---
title: Tom hid a broken vase and now has to invent a cat, a storm and an op… — Why people lie, and what is not a lie · tree and pragmatics
description: Tom hid a broken vase and now has to invent a cat, a storm and an open window to explain it. What does this show? Test 2 · ★ 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 opti
---

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# Test 2 · ★ · Why people lie, and what is not a lie

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Tom hid a broken vase and now has to invent a cat, a storm and an open window to explain it. What does this show?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 3 · **The right answer:** option 3 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** Tom, this · **What happens:** hide, break, have, invent, explain, show · **To what, where:** broken vase, cat, vase

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 2 · ★ 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/#t2).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* Tom hid a broken vase and now has to invent a cat, a storm and an open window to explain it.

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:195-why-people-lie:t2:1
# text = Tom hid a broken vase and now has to invent a cat, a storm and an open window to explain it.
1	Tom	Tom	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	2	nsubj	_	_
2	hid	hide	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	broken	break	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	5	amod	_	_
5	vase	vase	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
6	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	8	cc	_	_
7	now	now	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	8	advmod	_	_
8	has	have	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	2	conj	_	_
9	to	to	PART	TO	_	10	mark	_	_
10	invent	invent	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	8	xcomp	_	_
11	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
12	cat	cat	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	15	punct	_	_
14	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	15	det	_	_
15	storm	storm	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	conj	_	_
16	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	19	cc	_	_
17	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	19	det	_	_
18	open	open	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	19	amod	_	_
19	window	window	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	conj	_	_
20	to	to	PART	TO	_	21	mark	_	_
21	explain	explain	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	10	advcl	_	_
22	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	21	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
23	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **hide** | past | Tom | a broken vase |  |  |  |  | vn concealment-16-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent vase=Patient |
| 2 | **break** | participle |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn hurt-40.8.3-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Patient |
| 3 | **have** | present | Tom *not said here* |  |  |  | now |  | tree rules |
| 4 | **invent** | to-infinitive | Tom *not said here* | a cat and a storm and a open window |  |  |  |  | vn create-26.4-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent cat=Result |
| 5 | **explain** *speech: assert* | to-infinitive | Tom *not said here* | vase |  |  |  |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent it=Topic |

<!-- .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.

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 2:* What does this show?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:195-why-people-lie:t2:2
# text = What does this show?
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	4	obj	_	_
2	does	do	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
3	this	this	PRON	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	4	nsubj	_	_
4	show	show	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **show** | present · do-support | this |  |  |  |  |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP.recipient»: agent=Agent what=Recipient |

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Small lies never grow into bigger ones

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:195-why-people-lie:t2:o1:1
# text = Small lies never grow into bigger ones
1	Small	small	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	amod	_	_
2	lies	lie	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj	_	_
3	never	never	ADV	RB	PronType=Neg	4	advmod	_	_
4	grow	grow	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	into	into	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	bigger	big	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	7	amod	_	_
7	ones	one	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **grow** | present | Small lies |  |  |  |  | into bigger ones *result* | vn become-109.1-1 «NP V PP.attribute»: agent=Patient into one=Result |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Lies are easy to keep going for a long time

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:195-why-people-lie:t2:o2:1
# text = Lies are easy to keep going for a long time
1	Lies	lie	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj	_	_
2	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	cop	_	_
3	easy	easy	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
4	to	to	PART	TO	_	5	mark	_	_
5	keep	keep	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	xcomp	_	_
6	going	go	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	5	xcomp	_	_
7	for	for	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
8	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
9	long	long	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	10	amod	_	_
10	time	time	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | Lies |  |  |  |  | easy *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **keep** | to-infinitive | Lies *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 3 | **go** | gerund | Lies *not said here* |  |  |  | time |  | vn disappearance-48.2-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
One lie often needs more lies to cover it

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:195-why-people-lie:t2:o3:1
# text = One lie often needs more lies to cover it
1	One	one	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	2	nummod	_	_
2	lie	lie	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
3	often	often	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
4	needs	need	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	more	more	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	6	amod	_	_
6	lies	lie	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obj	_	_
7	to	to	PART	TO	_	8	mark	_	_
8	cover	cover	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	advcl	_	_
9	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	8	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **need** | present | One lie | more lies |  |  |  | often *property* | vn want-32.1-1-1 «NP V NP ADV»: agent=Pivot lie=Theme |
| 2 | **cover** | to-infinitive | One lie *not said here* | lie |  |  |  |  | vn fill-9.8-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Theme it=Destination |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The cat is the one who should own up

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:195-why-people-lie:t2:o4:1
# text = The cat is the one who should own up
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	cat	cat	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
3	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	one	one	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
6	who	who	PRON	WP	PronType=Rel	8	nsubj	_	_
7	should	should	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	8	aux	_	_
8	own	own	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	acl:relcl	_	_
9	up	up	ADP	RP	_	8	compound:prt	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | the cat | the one |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **own up** | should | the one |  |  |  |  |  | vn own-100.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Pivot |

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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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