---
title: Which is the most polite way to start in a shop? — Greeting adults and teachers · tree and pragmatics
description: Which is the most polite way to start in a shop? Test 8 of lesson 121 «Greeting adults and teachers» 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 8 · Greeting adults and teachers

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Which is the most polite way to start in a shop?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 3 · **The right answer:** option 3 · right ✓ · **What happens:** be, start · **To what, where:** polite way, shop

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This is test 8 of lesson 121 «Greeting adults and teachers» 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/121-greeting-adults-and-teachers/#t8).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:121-greeting-adults-and-teachers:t8:1
# text = Which is the most polite way to start in a shop?
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	most	most	ADV	RBS	Degree=Sup	5	advmod	_	_
5	polite	polite	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	way	way	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
7	to	to	PART	TO	_	8	mark	_	_
8	start	start	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	6	acl	_	_
9	in	in	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
10	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	shop	shop	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	6	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present |  | the polite way |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **start** | to-infinitive |  |  |  | a shop |  |  | vn begin-55.1-1-1 «NP.eventuality V»: agent=Eventuality |

<!-- .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 -->
Wait for the shopkeeper to guess what you want

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:121-greeting-adults-and-teachers:t8:o1:1
# text = Wait for the shopkeeper to guess what you want
1	Wait	wait	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
2	for	for	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	shopkeeper	shopkeeper	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obl	_	_
5	to	to	PART	TO	_	6	mark	_	_
6	guess	guess	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	1	advcl	_	_
7	what	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	9	obj	_	_
8	you	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Person=2|PronType=Prs	9	nsubj	_	_
9	want	want	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=2|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	ccomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **wait** | imperative | you *not said here* |  |  |  |  | for the shopkeeper | vn exist-47.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 2 | **guess** | to-infinitive | you *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn discover-84 «NP V how S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 3 | **want** | present | you |  |  |  |  |  | vn want-32.1-1-1 «NP V NP ADV»: agent=Pivot what=Theme |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Ask for the price before saying anything else

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:121-greeting-adults-and-teachers:t8:o2:1
# text = Ask for the price before saying anything else
1	Ask	ask	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	for	for	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	price	price	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obl	_	_
5	before	before	SCONJ	IN	_	6	mark	_	_
6	saying	say	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	1	advcl	_	_
7	anything	anything	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Ind	6	obj	_	_
8	else	else	ADV	RB	_	7	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **ask** *speech: ask* | imperative | you *not said here* |  |  |  |  | for the price | vn inquire-37.1.2 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **say** *speech: assert* | gerund | you *not said here* | anything |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V NP.topic»: agent=Agent anything=Topic |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Greet the shopkeeper, then ask for what you need

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:121-greeting-adults-and-teachers:t8:o3:1
# text = Greet the shopkeeper, then ask for what you need
1	Greet	greet	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	shopkeeper	shopkeeper	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	6	punct	_	_
5	then	then	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	6	advmod	_	_
6	ask	ask	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	1	conj	_	_
7	for	for	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
8	what	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Rel	6	obl	_	_
9	you	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Person=2|PronType=Prs	10	nsubj	_	_
10	need	need	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=2|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	8	acl:relcl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **greet** *speech: greet* | imperative | you *not said here* | the shopkeeper |  |  |  |  | vn judgment-33.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent shopkeeper=Theme |
| 2 | **ask** *speech: ask* | infinitive | you *not said here* |  |  |  | then |  | vn inquire-37.1.2 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **need** | present | you |  |  |  |  |  | vn want-32.1-1-1 «NP V NP S\_INF»: agent=Pivot |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Say "Oi!" to get the shopkeeper's attention

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:121-greeting-adults-and-teachers:t8:o4:1
# text = Say "Oi!" to get the shopkeeper's attention
1	Say	say	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	3	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	Oi	Oi	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	!	!	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	3	punct	_	_
6	to	to	PART	TO	_	7	mark	_	_
7	get	get	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	1	ccomp	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	shopkeeper	shopkeeper	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	's	's	PART	POS	_	9	case	_	_
11	attention	attention	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **say** *speech: assert* | imperative | you *not said here* | Oi |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **get** | to-infinitive |  | the shopkeeper's attention |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer attention=Stimulus |
| 3 | **attend** |  | the shopkeeper |  |  |  |  |  | nom attention «cognition intransitive»: 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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- ← previous: [Greeting adults and teachers, test 7](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/everyday/121-greeting-adults-and-teachers/t7/)
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