---
title: Why is a hello to an old man who lives alone more important than it… — Greeting neighbours and new people · tree and pragmatics
description: Why is a hello to an old man who lives alone more important than it seems? Test 2 · ★ of lesson 123 «Greeting neighbours and new people» 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 · ★ · Greeting neighbours and new people

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Why is a hello to an old man who lives alone more important than it seems?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 3 · **The right answer:** option 3 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** old man, it · **What happens:** be, live, seem · **To what, where:** hello

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 2 · ★ of lesson 123 «Greeting neighbours and new people» 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/123-neighbours-and-new-people/#t2).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:123-neighbours-and-new-people:t2:1
# text = Why is a hello to an old man who lives alone more important than it seems?
1	Why	why	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	4	advmod	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
3	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	hello	hello	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
5	to	to	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
6	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
7	old	old	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	amod	_	_
8	man	man	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nmod	_	_
9	who	who	PRON	WP	PronType=Rel	10	nsubj	_	_
10	lives	live	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	8	acl:relcl	_	_
11	alone	alone	ADV	RB	_	10	advmod	_	_
12	more	more	ADV	RBR	Degree=Cmp	13	advmod	_	_
13	important	important	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	10	xcomp	_	_
14	than	than	SCONJ	IN	_	16	mark	_	_
15	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	16	nsubj	_	_
16	seems	seem	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	13	advcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present |  | a hello |  |  |  | to a old man | tree rules |
| 2 | **live** | present | a old man |  |  |  |  | alone, important *property* | vn exist-47.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 3 | **seem** | present | it |  |  |  |  |  | vn seem-109-1-1-1 «NP V S\_INF»: 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.

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Because it is a law to greet every neighbour

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:123-neighbours-and-new-people:t2:o1:1
# text = Because it is a law to greet every neighbour
1	Because	because	SCONJ	IN	_	5	mark	_	_
2	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	5	expl	_	_
3	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
4	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	law	law	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
6	to	to	PART	TO	_	7	mark	_	_
7	greet	greet	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	acl	_	_
8	every	every	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	9	det	_	_
9	neighbour	neighbour	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present |  | a law |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **greet** *speech: greet* | to-infinitive |  | every neighbour |  |  |  |  | vn judgment-33.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent neighbour=Theme |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Because he might be a famous person

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:123-neighbours-and-new-people:t2:o2:1
# text = Because he might be a famous person
1	Because	because	SCONJ	IN	_	7	mark	_	_
2	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	7	nsubj	_	_
3	might	might	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	7	aux	_	_
4	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	7	cop	_	_
5	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
6	famous	famous	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
7	person	person	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | might | he | a famous person |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Being noticed cheers lonely people and shows if they need help

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:123-neighbours-and-new-people:t2:o3:1
# text = Being noticed cheers lonely people and shows if they need help
1	Being	be	AUX	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	2	aux:pass	_	_
2	noticed	notice	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	3	amod	_	_
3	cheers	cheer	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	nsubj	_	_
4	lonely	lonely	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	people	people	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	conj	_	_
6	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	5	cc	_	_
7	shows	show	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
8	if	if	SCONJ	IN	_	10	mark	_	_
9	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	10	nsubj	_	_
10	need	need	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	7	ccomp	_	_
11	help	help	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **notice** | gerund · passive |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn see-30.1-1 «NP V S\_ING» |
| 2 | **show** | present | noticed cheers and lonely people |  |  |  |  |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V how S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 3 | **need** *a condition, not said to happen* | present | cheers *= cheer* | help |  |  |  |  | vn want-32.1-1-1 «NP V NP ADV»: agent=Pivot help=Theme |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Because old people often pay children a little money just to say hello

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:123-neighbours-and-new-people:t2:o4:1
# text = Because old people often pay children a little money just to say hello
1	Because	because	SCONJ	IN	_	5	mark	_	_
2	old	old	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	people	people	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	nsubj	_	_
4	often	often	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
5	pay	pay	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	12	advcl	_	_
6	children	child	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	obj	_	_
7	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
8	little	little	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	amod	_	_
9	money	money	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obj	_	_
10	just	just	ADV	RB	_	12	advmod	_	_
11	to	to	PART	TO	_	12	mark	_	_
12	say	say	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
13	hello	hello	INTJ	UH	_	12	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **pay** | present | old people |  | children |  |  | often *property* | vn pay-68-1 «NP V NP NP»: agent=Agent child=Recipient money=Asset |
| 2 | **say** *speech: assert* | to-infinitive |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V NP.topic»: agent=Agent hello=Topic |

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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 neighbours and new people, test 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/everyday/123-neighbours-and-new-people/t1/)
- next →: [Greeting neighbours and new people, test 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/everyday/123-neighbours-and-new-people/t3/)
- ↑ back to [Greeting neighbours and new people](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/everyday/123-neighbours-and-new-people/)