---
title: Your little cousin, aged three, says she flew to the Moon last night… — Why people lie, and what is not a lie · tree and pragmatics
description: Your little cousin, aged three, says she flew to the Moon last night. How should you take it? Test 5 · ★ 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 wa
---

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# Test 5 · ★ · Why people lie, and what is not a lie

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Your little cousin, aged three, says she flew to the Moon last night. How should you take it?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 2 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** little cousin, cousin, you · **What happens:** say, fly, take · **To what, where:** Moon · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 5 · ★ 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/#t5).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* Your little cousin, aged three, says she flew to the Moon last night.

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:195-why-people-lie:t5:1
# text = Your little cousin, aged three, says she flew to the Moon last night.
1	Your	your	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Person=2|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	3	nmod:poss	_	_
2	little	little	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	cousin	cousin	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	6	punct	_	_
5	aged	aged	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	three	three	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	3	appos	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	3	punct	_	_
8	says	say	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
9	she	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	10	nsubj	_	_
10	flew	fly	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	8	ccomp	_	_
11	to	to	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
12	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
13	Moon	Moon	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	10	obl	_	_
14	last	last	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	15	amod	_	_
15	night	night	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	obl:unmarked	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	8	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **say** *speech: assert* | present | Your little cousin |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 2 | **fly** | past | cousin |  |  |  | night | to the Moon *result* | vn run-51.3.2-2-1 «NP V PP.result»: agent=Theme to moon=Result |

<!-- .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:* How should you take it?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:195-why-people-lie:t5:2
# text = How should you take it?
1	How	how	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	4	advmod	_	_
2	should	should	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
3	you	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Person=2|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
4	take	take	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
5	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **take** | should | you | Moon |  |  |  |  | vn bring-11.3 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent it=Theme |

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 · ← Mova's choice {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
As a sign that she wants to trick you and see if you believe her

<!-- fold The tree, 15 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:195-why-people-lie:t5:o1:1
# text = As a sign that she wants to trick you and see if you believe her
1	As	as	ADP	IN	_	3	case	_	_
2	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	sign	sign	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obl	_	_
4	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	6	mark	_	_
5	she	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	6	nsubj	_	_
6	wants	want	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	8	advcl	_	_
7	to	to	PART	TO	_	8	mark	_	_
8	trick	trick	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
9	you	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Person=2|PronType=Prs	8	obj	_	_
10	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	11	cc	_	_
11	see	see	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	8	conj	_	_
12	if	if	SCONJ	IN	_	14	mark	_	_
13	you	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Person=2|PronType=Prs	14	nsubj	_	_
14	believe	believe	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=2|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	11	advcl	_	_
15	her	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	14	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **want** | present | she |  |  |  |  |  | vn want-32.1-1-1 «NP V NP S\_INF»: agent=Pivot |
| 2 | **trick** | to-infinitive |  | you |  |  |  | as a sign | vn trick-59.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent you=Patient |
| 3 | **see** | infinitive |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Experiencer |
| 4 | **believe** *a condition, not said to happen* | present | you | her *= she* |  |  |  |  | vn admire-31.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer she=Stimulus |

### Option 2 · ✓ the right answer {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
As imagination, since small children mix up pretend and real

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:195-why-people-lie:t5:o2:1
# text = As imagination, since small children mix up pretend and real
1	As	as	ADP	IN	_	2	case	_	_
2	imagination	imagination	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	2	punct	_	_
4	since	since	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	small	small	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	children	child	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	nsubj	_	_
7	mix	mix	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
8	up	up	ADP	RP	_	7	compound:prt	_	_
9	pretend	pretend	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	xcomp	_	_
10	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	11	cc	_	_
11	real	real	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **mix up** | present | small children |  |  |  |  | as imagination; pretend *property* | vn mix-22.1-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Patient |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
As proof that she really can fly

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:195-why-people-lie:t5:o3:1
# text = As proof that she really can fly
1	As	as	ADP	IN	_	2	case	_	_
2	proof	proof	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	7	mark	_	_
4	she	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	7	nsubj	_	_
5	really	really	ADV	RB	_	7	advmod	_	_
6	can	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	7	aux	_	_
7	fly	fly	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	2	acl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **fly** | can | she | proof *not said here* |  |  |  |  | vn spatial\_configuration-47.6-1 «PP.location V NP»: agent=Location proof=Theme |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
As a serious lie that must be punished

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:195-why-people-lie:t5:o4:1
# text = As a serious lie that must be punished
1	As	as	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
2	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
3	serious	serious	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	amod	_	_
4	lie	lie	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
5	that	that	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	8	nsubj:pass	_	_
6	must	must	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	8	aux	_	_
7	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	8	aux:pass	_	_
8	punished	punish	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	4	acl:relcl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **punish** | must · passive |  | a serious lie |  |  |  |  | vn prosecute-33.2-1 «NP V NP»: subject=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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