---
title: Your sister, dead sarcastic: "Wow, a ghost appeared and then left. T… — Building tension and suspense · tree and pragmatics
description: Your sister, dead sarcastic: "Wow, a ghost appeared and then left. Terrifying." What is she hinting? Test 7 · ★★ 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 choice was 
---

<!-- md -->
[Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/english/42-building-tension-and-suspense/t7/)

<!-- crumbs -->
[home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/) / [questions](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/) / [English](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/english/) / [Building tension and suspense](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/english/42-building-tension-and-suspense/) / t7

# Test 7 · ★★ · Building tension and suspense

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Your sister, dead sarcastic: "Wow, a ghost appeared and then left. Terrifying." What is she hinting?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 3 · **The right answer:** option 4 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** sister, ghost · **What happens:** appear, leave, hint

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 7 · ★★ 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/#t7).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* Your sister, dead sarcastic: "Wow, a ghost appeared and then left.

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:42-building-tension-and-suspense:t7:1
# text = Your sister, dead sarcastic: "Wow, a ghost appeared and then left.
1	Your	your	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Person=2|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	2	nmod:poss	_	_
2	sister	sister	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	5	punct	_	_
4	dead	dead	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	sarcastic	sarcastic	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	:	:	PUNCT	:	_	2	punct	_	_
7	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	12	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	Wow	wow	INTJ	UH	_	12	discourse	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	8	punct	_	_
10	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	ghost	ghost	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	nsubj	_	_
12	appeared	appear	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
13	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	15	cc	_	_
14	then	then	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	15	advmod	_	_
15	left	leave	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	12	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	12	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **appear** *in a quote* | past | Your sister and dead sarcastic |  |  |  |  |  | vn appear-48.1.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 2 | **leave** *in a quote* | past | Your sister and dead sarcastic *not said here* |  |  |  | then |  | vn escape-51.1-1-1 «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:* Terrifying."

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:42-building-tension-and-suspense:t7:2
# text = Terrifying."
1	Terrifying	terrifying	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .note -->
The frames reader finds no event or fact in this sentence.

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 3:* What is she hinting?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:42-building-tension-and-suspense:t7:3
# text = What is she hinting?
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	4	obj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
3	she	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
4	hinting	hint	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **hint** *speech: other* | present · progressive | ghost |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-2 «NP V NP.topic»: agent=Agent what=Topic |

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
She is truly terrified now

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:42-building-tension-and-suspense:t7:o1:1
# text = She is truly terrified now
1	She	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
3	truly	truly	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
4	terrified	terrified	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
5	now	now	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	4	advmod	_	_
```

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

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The story needs more ghosts

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:42-building-tension-and-suspense:t7:o2:1
# text = The story needs more ghosts
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	story	story	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	needs	need	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	more	more	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	5	amod	_	_
5	ghosts	ghost	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **need** | present | the story | more ghosts |  |  |  |  | vn want-32.1-1-1 «NP V NP ADV»: agent=Pivot ghost=Theme |

### Option 3 · ← Mova's choice {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Ghosts should never appear in stories

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:42-building-tension-and-suspense:t7:o3:1
# text = Ghosts should never appear in stories
1	Ghosts	ghost	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj	_	_
2	should	should	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
3	never	never	ADV	RB	PronType=Neg	4	advmod	_	_
4	appear	appear	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
5	in	in	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	stories	story	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **appear** | should | Ghosts |  |  | stories |  |  | vn appear-48.1.1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme in story=Location |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The ghost scene went by far too fast

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:42-building-tension-and-suspense:t7:o4:1
# text = The ghost scene went by far too fast
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	ghost	ghost	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	compound	_	_
3	scene	scene	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
4	went	go	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	by	by	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	far	far	ADV	RB	Degree=Pos	4	obl	_	_
7	too	too	ADV	RB	_	8	advmod	_	_
8	fast	fast	ADV	RB	Degree=Pos	4	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **go** | past | the ghost scene |  |  |  |  | fast *property* | vn occur-48.3-2 «NP V PP»: agent=Theme by far=Location |

<!-- 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 -->

<!-- pn -->
- ← previous: [Building tension and suspense, test 6](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/english/42-building-tension-and-suspense/t6/)
- next →: [Building tension and suspense, test 8](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/english/42-building-tension-and-suspense/t8/)
- ↑ back to [Building tension and suspense](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/english/42-building-tension-and-suspense/)