---
title: Friend: "My list is exactly as rare as yours, yours just has a bette… — Sounds wrong, but is right · tree and pragmatics
description: Friend: "My list is exactly as rare as yours, yours just has a better haircut." What does he mean? Test 8 · ★★★ of lesson 182 «Sounds wrong, but is right» 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 8 · ★★★ · Sounds wrong, but is right

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Friend: "My list is exactly as rare as yours, yours just has a better haircut." What does he mean?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 3 · **The right answer:** option 1 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** list, yours, My, Friend · **What happens:** be, have, list, mean · **To what, where:** better haircut

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This is test 8 · ★★★ of lesson 182 «Sounds wrong, but is right» 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/182-sounds-wrong-but-is-right/#t8).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* Friend: "My list is exactly as rare as yours, yours just has a better haircut."

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:182-sounds-wrong-but-is-right:t8:1
# text = Friend: "My list is exactly as rare as yours, yours just has a better haircut."
1	Friend	friend	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	:	:	PUNCT	:	_	9	punct	_	_
3	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	9	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	My	my	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Sing|Person=1|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	5	nmod:poss	_	_
5	list	list	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	nsubj	_	_
6	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	9	cop	_	_
7	exactly	exactly	ADV	RB	_	9	advmod	_	_
8	as	as	ADV	RB	_	9	advmod	_	_
9	rare	rare	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	1	parataxis	_	_
10	as	as	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
11	yours	your	PRON	PRP	Person=2|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	9	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	15	punct	_	_
13	yours	your	PRON	PRP	Person=2|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	15	nsubj	_	_
14	just	just	ADV	RB	_	15	advmod	_	_
15	has	have	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	9	conj	_	_
16	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	18	det	_	_
17	better	good	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	18	amod	_	_
18	haircut	haircut	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	15	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
19	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
20	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** *in a quote* | present | My list |  |  |  |  | as yours; exactly, rare *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **have** *in a quote* | present | yours | a better haircut |  |  |  |  | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent haircut=Patient |
| 3 | **list** *in a quote* |  | My |  |  |  |  |  | nom list «communication 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 does he mean?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:182-sounds-wrong-but-is-right:t8:2
# text = What does he mean?
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	4	obj	_	_
2	does	do	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
3	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
4	mean	mean	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **mean** | present · do-support | Friend |  |  |  |  |  | vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent what=Topic |

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 · ✓ the right answer {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Ten heads only looks special; each exact list is equally rare

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:182-sounds-wrong-but-is-right:t8:o1:1
# text = Ten heads only looks special; each exact list is equally rare
1	Ten	ten	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	2	nummod	_	_
2	heads	head	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obl	_	_
3	only	only	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
4	looks	look	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	special	special	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	xcomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	;	;	PUNCT	:	_	4	punct	_	_
7	each	each	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	9	det	_	_
8	exact	exact	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	amod	_	_
9	list	list	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	nsubj	_	_
10	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	12	cop	_	_
11	equally	equally	ADV	RB	_	12	advmod	_	_
12	rare	rare	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **look** | present |  | Ten heads |  |  |  | special *property* | vn stimulus\_subject-30.4 «NP V ADJ»: agent=Stimulus |
| 2 | **is** | present | each exact list |  |  |  |  | equally, rare *property* | tree rules |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Ten heads is far rarer than any mixed list

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:182-sounds-wrong-but-is-right:t8:o2:1
# text = Ten heads is far rarer than any mixed list
1	Ten	ten	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	2	nummod	_	_
2	heads	head	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	nsubj	_	_
3	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
4	far	far	ADV	RB	Degree=Pos	5	advmod	_	_
5	rarer	rare	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	0	root	_	_
6	than	than	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
7	any	any	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	9	det	_	_
8	mixed	mix	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	9	amod	_	_
9	list	list	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | Ten heads |  |  |  |  | than any mixed list; far, rare *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **mix** | participle |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn mix-22.1-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Patient |

### Option 3 · ← Mova's choice {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Mixed lists of flips are impossible

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:182-sounds-wrong-but-is-right:t8:o3:1
# text = Mixed lists of flips are impossible
1	Mixed	mix	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	2	amod	_	_
2	lists	list	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	nsubj	_	_
3	of	of	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
4	flips	flip	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nmod	_	_
5	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	cop	_	_
6	impossible	impossible	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **mix** | participle |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn mix-22.1-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Patient |
| 2 | **is** | present | Mixed lists of flips |  |  |  |  | impossible *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **list** |  |  | flips |  |  |  |  | nom list «communication transitive»: of=patient |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Coins remember what they did last time

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:182-sounds-wrong-but-is-right:t8:o4:1
# text = Coins remember what they did last time
1	Coins	coin	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nsubj	_	_
2	remember	remember	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	what	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	5	obj	_	_
4	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	5	nsubj	_	_
5	did	do	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	2	ccomp	_	_
6	last	last	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
7	time	time	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl:unmarked	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **remember** | present | Coins |  |  |  |  |  | vn characterize-29.2-1-1 «NP V what S»: agent=Agent clause=Theme |
| 2 | **do** | past | Coins *= coin* |  |  |  | time |  | vn act-114-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent what=Eventuality |

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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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