---
title: An older boy says «If you tell anyone what happened, you'll be in bi… — Closed doors, whispers and secrets · tree and pragmatics
description: An older boy says «If you tell anyone what happened, you'll be in big trouble.» You feel scared. What should you do? Test 4 · ★ of lesson 35 «Closed doors, whispers and secrets» of the adult life course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each opt
---

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# Test 4 · ★ · Closed doors, whispers and secrets

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
An older boy says «If you tell anyone what happened, you'll be in big trouble.» You feel scared. What should you do?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 2 · **The right answer:** option 2 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** older boy, you · **What happens:** say, tell, happen, be, feel, do · **To what, where:** anyone, big trouble · **Speech:** someone speaks here

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This is test 4 · ★ of lesson 35 «Closed doors, whispers and secrets» 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/35-closed-doors-whispers-and-secrets/#t4).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* An older boy says «If you tell anyone what happened, you'll be in big trouble.»

```conllu
# sent_id = question:adult-life:35-closed-doors-whispers-and-secrets:t4:1
# text = An older boy says «If you tell anyone what happened, you'll be in big trouble.»
1	An	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	older	old	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	3	amod	_	_
3	boy	boy	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
4	says	say	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	8	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	If	if	SCONJ	IN	_	8	mark	_	_
7	you	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Person=2|PronType=Prs	8	nsubj	_	_
8	tell	tell	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=2|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	ccomp	_	_
9	anyone	anyone	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Ind	8	obj	_	_
10	what	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	11	nsubj	_	_
11	happened	happen	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	9	acl:relcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	18	punct	_	_
13	you	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Person=2|PronType=Prs	18	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	'll	will	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	18	aux	_	_
15	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	18	cop	_	_
16	in	in	ADP	IN	_	18	case	_	_
17	big	big	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	18	amod	_	_
18	trouble	trouble	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	parataxis	_	SpaceAfter=No
19	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	8	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
20	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	8	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **say** *speech: assert* | present | a older boy |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 2 | **tell** *speech: assert* *a condition, not said to happen, in a quote* | present | you |  | anyone |  |  |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP.recipient»: agent=Agent anyone=Recipient |
| 3 | **happen** *in a quote* | past |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn occur-48.3-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 4 | **is** *in a quote* | future | you |  |  | big trouble |  |  | 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:* You feel scared.

```conllu
# sent_id = question:adult-life:35-closed-doors-whispers-and-secrets:t4:2
# text = You feel scared.
1	You	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Person=2|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	feel	feel	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=2|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	scared	scared	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	xcomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **feel** | present | You |  |  |  |  | scared *property* | vn stimulus\_subject-30.4 «NP V ADJ»: agent=Stimulus |

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 3:* What should you do?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:adult-life:35-closed-doors-whispers-and-secrets:t4:3
# text = What should you do?
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	4	obj	_	_
2	should	should	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
3	you	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Person=2|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
4	do	do	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 | **do** | should | you |  |  |  |  |  | vn act-114-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent what=Eventuality |

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Wait until you're grown up

```conllu
# sent_id = question:adult-life:35-closed-doors-whispers-and-secrets:t4:o1:1
# text = Wait until you're grown up
1	Wait	wait	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
2	until	until	SCONJ	IN	_	5	mark	_	_
3	you	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Person=2|PronType=Prs	5	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	're	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=2|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	aux:pass	_	_
5	grown	grow	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	1	advcl	_	_
6	up	up	ADP	RP	_	5	compound:prt	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **wait** | imperative | you *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn exist-47.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 2 | **grow up** | present · passive |  | you |  |  |  |  | vn appear-48.1.1 «PP.location V NP»: subject=Theme |

### Option 2 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Tell a trusted adult anyway

```conllu
# sent_id = question:adult-life:35-closed-doors-whispers-and-secrets:t4:o2:1
# text = Tell a trusted adult anyway
1	Tell	tell	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
3	trusted	trust	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	4	amod	_	_
4	adult	adult	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
5	anyway	anyway	ADV	RB	_	1	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **tell** *speech: assert* | imperative | you *not said here* |  | a trusted adult |  |  | anyway *property* | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP.recipient»: agent=Agent adult=Recipient |
| 2 | **trust** | participle |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn conjecture-29.5-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Only tell it to your diary

```conllu
# sent_id = question:adult-life:35-closed-doors-whispers-and-secrets:t4:o3:1
# text = Only tell it to your diary
1	Only	only	ADV	RB	_	2	advmod	_	_
2	tell	tell	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	obj	_	_
4	to	to	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	your	your	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Person=2|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	6	nmod:poss	_	_
6	diary	diary	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **tell** *speech: assert* | imperative | you *not said here* | it | your diary |  |  |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP PP.recipient»: agent=Agent it=Topic to diary=Recipient |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Keep the secret so you're safe

```conllu
# sent_id = question:adult-life:35-closed-doors-whispers-and-secrets:t4:o4:1
# text = Keep the secret so you're safe
1	Keep	keep	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	secret	secret	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
4	so	so	SCONJ	IN	_	7	mark	_	_
5	you	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Person=2|PronType=Prs	7	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	're	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=2|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	7	cop	_	_
7	safe	safe	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	1	advcl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **keep** | imperative | you *not said here* | the secret |  |  |  |  | vn keep-15.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent secret=Theme |
| 2 | **is** | present | you |  |  |  |  | safe *property* | 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: [Closed doors, whispers and secrets, test 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/adult-life/35-closed-doors-whispers-and-secrets/t3/)
- next →: [Closed doors, whispers and secrets, test 5](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/adult-life/35-closed-doors-whispers-and-secrets/t5/)
- ↑ back to [Closed doors, whispers and secrets](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/adult-life/35-closed-doors-whispers-and-secrets/)