---
title: Your friend: "I only told Mia, swear!" Now the whole class knows Jes… — How to handle gossip: is it true, is i… · tree and pragmatics
description: Your friend: "I only told Mia, swear!" Now the whole class knows Jess's secret. What happened? Test 4 · ★★ 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 quest
---

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# Test 4 · ★★ · How to handle gossip: is it true, is it kind, would I say…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Your friend: "I only told Mia, swear!" Now the whole class knows Jess's secret. What happened?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 3 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** friend, whole class · **What happens:** tell, swear, know, happen · **To what, where:** Mia, secret · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 4 · ★★ 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/#t4).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* Your friend: "I only told Mia, swear!"

```conllu
# sent_id = question:adult-life:49-how-to-handle-gossip:t4:1
# text = Your friend: "I only told Mia, swear!"
1	Your	your	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Person=2|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	2	nmod:poss	_	_
2	friend	friend	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	:	:	PUNCT	:	_	7	punct	_	_
4	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	7	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	7	nsubj	_	_
6	only	only	ADV	RB	_	7	advmod	_	_
7	told	tell	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
8	Mia	Mia	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	7	iobj	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	10	punct	_	_
10	swear	swear	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	7	xcomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	!	!	PUNCT	.	_	10	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	10	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **tell** *speech: assert* *in a quote* | past | Your friend |  | Mia |  |  |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP S\_INF»: agent=Agent mia=Recipient clause=Topic |
| 2 | **swear** *not said to happen, in a quote* | infinitive | Your friend *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn conjecture-29.5 «NP V that S»: 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:* Now the whole class knows Jess's secret.

```conllu
# sent_id = question:adult-life:49-how-to-handle-gossip:t4:2
# text = Now the whole class knows Jess's secret.
1	Now	now	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	5	advmod	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
3	whole	whole	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	amod	_	_
4	class	class	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
5	knows	know	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
6	Jess	Jess	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	8	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	's	's	PART	POS	_	6	case	_	_
8	secret	secret	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **know** | present | the whole class | Jess's secret |  |  | now |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1-1 «NP V NP PP.attribute»: agent=Experiencer secret=Stimulus |

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 3:* What happened?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:adult-life:49-how-to-handle-gossip:t4:3
# text = What happened?
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	2	nsubj	_	_
2	happened	happen	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **happen** | past |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn occur-48.3-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 · ← Mova's choice {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Mia must have read Jess's diary

```conllu
# sent_id = question:adult-life:49-how-to-handle-gossip:t4:o1:1
# text = Mia must have read Jess's diary
1	Mia	Mia	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	4	nsubj:pass	_	_
2	must	must	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
3	have	have	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	aux	_	_
4	read	read	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
5	Jess	Jess	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	7	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	's	's	PART	POS	_	5	case	_	_
7	diary	diary	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **read** | must · perfect · passive |  | Mia |  |  |  |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1 «NP V NP-Dative NP»: subject=Recipient diary=Topic |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Jess told everyone herself

```conllu
# sent_id = question:adult-life:49-how-to-handle-gossip:t4:o2:1
# text = Jess told everyone herself
1	Jess	Jess	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	2	nsubj	_	_
2	told	tell	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	everyone	everyone	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Tot	2	obj	_	_
4	herself	herself	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs|Reflex=Yes	2	appos	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **tell** *speech: assert* | past | Jess |  | everyone |  |  |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP.recipient»: agent=Agent everyone=Recipient |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Telling one person is how it spread

```conllu
# sent_id = question:adult-life:49-how-to-handle-gossip:t4:o3:1
# text = Telling one person is how it spread
1	Telling	tell	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	7	csubj	_	_
2	one	one	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	3	nummod	_	_
3	person	person	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
4	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	7	cop	_	_
5	how	how	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	7	advmod	_	_
6	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	7	nsubj	_	_
7	spread	spread	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **tell** *speech: assert* | gerund |  |  | one person |  |  |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP.recipient»: agent=Agent person=Recipient |
| 2 | **is** | present | it |  |  |  |  | spread *property* | tree rules |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Secrets always come out on their own

```conllu
# sent_id = question:adult-life:49-how-to-handle-gossip:t4:o4:1
# text = Secrets always come out on their own
1	Secrets	secret	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj	_	_
2	always	always	ADV	RB	PronType=Tot	3	advmod	_	_
3	come	come	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	out	out	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	_
5	on	on	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	7	nmod:poss	_	_
7	own	own	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **come out** | present | Secrets |  |  | Secrets's own |  | always, out *property* | vn become-109.1 «NP V ADJ»: agent=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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