---
title: Teacher: «Why use "crept" not "walked"?» Liam: «Cos it's better.» Ho… — Author's choices: why this word, why t… · tree and pragmatics
description: Teacher: «Why use "crept" not "walked"?» Liam: «Cos it's better.» How can he improve the answer? Test 10 · ★★ of lesson 21 «Author's choices: why this word, why this way» of the English course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each option; Mova'
---

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# Test 10 · ★★ · Author's choices: why this word, why this way

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Teacher: «Why use "crept" not "walked"?» Liam: «Cos it's better.» How can he improve the answer?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 2 · **The right answer:** option 4 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** Liam · **What happens:** use, creep, not walk, be, improve · **To what, where:** Teacher, answer

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 10 · ★★ of lesson 21 «Author's choices: why this word, why this way» of the English 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/english/21-authors-choices-why-this-word-why-this-way/#t10).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* Teacher: «Why use "crept" not "walked"?»

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:21-authors-choices-why-this-word-why-this-way:t10:1
# text = Teacher: «Why use "crept" not "walked"?»
1	Teacher	teacher	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl:unmarked	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	:	:	PUNCT	:	_	1	punct	_	_
3	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	5	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	Why	why	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	5	advmod	_	_
5	use	use	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
6	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	7	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	crept	creep	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	11	punct	_	_
9	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	11	advmod	_	_
10	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	11	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	walked	walk	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	7	ccomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	11	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	5	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **use** *in a quote* | present |  | Teacher |  |  |  |  | vn eat-39.1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **creep** | past |  |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 3 | **not** **walk** | past |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn run-51.3.2-2-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

<!-- .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:* Liam: «Cos it's better.»

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:21-authors-choices-why-this-word-why-this-way:t10:2
# text = Liam: «Cos it's better.»
1	Liam	Liam	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	7	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	:	:	PUNCT	:	_	7	punct	_	_
3	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	7	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	Cos	cos	SCONJ	IN	_	7	mark	_	_
5	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	7	expl	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	's	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	7	cop	_	_
7	better	good	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	7	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	7	punct	_	_
```

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

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 3:* How can he improve the answer?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:21-authors-choices-why-this-word-why-this-way:t10:3
# text = How can he improve the answer?
1	How	how	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	4	advmod	_	_
2	can	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
3	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
4	improve	improve	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	answer	answer	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **improve** | can | Liam | the answer |  |  |  |  | vn other\_cos-45.4 «NP V NP.patient»: agent=Agent answer=Patient |

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Give up and write «I don't know» because there's never a single right answer

<!-- fold The tree, 16 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:21-authors-choices-why-this-word-why-this-way:t10:o1:1
# text = Give up and write «I don't know» because there's never a single right answer
1	Give	give	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	up	up	ADP	RP	_	1	compound:prt	_	_
3	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	4	cc	_	_
4	write	write	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	1	conj	_	_
5	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	9	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	9	nsubj	_	_
7	do	do	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	9	aux	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	n't	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	9	advmod	_	_
9	know	know	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	ccomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	9	punct	_	_
11	because	because	SCONJ	IN	_	13	mark	_	_
12	there	there	PRON	EX	PronType=Dem	13	expl	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	's	be	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	1	advcl	_	_
14	never	never	ADV	RB	PronType=Neg	18	advmod	_	_
15	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	18	det	_	_
16	single	single	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	18	amod	_	_
17	right	right	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	18	amod	_	_
18	answer	answer	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **give up** | imperative | you *not said here* | a single right answer |  |  |  |  | vn resign-10.11-2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent answer=Source |
| 2 | **write** | infinitive | you *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1 «NP V S-Quote»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 3 | **not** **know** *in a quote* | present · do-support | I |  |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Experiencer |
| 4 | **be** | present | you *not said here* |  |  | there |  |  | vn exist-47.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

### Option 2 · ← Mova's choice {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Use a longer word

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:21-authors-choices-why-this-word-why-this-way:t10:o2:1
# text = Use a longer word
1	Use	use	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
3	longer	long	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	4	amod	_	_
4	word	word	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **use** | imperative | you *not said here* | a longer word |  |  |  |  | vn eat-39.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent word=Patient |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Write «because it's much, much better»

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:21-authors-choices-why-this-word-why-this-way:t10:o3:1
# text = Write «because it's much, much better»
1	Write	write	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	1	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	because	because	SCONJ	IN	_	9	mark	_	_
4	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	9	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	's	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	9	cop	_	_
6	much	much	ADV	RB	_	9	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	9	punct	_	_
8	much	much	ADV	RB	_	9	advmod	_	_
9	better	good	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	1	advcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **write** | imperative | you *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn scribble-25.2-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **is** *in a quote* | present | it |  |  |  |  | good *property* | tree rules |

### Option 4 · ✓ the right answer {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Say the effect: it sounds quiet and sneaky

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:21-authors-choices-why-this-word-why-this-way:t10:o4:1
# text = Say the effect: it sounds quiet and sneaky
1	Say	say	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	effect	effect	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	:	:	PUNCT	:	_	6	punct	_	_
5	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	6	nsubj	_	_
6	sounds	sound	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	1	parataxis	_	_
7	quiet	quiet	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	xcomp	_	_
8	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	9	cc	_	_
9	sneaky	sneaky	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **say** *speech: assert* | imperative | you *not said here* | the effect |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V NP.topic»: agent=Agent effect=Topic |
| 2 | **sound** | present | effect |  |  |  |  | quiet *property* | vn stimulus\_subject-30.4 «NP V ADJ»: agent=Stimulus |

<!-- div src -->

**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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