---
title: A girl in Texas says "I'm fixin' to write the scariest story y'all e… — Building tension and suspense · tree and pragmatics
description: A girl in Texas says "I'm fixin' to write the scariest story y'all ever read." Which is the best first tip? Test 11 · ★★ of lesson 42 «Building tension and suspense» of the English course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each option; Mova's cho
---

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# Test 11 · ★★ · Building tension and suspense

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A girl in Texas says "I'm fixin' to write the scariest story y'all ever read." Which is the best first tip?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 1 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** girl, y'all · **What happens:** say, fixin, write, read, be · **To what, where:** scariest story, best first tip · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 11 · ★★ of lesson 42 «Building tension and suspense» 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/42-building-tension-and-suspense/#t11).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* A girl in Texas says "I'm fixin' to write the scariest story y'all ever read."

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:42-building-tension-and-suspense:t11:1
# text = A girl in Texas says "I'm fixin' to write the scariest story y'all ever read."
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	girl	girl	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
3	in	in	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
4	Texas	Texas	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	_
5	says	say	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
6	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	9	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	9	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	'm	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	9	aux	_	_
9	fixin	fixin	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	5	ccomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	'	'	PUNCT	''	_	9	punct	_	_
11	to	to	PART	TO	_	12	mark	_	_
12	write	write	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	9	xcomp	_	_
13	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	15	det	_	_
14	scariest	scarey	ADJ	JJS	Degree=Sup	15	amod	_	_
15	story	story	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	obj	_	_
16	y'all	y'all	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Person=2|PronType=Prs	18	nsubj	_	_
17	ever	ever	ADV	RB	PronType=Ind	18	advmod	_	_
18	read	read	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=2|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	15	acl:relcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
19	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	9	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
20	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	9	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **say** *speech: assert* | present | a girl in Texas |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 2 | **fixin** *in a quote* | present · progressive | a girl in Texas *= girl* |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 3 | **write** *in a quote* | to-infinitive | a girl in Texas *= girl* *not said here* | the scariest story |  |  |  |  | vn scribble-25.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent story=Theme |
| 4 | **read** *in a quote* | past | y'all | the scariest story *not said here* |  |  | ever |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent story=Topic |

<!-- .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 the best first tip?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:42-building-tension-and-suspense:t11:2
# text = Which is the best first tip?
1	Which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	6	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	cop	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
4	best	good	ADJ	JJS	Degree=Sup	6	amod	_	_
5	first	first	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos|NumForm=Word|NumType=Ord	6	amod	_	_
6	tip	tip	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	6	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present |  | the best first tip |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Don't show the monster too soon

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:42-building-tension-and-suspense:t11:o1:1
# text = Don't show the monster too soon
1	Do	do	AUX	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	n't	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	3	advmod	_	_
3	show	show	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	monster	monster	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
6	too	too	ADV	RB	_	7	advmod	_	_
7	soon	soon	ADV	RB	Degree=Pos	3	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **show** | imperative · do-support | you *not said here* |  | the monster |  |  | soon *property* | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP.recipient»: agent=Agent monster=Recipient |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Explain the whole ending in line one

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:42-building-tension-and-suspense:t11:o2:1
# text = Explain the whole ending in line one
1	Explain	explain	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
3	whole	whole	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	amod	_	_
4	ending	ending	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
5	in	in	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	line	line	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obl	_	_
7	one	one	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	1	ccomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **explain** *speech: assert* | imperative | you *not said here* | the whole ending |  | line |  |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent ending=Topic |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Use "suddenly" a lot

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:42-building-tension-and-suspense:t11:o3:1
# text = Use "suddenly" a lot
1	Use	use	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	3	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	suddenly	suddenly	ADV	RB	_	1	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	3	punct	_	_
5	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	lot	lot	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obl:unmarked	_	_
```

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

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Put the monster's name in the title

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:42-building-tension-and-suspense:t11:o4:1
# text = Put the monster's name in the title
1	Put	put	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	monster	monster	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	's	's	PART	POS	_	3	case	_	_
5	name	name	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
6	in	in	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	title	title	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **put** | imperative | you *not said here* | the monster's name |  | the title |  |  | vn put-9.1-2 «NP V NP PP.destination»: agent=Agent name=Theme in title=Destination |
| 2 | **name** |  | the monster |  |  |  |  |  | nom name «communication transitive»: poss=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.

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