType=Card	2	nummod	_	_
2	minutes	minute	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .note -->
The frames reader finds no event or fact in this sentence.

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
5 minutes

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:108-how-long-since-counting-back:t1:o2:1
# text = 5 minutes
1	5	5	NUM	CD	NumForm=Digit|NumType=Card	2	nummod	_	_
2	minutes	minute	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .note -->
The frames reader finds no event or fact in this sentence.

### Option 3 · ✓ the right answer {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Only 15 minutes

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:108-how-long-since-counting-back:t1:o3:1
# text = Only 15 minutes
1	Only	only	ADV	RB	_	2	advmod	_	_
2	15	15	NUM	CD	NumForm=Digit|NumType=Card	3	nummod	_	_
3	minutes	minute	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .note -->
The frames reader finds no event or fact in this sentence.

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Over an hour

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:108-how-long-since-counting-back:t1:o4:1
# text = Over an hour
1	Over	over	ADP	IN	_	3	case	_	_
2	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	hour	hour	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .note -->
The frames reader finds no event or fact in this sentence.

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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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