---
title: Mum is about to tell her friend some news, then stops: "Not mine to… — How to handle gossip: is it true, is i… · tree and pragmatics
description: Mum is about to tell her friend some news, then stops: "Not mine to tell." What does she show you? Test 11 · ★★ of lesson 49 «How to handle gossip: is it true, is it kind, would I say it to their face» of the adult life course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the 
---

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# Test 11 · ★★ · How to handle gossip: is it true, is it kind, would I say…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Mum is about to tell her friend some news, then stops: "Not mine to tell." What does she show you?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 3 · **The right answer:** option 3 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** Mum, friend · **What happens:** be, tell, stop, show · **To what, where:** news, friend, you · **Speech:** someone speaks here

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This is test 11 · ★★ of lesson 49 «How to handle gossip: is it true, is it kind, would I say it to their face» 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/49-how-to-handle-gossip/#t11).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* Mum is about to tell her friend some news, then stops: "Not mine to tell."

```conllu
# sent_id = question:adult-life:49-how-to-handle-gossip:t11:1
# text = Mum is about to tell her friend some news, then stops: "Not mine to tell."
1	Mum	mum	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	cop	_	_
3	about	about	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
4	to	to	PART	TO	_	5	mark	_	_
5	tell	tell	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	xcomp	_	_
6	her	her	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	7	nmod:poss	_	_
7	friend	friend	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obj	_	_
8	some	some	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	9	det	_	_
9	news	news	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	12	punct	_	_
11	then	then	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	12	advmod	_	_
12	stops	stop	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	:	:	PUNCT	:	_	16	punct	_	_
14	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	16	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	Not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	16	advmod	_	_
16	mine	my	PRON	PRP	Number=Sing|Person=1|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	12	xcomp	_	_
17	to	to	PART	TO	_	18	mark	_	_
18	tell	tell	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	16	acl	_	SpaceAfter=No
19	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
20	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | Mum |  |  |  |  | about *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **tell** *speech: assert* | to-infinitive | Mum *not said here* | some news | her friend |  |  |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP-Dative NP»: agent=Agent friend=Recipient news=Topic |
| 3 | **stop** | present | Mum *not said here* |  |  |  | then |  | vn stop-55.4-1-1 «NP.eventuality V»: agent=Eventuality |
| 4 | **tell** *speech: assert* *in a quote* | to-infinitive | Mum *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V»: agent=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 she show you?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:adult-life:49-how-to-handle-gossip:t11:2
# text = What does she show you?
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	she	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
4	show	show	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
5	you	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Person=2|PronType=Prs	4	iobj	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **show** | present · do-support | friend |  | you |  |  |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP-Dative NP»: agent=Agent you=Recipient what=Topic |

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Forgetting something halfway through

```conllu
# sent_id = question:adult-life:49-how-to-handle-gossip:t11:o1:1
# text = Forgetting something halfway through
1	Forgetting	forget	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
2	something	something	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Ind	1	obj	_	_
3	halfway	halfway	ADV	RB	_	1	advmod	_	_
4	through	through	ADV	RB	_	1	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **forget** | gerund |  | something |  |  |  | halfway, through *property* | tree rules |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
That the news was a lie all along

```conllu
# sent_id = question:adult-life:49-how-to-handle-gossip:t11:o2:1
# text = That the news was a lie all along
1	That	that	DET	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	3	det	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	news	news	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	_
4	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	6	cop	_	_
5	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	lie	lie	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
7	all	all	ADV	RB	_	8	advmod	_	_
8	along	along	ADV	RB	_	6	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | past | that news | a lie |  |  |  | along *property* | tree rules |

### Option 3 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Keeping someone's news for them to share

```conllu
# sent_id = question:adult-life:49-how-to-handle-gossip:t11:o3:1
# text = Keeping someone's news for them to share
1	Keeping	keep	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
2	someone	someone	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Ind	4	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	's	's	PART	POS	_	2	case	_	_
4	news	news	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
5	for	for	SCONJ	IN	_	8	mark	_	_
6	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	8	nsubj	_	_
7	to	to	PART	TO	_	8	mark	_	_
8	share	share	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	1	advcl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **keep** | gerund |  | someone's news |  |  |  |  | vn keep-15.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent news=Theme |
| 2 | **share** | to-infinitive | them *= they* |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Being rude to her friend on the phone

```conllu
# sent_id = question:adult-life:49-how-to-handle-gossip:t11:o4:1
# text = Being rude to her friend on the phone
1	Being	be	AUX	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	2	cop	_	_
2	rude	rude	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
3	to	to	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
4	her	her	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	5	nmod:poss	_	_
5	friend	friend	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
6	on	on	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	phone	phone	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | gerund |  |  |  | the phone |  | to her friend; rude *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.

<!-- /div -->

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