---
title: why do ppl even lie — Why people lie, and what is not a lie · tree and pragmatics
description: why do ppl even lie Test 15 · ★ of lesson 195 «Why people lie, and what is not a lie» 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 15 · ★ · Why people lie, and what is not a lie

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
why do ppl even lie

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 4 · **The right answer:** option 4 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** ppl · **What happens:** lie

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 15 · ★ of lesson 195 «Why people lie, and what is not a lie» 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/195-why-people-lie/#t15).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:195-why-people-lie:t15:1
# text = why do ppl even lie
1	why	why	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	0	root	_	_
2	do	do	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	aux	_	_
3	ppl	people	NOUN	NNS	Abbr=Yes|Number=Plur	5	nsubj	_	_
4	even	even	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
5	lie	lie	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	1	advcl:relcl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **lie** | present · do-support | ppl |  |  |  |  |  | vn assuming\_position-50 «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 -->
Only bad people lie

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:195-why-people-lie:t15:o1:1
# text = Only bad people lie
1	Only	only	ADV	RB	_	2	advmod	_	_
2	bad	bad	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	people	people	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj	_	_
4	lie	lie	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **lie** | present | bad people |  |  |  |  |  | vn assuming\_position-50 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
People lie to make others happy every single time, never for themselves

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:195-why-people-lie:t15:o2:1
# text = People lie to make others happy every single time, never for themselves
1	People	people	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nsubj	_	_
2	lie	lie	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	to	to	PART	TO	_	4	mark	_	_
4	make	make	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	2	advcl	_	_
5	others	other	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obj	_	_
6	happy	happy	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	xcomp	_	_
7	every	every	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	9	det	_	_
8	single	single	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	amod	_	_
9	time	time	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl:unmarked	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	13	punct	_	_
11	never	never	ADV	RB	PronType=Neg	13	advmod	_	_
12	for	for	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
13	themselves	themselves	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs|Reflex=Yes	2	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **lie** | present | People |  |  |  |  | for People | vn assuming\_position-50 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **make** | to-infinitive | People *not said here* | others |  |  | time | happy *property* | vn build-26.1-1 «NP.asset V NP»: agent=Asset other=Product |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Because lying is always good

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:195-why-people-lie:t15:o3:1
# text = Because lying is always good
1	Because	because	SCONJ	IN	_	5	mark	_	_
2	lying	lying	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
3	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
4	always	always	ADV	RB	PronType=Tot	5	advmod	_	_
5	good	good	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
```

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

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Often to avoid trouble or look good, but it usually backfires

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:195-why-people-lie:t15:o4:1
# text = Often to avoid trouble or look good, but it usually backfires
1	Often	often	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	_
2	to	to	PART	TO	_	3	mark	_	_
3	avoid	avoid	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	trouble	trouble	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
5	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	6	cc	_	_
6	look	look	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	3	conj	_	_
7	good	good	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	xcomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	12	punct	_	_
9	but	but	CCONJ	CC	_	12	cc	_	_
10	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	12	nsubj	_	_
11	usually	usually	ADV	RB	_	12	advmod	_	_
12	backfires	backfire	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	advcl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **avoid** | to-infinitive |  | trouble |  |  |  | often *property* | vn avoid-52 «NP V NP.location»: agent=Agent trouble=Location |
| 2 | **look** | infinitive |  |  |  |  |  | good *property* | vn stimulus\_subject-30.4 «NP V ADJ»: agent=Stimulus |
| 3 | **backfire** | present | trouble |  |  |  |  | usually *property* | tree rules |

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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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