---
title: On the news: "He leaves a widow and three children." What does this… — When someone dies · tree and pragmatics
description: On the news: "He leaves a widow and three children." What does this mean? Test 10 · ★★ of lesson 24 «When someone dies» of the adult life 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 10 · ★★ · When someone dies

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
On the news: "He leaves a widow and three children." What does this mean?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 1 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** He, this · **What happens:** leave, mean · **To what, where:** widow, news

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This is test 10 · ★★ of lesson 24 «When someone dies» of the adult life 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/adult-life/24-when-someone-dies/#t10).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* On the news: "He leaves a widow and three children."

```conllu
# sent_id = question:adult-life:24-when-someone-dies:t10:1
# text = On the news: "He leaves a widow and three children."
1	On	on	ADP	IN	_	3	case	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	news	news	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	:	:	PUNCT	:	_	3	punct	_	_
5	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	7	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	7	nsubj	_	_
7	leaves	leave	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
8	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	widow	widow	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obj	_	_
10	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	12	cc	_	_
11	three	three	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	12	nummod	_	_
12	children	child	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	9	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	7	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	7	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **leave** *in a quote* | present | He | a widow and three children |  | the news |  |  | vn keep-15.2 «NP V NP PP.location»: agent=Agent widow=Theme on news=Location |

<!-- .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 this mean?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:adult-life:24-when-someone-dies:t10:2
# text = What does this 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	this	this	PRON	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	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 | this |  |  |  |  |  | vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent what=Topic |

## The options {#options}

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
His wife and three children are still alive after his death

```conllu
# sent_id = question:adult-life:24-when-someone-dies:t10:o1:1
# text = His wife and three children are still alive after his death
1	His	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	2	nmod:poss	_	_
2	wife	wife	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nsubj	_	_
3	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	5	cc	_	_
4	three	three	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	5	nummod	_	_
5	children	child	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	conj	_	_
6	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	8	cop	_	_
7	still	still	ADV	RB	_	8	advmod	_	_
8	alive	alive	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
9	after	after	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
10	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	11	nmod:poss	_	_
11	death	death	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | His wife and three children |  |  |  | after his death; still | alive *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **die** |  | his *= he* |  |  |  |  |  | nom death «event intransitive»: poss=agent |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
He has given his house to three children

```conllu
# sent_id = question:adult-life:24-when-someone-dies:t10:o2:1
# text = He has given his house to three children
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj:pass	_	_
2	has	have	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux	_	_
3	given	give	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
4	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	5	nmod:poss	_	_
5	house	house	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
6	to	to	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	three	three	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	8	nummod	_	_
8	children	child	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **give** | present · perfect · passive |  | He |  |  |  | to three children | vn give-13.1-1 «NP V NP-Dative NP»: subject=Recipient house=Theme |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
He has left his wife and children to live elsewhere with someone new

```conllu
# sent_id = question:adult-life:24-when-someone-dies:t10:o3:1
# text = He has left his wife and children to live elsewhere with someone new
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	has	have	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux	_	_
3	left	leave	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
4	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	5	nmod:poss	_	_
5	wife	wife	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
6	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	7	cc	_	_
7	children	child	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	conj	_	_
8	to	to	PART	TO	_	9	mark	_	_
9	live	live	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	advcl	_	_
10	elsewhere	elsewhere	ADV	RB	_	9	advmod	_	_
11	with	with	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
12	someone	someone	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Ind	9	obl	_	_
13	new	new	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	12	amod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **leave** | present · perfect | He | his wife and children |  |  |  |  | vn keep-15.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent wife=Theme |
| 2 | **live** | to-infinitive | He *not said here* |  |  |  |  | with someone; elsewhere *property* | vn lodge-46 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme with someone=Location |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
His wife has died and he has three children

```conllu
# sent_id = question:adult-life:24-when-someone-dies:t10:o4:1
# text = His wife has died and he has three children
1	His	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	2	nmod:poss	_	_
2	wife	wife	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
3	has	have	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
4	died	die	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
5	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	7	cc	_	_
6	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	7	nsubj	_	_
7	has	have	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	conj	_	_
8	three	three	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	9	nummod	_	_
9	children	child	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **die** | present · perfect | His wife |  |  |  |  |  | vn calibratable\_cos-45.6.1 «NP.attribute V»: agent=Attribute |
| 2 | **have** | present | he | three children |  |  |  |  | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent child=Patient |

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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: [When someone dies, test 9](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/adult-life/24-when-someone-dies/t9/)
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