---
title: Why is it kinder to wave than to shake hands when you have a cold? — Handshakes, waves and greetings around… · tree and pragmatics
description: Why is it kinder to wave than to shake hands when you have a cold? Test 1 · ★ of lesson 124 «Handshakes, waves and greetings around the world» 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 1 · ★ · Handshakes, waves and greetings around the world

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Why is it kinder to wave than to shake hands when you have a cold?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 2 · **The right answer:** option 2 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** it, you · **What happens:** be, wave, shake, have · **To what, where:** hands, cold

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 1 · ★ of lesson 124 «Handshakes, waves and greetings around the world» 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/124-handshakes-waves-and-local-customs/#t1).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:124-handshakes-waves-and-local-customs:t1:1
# text = Why is it kinder to wave than to shake hands when you have a cold?
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	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
4	kinder	kind	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	0	root	_	_
5	to	to	PART	TO	_	6	mark	_	_
6	wave	wave	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	csubj	_	_
7	than	than	SCONJ	IN	_	9	mark	_	_
8	to	to	PART	TO	_	9	mark	_	_
9	shake	shake	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	6	xcomp	_	_
10	hands	hand	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	9	obj	_	_
11	when	when	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	13	advmod	_	_
12	you	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Person=2|PronType=Prs	13	nsubj	_	_
13	have	have	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=2|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	9	advcl	_	_
14	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	15	det	_	_
15	cold	cold	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | it |  |  |  |  | kind *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **wave** | to-infinitive |  |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 3 | **shake** | to-infinitive |  | hands |  |  |  |  | vn shake-22.3-2 «NP V NP together»: agent=Agent hand=Patient |
| 4 | **have** | present | you | a cold |  |  |  |  | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent cold=Patient |

<!-- .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 a wave is always more polite than a handshake, cold or not

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:124-handshakes-waves-and-local-customs:t1:o1:1
# text = Because a wave is always more polite than a handshake, cold or not
1	Because	because	SCONJ	IN	_	7	mark	_	_
2	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	wave	wave	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nsubj	_	_
4	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	7	cop	_	_
5	always	always	ADV	RB	PronType=Tot	7	advmod	_	_
6	more	more	ADV	RBR	Degree=Cmp	7	advmod	_	_
7	polite	polite	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
8	than	than	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	handshake	handshake	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	12	punct	_	_
12	cold	cold	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	conj	_	_
13	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	14	cc	_	_
14	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	7	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | a wave |  |  |  |  | than a handshake; always, polite *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **be** |  | a wave *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

### Option 2 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Germs spread through hands, and waving protects the other person

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:124-handshakes-waves-and-local-customs:t1:o2:1
# text = Germs spread through hands, and waving protects the other person
1	Germs	germ	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nsubj	_	_
2	spread	spread	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	through	through	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
4	hands	hand	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	8	punct	_	_
6	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	8	cc	_	_
7	waving	wave	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	8	nsubj	_	_
8	protects	protect	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	2	parataxis	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
10	other	other	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	11	amod	_	_
11	person	person	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **spread** | present | Germs |  |  | hands |  |  | vn appear-48.1.1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme through hand=Location |
| 2 | **wave** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn wink-40.3.1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **protect** | present |  |  | the other person |  |  |  | vn defend-72.3 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent person=Beneficiary |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Because shaking hands is not allowed in winter

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:124-handshakes-waves-and-local-customs:t1:o3:1
# text = Because shaking hands is not allowed in winter
1	Because	because	SCONJ	IN	_	6	mark	_	_
2	shaking	shake	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	6	csubj:pass	_	_
3	hands	hand	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obj	_	_
4	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	aux:pass	_	_
5	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	6	advmod	_	_
6	allowed	allow	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
7	in	in	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
8	winter	winter	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **shake** | gerund |  | hands |  |  |  |  | vn shake-22.3-2 «NP V NP together»: agent=Agent hand=Patient |
| 2 | **not** **allow** | present · passive | shaking |  |  |  | winter |  | vn allow-64.1-1 «NP V S\_ING» |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Because a cold makes your hands too weak to shake

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:124-handshakes-waves-and-local-customs:t1:o4:1
# text = Because a cold makes your hands too weak to shake
1	Because	because	SCONJ	IN	_	4	mark	_	_
2	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	cold	cold	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
4	makes	make	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	8	advcl	_	_
5	your	your	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Person=2|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	6	nmod:poss	_	_
6	hands	hand	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obj	_	_
7	too	too	ADV	RB	_	8	advmod	_	_
8	weak	weak	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
9	to	to	PART	TO	_	10	mark	_	_
10	shake	shake	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	8	advcl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **make** | present | a cold | your hands |  |  |  |  | vn build-26.1-1 «NP.asset V NP»: agent=Asset hand=Product |
| 2 | **shake** | to-infinitive |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn shake-22.3-2 «NP V ADV-Middle»: agent=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.

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- ← previous: [Greeting neighbours and new people, exam 4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/everyday/123-neighbours-and-new-people/e4/)
- next →: [Handshakes, waves and greetings around…, test 2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/everyday/124-handshakes-waves-and-local-customs/t2/)
- ↑ back to [Handshakes, waves and greetings around the world](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/everyday/124-handshakes-waves-and-local-customs/)