---
title: Why is it a problem to read someone's messages without asking? — Gratitude, helping at home and privacy · tree and pragmatics
description: Why is it a problem to read someone's messages without asking? Test 2 · ★ of lesson 102 «Gratitude, helping at home and privacy» of the everyday 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 2 · ★ · Gratitude, helping at home and privacy

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Why is it a problem to read someone's messages without asking?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 4 · **The right answer:** option 4 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** it · **What happens:** be, read, ask · **To what, where:** problem, messages

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This is test 2 · ★ of lesson 102 «Gratitude, helping at home and privacy» of the everyday 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/everyday/102-gratitude-helping-at-home-privacy/#t2).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:102-gratitude-helping-at-home-privacy:t2:1
# text = Why is it a problem to read someone's messages without asking?
1	Why	why	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	5	advmod	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
3	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	5	nsubj	_	_
4	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	problem	problem	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
6	to	to	PART	TO	_	7	mark	_	_
7	read	read	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	acl	_	_
8	someone	someone	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Ind	10	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	's	's	PART	POS	_	8	case	_	_
10	messages	message	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	obj	_	_
11	without	without	SCONJ	IN	_	12	mark	_	_
12	asking	ask	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	7	advcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | it | a problem |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **read** | to-infinitive |  | someone's messages |  |  |  |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent message=Topic |
| 3 | **ask** *speech: ask* | gerund |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn inquire-37.1.2 «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 -->
Messages are always boring

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:102-gratitude-helping-at-home-privacy:t2:o1:1
# text = Messages are always boring
1	Messages	message	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj	_	_
2	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
3	always	always	ADV	RB	PronType=Tot	4	advmod	_	_
4	boring	boring	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
```

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

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It uses up their phone battery

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:102-gratitude-helping-at-home-privacy:t2:o2:1
# text = It uses up their phone battery
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	uses	use	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	up	up	ADP	RP	_	2	compound:prt	_	_
4	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	6	nmod:poss	_	_
5	phone	phone	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	compound	_	_
6	battery	battery	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **use up** | present | It | their phone battery |  |  |  |  | vn eat-39.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent battery=Patient |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
You might learn something useful about them that way

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:102-gratitude-helping-at-home-privacy:t2:o3:1
# text = You might learn something useful about them that way
1	You	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Person=2|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	might	might	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	3	aux	_	_
3	learn	learn	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
4	something	something	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Ind	3	obj	_	_
5	useful	useful	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	amod	_	_
6	about	about	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	obl	_	_
8	that	that	DET	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	9	det	_	_
9	way	way	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl:unmarked	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **learn** | might | You | something |  |  |  | about them *= they*; that way *obl:unmarked* | vn learn-14-2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent something=Topic |

### Option 4 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
They are private and it breaks trust

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:102-gratitude-helping-at-home-privacy:t2:o4:1
# text = They are private and it breaks trust
1	They	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	cop	_	_
3	private	private	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
4	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	6	cc	_	_
5	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	6	nsubj	_	_
6	breaks	break	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	conj	_	_
7	trust	trust	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | They |  |  |  |  | private *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **break** | present | it | trust |  |  |  |  | vn hurt-40.8.3-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer trust=Patient |

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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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- ← previous: [Gratitude, helping at home and privacy, test 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/everyday/102-gratitude-helping-at-home-privacy/t1/)
- next →: [Gratitude, helping at home and privacy, test 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/everyday/102-gratitude-helping-at-home-privacy/t3/)
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