---
title: In the playground: "Sophie was crying, her mum and dad must be split… — How to handle gossip: is it true, is i… · tree and pragmatics
description: In the playground: "Sophie was crying, her mum and dad must be splitting up." Which is true? Test 5 · ★★ 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 questio
---

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# Test 5 · ★★ · How to handle gossip: is it true, is it kind, would I say…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
In the playground: "Sophie was crying, her mum and dad must be splitting up." Which is true?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 2 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** Sophie, crying · **What happens:** cry, split up, be · **To what, where:** mum, playground · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 5 · ★★ 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/#t5).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* In the playground: "Sophie was crying, her mum and dad must be splitting up."

```conllu
# sent_id = question:adult-life:49-how-to-handle-gossip:t5:1
# text = In the playground: "Sophie was crying, her mum and dad must be splitting up."
1	In	in	ADP	IN	_	3	case	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	playground	playground	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	16	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	:	:	PUNCT	:	_	8	punct	_	_
5	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	8	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	Sophie	Sophie	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	8	nsubj	_	_
7	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	8	aux	_	_
8	crying	cry	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	16	csubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	11	punct	_	_
10	her	her	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	11	nmod:poss	_	_
11	mum	mum	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obl	_	_
12	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	13	cc	_	_
13	dad	dad	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	conj	_	_
14	must	must	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	16	aux	_	_
15	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	16	aux	_	_
16	splitting	split	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
17	up	up	ADP	RP	_	16	compound:prt	_	SpaceAfter=No
18	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	16	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
19	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	16	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **cry** *speech: express* *in a quote* | past · progressive | Sophie | Sophie's mum and dad |  |  |  |  | vn manner\_speaking-37.3 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **split up** *in a quote* | must · progressive | crying |  |  | the playground |  |  | vn interact-36.6 «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:* Which is true?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:adult-life:49-how-to-handle-gossip:t5:2
# text = Which is true?
1	Which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	3	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	cop	_	_
3	true	true	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present |  |  |  |  |  | true *property* | tree rules |

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 · ← Mova's choice {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The divorce is a fact everyone can see

```conllu
# sent_id = question:adult-life:49-how-to-handle-gossip:t5:o1:1
# text = The divorce is a fact everyone can see
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	divorce	divorce	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
3	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
4	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	fact	fact	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
6	everyone	everyone	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Tot	8	nsubj	_	_
7	can	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	8	aux	_	_
8	see	see	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	acl:relcl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | the divorce | a fact |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **see** | can | everyone | a fact *not said here* |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer fact=Stimulus |

### Option 2 · ✓ the right answer {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Crying is a fact; the reason is a guess

```conllu
# sent_id = question:adult-life:49-how-to-handle-gossip:t5:o2:1
# text = Crying is a fact; the reason is a guess
1	Crying	cry	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	4	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
3	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	fact	fact	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	;	;	PUNCT	,	_	7	punct	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	reason	reason	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	conj	_	_
8	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	10	cop	_	_
9	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	guess	guess	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **cry** *speech: express* | gerund |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn manner\_speaking-37.3 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **is a** | present |  | a fact and the reason |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 3 | **is a** | present |  | a guess |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Sophie's tears prove her parents argue

```conllu
# sent_id = question:adult-life:49-how-to-handle-gossip:t5:o3:1
# text = Sophie's tears prove her parents argue
1	Sophie	Sophie	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	3	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	's	's	PART	POS	_	1	case	_	_
3	tears	tear	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj	_	_
4	prove	prove	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	her	her	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	6	nmod:poss	_	_
6	parents	parent	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	nsubj	_	_
7	argue	argue	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	ccomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **prove** | present | Sophie's tears |  |  |  |  |  | vn declare-29.4-1-1 «NP V what S\_INF»: agent=Agent clause=Theme |
| 2 | **argue** *speech: disagree* | present | Sophie's parents |  |  |  |  |  | vn correspond-36.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Crying always means a family problem

```conllu
# sent_id = question:adult-life:49-how-to-handle-gossip:t5:o4:1
# text = Crying always means a family problem
1	Crying	cry	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	3	csubj	_	_
2	always	always	ADV	RB	PronType=Tot	1	advmod	_	_
3	means	mean	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
5	family	family	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	compound	_	_
6	problem	problem	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **cry** *speech: express* | gerund |  |  |  |  |  | always *property* | vn manner\_speaking-37.3 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **mean** | present | Crying | a family problem |  |  |  |  | vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent problem=Topic |

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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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