---
title: Why do readers enjoy "show, don't tell"? — Describing: senses, showing and precis… · tree and pragmatics
description: Why do readers enjoy "show, don't tell"? Test 10 · ★ of lesson 41 «Describing: senses, showing and precise words» of the English course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each option; Mova's choice was right.
---

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# Test 10 · ★ · Describing: senses, showing and precise words

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Why do readers enjoy "show, don't tell"?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 3 · **The right answer:** option 3 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** readers · **What happens:** enjoy, not tell · **To what, where:** show · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 10 · ★ of lesson 41 «Describing: senses, showing and precise words» 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/41-describing-senses-showing-and-precise-words/#t10).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:41-describing-senses-showing-and-precise-words:t10:1
# text = Why do readers enjoy "show, don't tell"?
1	Why	why	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	4	advmod	_	_
2	do	do	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
3	readers	reader	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj	_	_
4	enjoy	enjoy	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
5	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	4	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	show	show	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	10	punct	_	_
8	do	do	AUX	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	10	aux	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	n't	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	10	advmod	_	_
10	tell	tell	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	4	parataxis	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	10	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **enjoy** | present · do-support | readers | show |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **not** **tell** *speech: assert* *in a quote* | infinitive · do-support |  |  |  |  |  |  | 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.

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Telling is not allowed in any published books

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:41-describing-senses-showing-and-precise-words:t10:o1:1
# text = Telling is not allowed in any published books
1	Telling	tell	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	4	nsubj:pass	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux:pass	_	_
3	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	4	advmod	_	_
4	allowed	allow	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
5	in	in	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
6	any	any	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	8	det	_	_
7	published	publish	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	8	amod	_	_
8	books	book	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **tell** *speech: assert* | gerund |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **not** **allow** | present · passive |  |  |  | any published books |  |  | vn allow-64.1-1 «NP V NP»: subject=Beneficiary |
| 3 | **publish** | participle |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn create-26.4 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It means the story has no words in it, only pictures

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:41-describing-senses-showing-and-precise-words:t10:o2:1
# text = It means the story has no words in it, only pictures
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	means	mean	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	story	story	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
5	has	have	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	2	ccomp	_	_
6	no	no	DET	DT	PronType=Neg	7	det	_	_
7	words	word	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	obj	_	_
8	in	in	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
9	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	7	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	12	punct	_	_
11	only	only	ADV	RB	_	12	advmod	_	_
12	pictures	picture	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	parataxis	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **mean** | present | It |  |  |  |  |  | vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 2 | **have** | present | the story | no words |  | it |  |  | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent word=Patient |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
They get to work out the feeling themselves

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:41-describing-senses-showing-and-precise-words:t10:o3:1
# text = They get to work out the feeling themselves
1	They	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	get	get	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	to	to	PART	TO	_	4	mark	_	_
4	work	work	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	2	xcomp	_	_
5	out	out	ADP	RP	_	4	compound:prt	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	feeling	feeling	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obj	_	_
8	themselves	themselves	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs|Reflex=Yes	4	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **get** | present | They |  |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1 «NP V how S\_INF»: agent=Experiencer clause=Stimulus |
| 2 | **work out** | to-infinitive | They *not said here* | the feeling |  |  |  | themselves *= they* *obl* | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent feeling=Topic |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It is always much shorter than just telling

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:41-describing-senses-showing-and-precise-words:t10:o4:1
# text = It is always much shorter than just telling
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	5	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
3	always	always	ADV	RB	PronType=Tot	4	advmod	_	_
4	much	much	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
5	shorter	short	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	0	root	_	_
6	than	than	SCONJ	IN	_	8	mark	_	_
7	just	just	ADV	RB	_	8	advmod	_	_
8	telling	tell	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	5	advcl	_	_
```

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

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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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