---
title: Your sister says, "Mum lied about Auntie's jumper, so Mum's a liar l… — Sorry, white lies and «because I said… · tree and pragmatics
description: Your sister says, "Mum lied about Auntie's jumper, so Mum's a liar like a thief." Put her right. Test 1 · ★★ of lesson 37 «Sorry, white lies and «because I said so»» 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 
---

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# Test 1 · ★★ · Sorry, white lies and «because I said so»

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Your sister says, "Mum lied about Auntie's jumper, so Mum's a liar like a thief." Put her right.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 3 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** sister, Mum, you · **What happens:** say, lie, be, put · **To what, where:** liar, Mum · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 1 · ★★ of lesson 37 «Sorry, white lies and «because I said so»» 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/37-sorry-white-lies-and-because-i-said-so/#t1).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* Your sister says, "Mum lied about Auntie's jumper, so Mum's a liar like a thief."

```conllu
# sent_id = question:adult-life:37-sorry-white-lies-and-because-i-said-so:t1:1
# text = Your sister says, "Mum lied about Auntie's jumper, so Mum's a liar like a thief."
1	Your	your	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Person=2|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	2	nmod:poss	_	_
2	sister	sister	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	says	say	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	7	punct	_	_
5	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	7	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	Mum	mum	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nsubj	_	_
7	lied	lie	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	ccomp	_	_
8	about	about	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
9	Auntie	Auntie	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	11	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	's	's	PART	POS	_	9	case	_	_
11	jumper	jumper	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	17	punct	_	_
13	so	so	ADV	RB	_	17	advmod	_	_
14	Mum	Mum	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	17	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	's	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	17	cop	_	_
16	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	17	det	_	_
17	liar	liar	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obl	_	_
18	like	like	ADP	IN	_	20	case	_	_
19	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	20	det	_	_
20	thief	thief	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	17	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
21	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
22	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **say** *speech: assert* | present | Your sister |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 2 | **lie** *in a quote* | past | Mum |  |  |  |  | about Auntie's jumper | vn assuming\_position-50 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Agent about jumper=Location |
| 3 | **is a** *in a quote* | present | Mum | a liar |  |  |  | like a thief | 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:* Put her right.

```conllu
# sent_id = question:adult-life:37-sorry-white-lies-and-because-i-said-so:t1:2
# text = Put her right.
1	Put	put	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	her	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	1	obj	_	_
3	right	right	ADV	RB	_	1	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **put** | imperative | you *not said here* |  | Mum |  |  | right *property* | vn invest-13.5.4-1 «NP V PP»: agent=Agent she=Goal |

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 · ← Mova's choice {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Mum was only lying to get another jumper

```conllu
# sent_id = question:adult-life:37-sorry-white-lies-and-because-i-said-so:t1:o1:1
# text = Mum was only lying to get another jumper
1	Mum	mum	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
2	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
3	only	only	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
4	lying	lie	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
5	to	to	PART	TO	_	6	mark	_	_
6	get	get	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	xcomp	_	_
7	another	another	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	8	det	_	_
8	jumper	jumper	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **lie** | past · progressive | Mum |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **get** | to-infinitive | Mum *not said here* | another jumper |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer jumper=Stimulus |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
She's right, it's just as bad as stealing from the shop

```conllu
# sent_id = question:adult-life:37-sorry-white-lies-and-because-i-said-so:t1:o2:1
# text = She's right, it's just as bad as stealing from the shop
1	She	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	's	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	cop	_	_
3	right	right	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	9	punct	_	_
5	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	9	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	's	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	9	cop	_	_
7	just	just	ADV	RB	_	9	advmod	_	_
8	as	as	ADV	RB	_	9	advmod	_	_
9	bad	bad	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	parataxis	_	_
10	as	as	SCONJ	IN	_	11	mark	_	_
11	stealing	steal	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	9	advcl	_	_
12	from	from	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
13	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	14	det	_	_
14	shop	shop	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | She |  |  |  |  | right *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **is** | present | it |  |  |  |  | bad *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **steal** | gerund |  |  |  | the shop |  |  | vn appear-48.1.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It was a small kind white lie, not a harmful one

```conllu
# sent_id = question:adult-life:37-sorry-white-lies-and-because-i-said-so:t1:o3:1
# text = It was a small kind white lie, not a harmful one
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	7	nsubj	_	_
2	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	7	cop	_	_
3	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
4	small	small	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
5	kind	kind	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
6	white	white	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
7	lie	lie	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	12	punct	_	_
9	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	12	advmod	_	_
10	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
11	harmful	harmful	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	12	amod	_	_
12	one	one	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | past | It | a small kind white lie and a harmful one |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It wasn't a lie, Mum really loves orange

```conllu
# sent_id = question:adult-life:37-sorry-white-lies-and-because-i-said-so:t1:o4:1
# text = It wasn't a lie, Mum really loves orange
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	5	nsubj	_	_
2	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	n't	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	5	advmod	_	_
4	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	lie	lie	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	7	punct	_	_
7	Mum	mum	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	nsubj	_	_
8	really	really	ADV	RB	_	9	advmod	_	_
9	loves	love	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	parataxis	_	_
10	orange	orange	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **is a** | past | It | a lie |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **love** | present | Mum | orange |  |  |  |  | vn admire-31.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer orange=Stimulus |

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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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- ↑ back to [Sorry, white lies and «because I said so»](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/adult-life/37-sorry-white-lies-and-because-i-said-so/)