Samples — Dogfooding & Regression Test

Worked translations of real English into World English, annotated rule-by-rule. This file is the project’s regression test: it applies the whole ruleset at once, so any spec change that breaks a sample — or any sample that needs a rule the specs don’t have — is caught here.

Each passage is given three ways: the standard English original, the World English translation, and a per-sentence annotation naming every rule applied ([M1], [G2], …). Where a sentence needs a construction the specs do not yet cover, it is flagged inline — never silently improvised.

Rule keys: O* orthography · P* pronunciation · M* morphology · G* grammar · S* style · W* writing.

Passage 1 — News paragraph

Standard English

The mayor announced yesterday that the city has built a new hospital. It was designed by a famous architect and cost fifty million dollars. Officials say it will open in September. Many residents have waited years for better health care.

World English

The mayor announced yesterday that the city builded new hospital. It beed designed by famous architect and costed fifty million dollars. Officials say that it will open on September. Many residents wait gooder health care for years.

Annotations

…the city builded new hospital. — [M1] build → builded · [G1] present perfect finished action → simple past (the hospital is already complete; the tense is licensed by the content clause’s own finished-ness, not by yesterday, which is the matrix clause’s time word for announced) · [G2] drop indefinite article (a new hospital → new hospital) · [G14] content clause: complementizer that kept after announced. announced is already regular ([M1], no change).
It beed designed by famous architect and costed fifty million dollars. — [G9] passive be + -ed (beed designed) · [M2] was → beed · [G2] drop a · [M1] cost → costed (no more zero-past).
Officials say that it will open on September. — [M4] official → officials · [G14] content clause: complementizer that kept after say — always kept, never dropped, so Officials say that it will open (not officials say it will open) · [G7] future will kept · [G3] time preposition defaults to on (in September → on September).
Many residents wait gooder health care for years. — [M4] residents (already standard English here — many residents needed no [G5] transformation; [G5] fires only where an uncountable noun is forced to count, which does not happen in this sentence) · [G1] present perfect still ongoing → present tense (they are still waiting) · [G3] drop verb-selected for (wait for X → wait X) · [M5] better → gooder · [S5] duration keeps for (for years). ✅ Resolved (G3 for test): wait X (dropped object-for) and for years (kept duration-for) both follow the rule — keep for only before a length of time, drop it otherwise. Legibility note. This sentence stacks three reforms at once — transitive wait (dropped object-for), the present-for-still-true mapping, and the kept duration for — and the result is the corpus’s hardest sentence to parse: an English reader’s first pass reads wait as intransitive and stumbles on the bare NP gooder health care before recovering. Recorded here as a real legibility cost of combining reforms, not smoothed over.

Passage 2 — Dialogue

Standard English

“Have you seen my keys?” asked Tom. “No, I haven’t. Did you look under the sofa?” said Mary. “I already looked there. I can’t find them anywhere.” “Maybe they are in your coat. You should check the pockets.”

World English

”?You seed mes keys?” Tom asked. “No. ?You looked under the sofa?” Mary sayed. “I already looked there. I can not find them anywhere.” “Maybe they be in yous coat. You should check the pockets.”

Annotations

?You seed mes keys? Tom asked. — [G6] yes/no question marked by the leading ? (rising intonation in speech; no do, no inversion) · [G1] present perfect → simple past · [M1] see → seed · [G4] my → mes · [M4] keys · [S1] undo the asked Tom inversion → Tom asked.
No. ?You looked under the sofa? Mary sayed. — [G6] short answer is invariant No. (no I haven’t echo) · [G6] leading ? + rising intonation, no do-support · [M1] look → looked, say → sayed · [G3] keep under (real spatial relation) · [S1] undo inversion.
I already looked there. I can not find them anywhere. — [S5] already carries the perfect’s relevance · [M1] looked · [G6]/[G7] modal negation can not (not after the modal, before the verb) · [G4] them (object form).
Maybe they be in yous coat. You should check the pockets. — [G7] sentence adverb maybe, modal should · [M2] are → be · [G3] keep in (containment, a real relation) · [G4] your → yous · [M4] pockets.

Passage 3 — Instructions

Standard English

To make tea, first boil the water. Put a tea bag in a cup and pour the hot water over it. Wait for three minutes, then remove the bag. Add milk or sugar if you like. Do not drink it while it is too hot.

World English

To make tea, first boil the water. Put tea bag in cup and pour the hot water over it. Wait for three minutes, then remove the bag. Add milk or sugar if you like. Not drink it while it be too hot.

Annotations

To make tea, first boil the water. — unchanged; [G2] the water stays (definite, the specific water you are boiling). [G13] to make is the plain to + base infinitive.
Put tea bag in cup and pour the hot water over it. — [G2] drop a twice (tea bag, cup) · [G3] keep in and over (real spatial relations) · the hot water stays definite.
Wait for three minutes, then remove the bag. — [S5] keep for (it marks a duration, so it is not the droppable verb-selected for) · the bag definite. ✅ Resolved (G3 for test): for is kept because three minutes is a span, not the thing awaited.
Add milk or sugar if you like. — [G2] no article on milk / sugar (indefinite) · [G8] if + natural present tense · [G15] if as the condition subordinator.
Not drink it while it be too hot. — [G6] negative imperative Not drink (no do-support) · [M2] is → be · [G15] while (time — during), trailing clause, no comma.

Passage 4 — Personal narrative

Standard English

Last year I went to Japan with my two children. We took the train from Tokyo to Kyoto. The food was better than I expected, and the people were very kind. My son said that it was the best trip of his life. We have already booked our tickets to go again next spring.

World English

Last year I goed to Japan with mes two childs. We taked the train from Tokyo to Kyoto. The food beed gooder than I expected, and the persons beed very kind. Mes son sayed that it beed the goodest trip of hims life. We already booked uss tickets to go again next spring.

Annotations

Last year I goed to Japan with mes two childs. — [M1] go → goed · [G3] keep to (direction) and with (accompaniment) · [G4] my → mes · [M4] child → childs.
We taked the train from Tokyo to Kyoto. — [M1] take → taked · [G3] keep from/to (direction) · the train definite.
The food beed gooder than I expected, and the persons beed very kind. — [M2] was/were → beed · [M5] better → gooder · [M4] people → persons · [M1] expect → expected.
Mes son sayed that it beed the goodest trip of hims life. — [G4] my → mes, his → hims · [M1] say → sayed · [M2] was → beed · [M5] best → goodest · [G14] reported speech: complementizer that kept, natural tense (no backshift) · [G10] keep of — a fixed superlative frame (trip of hims life), not a possession, so the of-genitive is preferred over hims life’s. ✅ Resolved: G14 settles the reported clause (keep that, no backshift — beed is past because the trip is over), and G10’s 's-vs-of boundary keeps of here.
We already booked uss tickets to go again next spring. — [S5] already (dropped perfect) · [M1] book → booked · [G4] our → uss · [G13] to go plain infinitive of purpose.

Passage 5 — Feedback note

Standard English

You all worked more quickly this year, so more of you passed the test. Next time, plan more carefully.

World English

You all worked more quickly this year, so more of you all passed the test. Next time, plan more carefully.

Annotations

You all worked more quickly this year, so more of you all passed the test. — [G4] plural you → you all, subject and object alike; the subject you all is already the SE original’s form (no transformation there), so the actual [G4] transformation in this sentence is the object of you → of you all · [M1] worked / passed (already regular) · [M5] -ly adverb comparative via the optional more/most escape hatch (more quickly kept, over the regular quicklier) · [M5] quantifier more of (escape hatch, over the regular manyer of) · [G15] so (result) subordinator · [S7] the comparative phrase more quickly stays in its natural post-verb position (worked more quickly), the stated exception to S7’s single-word pre-verb slot for multi-word comparative adverb phrases — fronting it (more quickly worked) would read worse than the order it replaces.
Next time, plan more carefully. — [M5] -ly adverb comparative, again the escape hatch more carefully (over carefullier) · [S7] more carefully likewise stays post-verb under the same comparative-adverb-phrase exception · [S7] the time adjunct Next time is fronted for topicalization, a licensed option (clause-final is only the unmarked position). This passage exercises item-17: you all plus the optional more/most hatch — more/most is valid World English, so the linter does not flag it.

Passage 6 — Multi-paragraph text (exercises the writing rules)

Passages 1–5 are single paragraphs, so they cannot test the document-level rules (writing W1–W6). This passage is two paragraphs, chosen to exercise the punctuation set, thesis-first shape, topic sentences, explicit connectives, and repeat-don’t-vary reference.

Standard English

The new library is very popular. The university built it because students needed a quiet place to study. The library offers three things: fast internet, long hours, and many books. Students use the facility every day.

The building was expensive; however, the university thinks it was worth the cost. Donors gave most of the money, so tuition stayed low. Also, it created many jobs. For example, it hired twenty students last term.

World English

The new library be very popular. The university builded it because students needed quiet place to study. The library offer three things: fast internet, long hours, and many books. Students use the library every day.

The university think that the building beed worth the cost. But the building beed expensive. Donors gived most of the money, so tuition stayed low. Also, the library created many jobs. For example, the library hired twenty students last term.

Annotations

Paragraph 1 — one idea (the library is popular), point first.

The new library be very popular. — [W3]/[W4] topic sentence states the paragraph’s one idea first · [M2] is → be.
The university builded it because students needed quiet place to study. — [M1] build → builded · [G2] drop a (quiet place) · [W5]/[G15] explicit because carries the reason · [G13] to study plain infinitive.
The library offer three things: fast internet, long hours, and many books. — [W1] the colon is kept — a list follows — with the always-present serial comma · [M4] hours/books (many books was already standard English here — no [G5] transformation fires; [G5] matters only where an uncountable noun is forced to count, which isn’t the case for books) · third-person offers → offer (M3, no agreement).
Students use the library every day. — [W6] repeat the noun the library instead of the elegant variation the facility.

Paragraph 2 — one idea (the building was worth the cost), point first.

The university think that the building beed worth the cost. But the building beed expensive. — [W3]/[W4] topic sentence leads with the paragraph’s one idea — worth the cost — instead of the SE original’s concession-first order (The building was expensive; however…); the concession now follows as the paragraph’s second, supporting sentence, as point-first requires · [G14] content clause: complementizer that kept after think · [W1] the standard semicolon is abolished → two sentences · [W5] however → but (one connective per relation) · [M2] was → beed (twice) · third-person thinks → think (M3) · [W6] the building is repeated instead of a pronoun it in the first sentence — the semicolon’s collapse into two clauses puts the university nearer to any pronoun than the building, so W6’s nearest-antecedent rule requires the noun, not it, here.
Donors gived most of the money, so tuition stayed low. — [M1] give → gived · [W5] result connective so, with the [W1] comma before a coordinator joining two independent clauses.
Also, the library created many jobs. For example, the library hired twenty students last term. — [W5] addition also and illustration for example · [W6] it → the library repeated for an unmistakable reference · [M1] created/hired (already regular).

This passage needed no construction the specs do not cover — every mark, connective, and reference resolved by rule.

Passage 7 — Email (exercises the pragmatics rules)

A short email — the setting §7 singles out (“students who omit greetings and closings are perceived as impolite”). It exercises the style pragmatics rules inside a real message: the fixed politeness markers (S8) and the plain speech-act templates (S9).

Standard English

Hello Sara,

Thank you. I saw your message about the meeting on Friday. I am sorry, but I cannot come, because I will be away. Could you please send me the notes? I will read them next week.

Goodbye, Tom

World English

Hello Sara,

Thank you. I seed yous message about the meeting on Friday. No. Sorry, I can not come, because I will be away. Please send me the notes. I will read them next week.

Goodbye, Tom

Annotations

Hello Sara, — [S9] fixed email greeting (omitting it reads as impolite).
Thank you. — [S9] invariant thanks.
I seed yous message about the meeting on Friday. — [M1] see → seed · [G4] your → yous · [G3] keep about/on (real relations) · [G1] finished action → past tense.
No. Sorry, I can not come, because I will be away. — [S8]/[S9] refusal template: invariant No. + plain reason, with the optional Sorry softener (permitted, never required) — not graded indirectness (standard I’m terribly sorry, but I’m afraid I won’t be able to… → direct) · [G6] modal negation can not · [W5]/[G15] explicit because · [G7] future will.
Please send me the notes. — [S8]/[S9] request template: please + plain imperative ([G6], no do), replacing the graded Could you possibly…? · [G4] me.
I will read them next week. — [G7] will · [G4] them (object) · time adjunct next week stays clause-final.
Goodbye, Tom — [S9] fixed email closing.

This passage needed no construction the specs do not cover — every speech act resolved by an S8/S9 template.

Passage 8 — Tense-aspect spread (exercises the perfect’s replacements)

Passages 1–7 touch the dropped perfect only in passing (a stray already or for years). This passage packs the full G1 tense/aspect range into one paragraph: present-perfect-with-since, continuous aspect (present and past), past perfect, future perfect, and the relevance words just / yet — each rendered by G1’s one deterministic test (still true? → tense) plus an S5 time word.

Standard English

I have lived in this city since 2015, and I still work in the same office. I have studied English for three years, and I am still learning it. By next June, I will have finished my degree. When you called, I had already gone home, because I was feeling tired. I have not seen the new film yet, but my sister has just watched it.

World English

I live in this city since 2015, and I still work in the same office. I study English for three years, and I be still learning it. By next June, I finish mes degree. When you called, I already goed home, because I beed feeling tired. I not see the new film yet, but mes sister just watched it.

Annotations

I live in this city since 2015, and I still work in the same office. — [G1] present perfect still true → present tense (have lived → live; the residence continues) · [S5] since kept for a starting point (since 2015) and still carries the ongoing relevance · [G3] keep in twice (real spatial relation).
I study English for three years, and I be still learning it. — [G1] present perfect still true → present (have studied → study) · [S5] for kept for a duration (for three years) · [G1] continuous aspect am + -ing → be learning (present continuous) · [M2] am → be · [S5] still.
By next June, I finish mes degree. — [G1] future perfect → present tense + a time word (will have finished → finish; By next June carries the completion) · [G4] my → mes.
When you called, I already goed home, because I beed feeling tired. — [G1] past perfect → simple past + a time word (had already gone → already goed; already carries the earlier-past) · [M1] go → goed · [S5] already · [G1] past continuous was + -ing → beed feeling · [M2] was → beed · [G15] when / because subordinators, natural tense.
I not see the new film yet, but mes sister just watched it. — [G1] present perfect still true (negative) → present tense (have not seen → not see; the film remains unseen) · [S5] yet carries the ongoing relevance · [G6] negation not before the verb, no do-support · [G1] present perfect finished → past tense (has just watched → just watched) · [S5] just carries the relevance the perfect used to · [G4] my → mes · the new film stays definite.

This passage needed no construction the specs do not cover — every tense-aspect case resolved by G1’s still-true? test plus an S5 time word.

Review 2’s Theme 6 audit found that Passages 1–8 never exercise several rules at all — most notably G11 relative clauses (the largest single blind spot), G10’s 's possessive, a wh-question, a will/would result clause, and a real much → many substitution. This short passage targets exactly those gaps; it is not a narrative, just a compact set of sentences built to fire the rules the rest of the corpus never touches.

Standard English

Where do you live now? Sara’s neighbor is the man we met last year. If you have much homework, you will stay home. Many visitors listen to music while they wait for the bus.

World English

?Where you live now? Sara’s neighbor be the man that we meeted last year. If you have many homeworks, you will stay home. Many visitors listen music while they wait the bus.

Annotations

?Where you live now? — [G6] wh-question: the question word where moves to the front, no dummy do, and the rest keeps normal SVO order (you live now, not do you live).
Sara’s neighbor be the man that we meeted last year. — [G10] the noun possessive ‘s is kept unchanged (Sara’s) — the one construction that still takes an apostrophe, unlike the apostrophe-less pronoun possessive elsewhere in this file ([G4]: mes, hims) · [G11] relative clause: invariant that introduces the clause and is kept even though standard English drops it here (the SE original’s zero relative the man we met has no relativizer at all) · [M1] meet → meeted · [M2] is → be.
If you have many homeworks, you will stay home. — [G5] determiner much → many (much homework → many homeworks; homework pluralizes like every other noun now that the uncountable category is removed) · [G8] predictive conditional: the if-clause stays present tense and the result clause marks a real/expected outcome with will.
Many visitors listen music while they wait the bus. — [G3] drop the verb-selected preposition twice: listen to → listen, wait for → wait (the bus is the thing awaited, not a duration, so the not-duration guard drops for — see the item-16/G3 for test) · [G15] while (time — during), trailing clause, no comma.

This passage needed no construction the specs do not cover; it exists to close the blind spots review issue #46 identified, not to showcase a new one.

Gaps this file surfaced — now closed

Dogfooding turned up four constructions the specs did not cover. Each has since been fixed by rule:

✅ The for test — duration vs. thing-awaited. G3 now states it: keep for only before a length of time (for three minutes), drop it otherwise (wait the bus). Wired into both translators.
✅ Reported speech / content clauses. G14: complementizer that is always kept, and the reported clause takes its natural tense (no backshift, per G1).
✅ The of-genitive vs. G10 ‘s. G10 now draws the boundary: 's for genuine possession, of for relational and fixed superlative frames (trip of hims life).
✅ Subordinating conjunctions. G15: a closed, one-per-meaning set (if, unless, because, altho, when, while, before, after, until, so that, so), natural tense, fixed comma placement.

Keeping this file honest

samples.md is a regression test, not decoration. Per docs/README, every future spec change must re-run these passages and keep them consistent: if a rule changes, the affected sentences and annotations here change with it, and any newly-uncovered construction is flagged rather than quietly translated.