---
title: Which reason makes something a lie? — Why people lie, and what is not a lie · tree and pragmatics
description: Which reason makes something a lie? Test 8 · ★ 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 wrong.
---

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# Test 8 · ★ · Why people lie, and what is not a lie

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Which reason makes something a lie?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 3 · **The right answer:** option 2 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** reason · **What happens:** make · **To what, where:** something

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This is test 8 · ★ 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/#t8).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:195-why-people-lie:t8:1
# text = Which reason makes something a lie?
1	Which	which	DET	WDT	PronType=Int	2	det	_	_
2	reason	reason	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	makes	make	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	something	something	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Ind	3	obj	_	_
5	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	lie	lie	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	xcomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **make** | present | which reason | something |  |  |  |  | vn build-26.1-1 «NP.asset V NP»: agent=Asset something=Product |

<!-- .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 -->
Saying a number that is too big

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:195-why-people-lie:t8:o1:1
# text = Saying a number that is too big
1	Saying	say	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
2	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	number	number	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
4	that	that	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	7	nsubj	_	_
5	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	7	cop	_	_
6	too	too	ADV	RB	_	7	advmod	_	_
7	big	big	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	acl:relcl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **say** *speech: assert* | gerund |  | a number |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V NP.topic»: agent=Agent number=Topic |
| 2 | **is** | present | a number |  |  |  |  | big *property* | tree rules |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Wanting someone to believe what you know is false

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:195-why-people-lie:t8:o2:1
# text = Wanting someone to believe what you know is false
1	Wanting	want	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	9	csubj	_	_
2	someone	someone	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Ind	1	obj	_	_
3	to	to	PART	TO	_	4	mark	_	_
4	believe	believe	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	1	advcl	_	_
5	what	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	7	obj	_	_
6	you	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Person=2|PronType=Prs	7	nsubj	_	_
7	know	know	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=2|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	ccomp	_	_
8	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	9	cop	_	_
9	false	false	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **want** | gerund |  | someone |  |  |  |  | vn want-32.1-1-1 «NP V NP ADV»: agent=Pivot someone=Theme |
| 2 | **believe** | to-infinitive |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn admire-31.2 «NP V that S»: agent=Experiencer clause=Stimulus |
| 3 | **know** | present | you |  |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1-1 «NP V NP PP.attribute»: agent=Experiencer what=Stimulus |
| 4 | **is** | present | Wanting |  |  |  |  | false *property* | tree rules |

### Option 3 · ← Mova's choice {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Saying something in a funny voice so that people laugh

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:195-why-people-lie:t8:o3:1
# text = Saying something in a funny voice so that people laugh
1	Saying	say	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
2	something	something	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Ind	1	obj	_	_
3	in	in	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
4	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
5	funny	funny	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	voice	voice	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	_
7	so	so	SCONJ	IN	ExtPos=SCONJ	10	mark	_	_
8	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	7	fixed	_	_
9	people	people	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	10	nsubj	_	_
10	laugh	laugh	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	1	advcl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **say** *speech: assert* | gerund |  | something |  | a funny voice |  |  | vn pronounce-29.3.1 «NP V NP PP.manner»: agent=Agent something=Theme in voice=Manner |
| 2 | **laugh** | present | people |  |  |  |  |  | vn nonverbal\_expression-40.2 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Telling a story at bedtime

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:195-why-people-lie:t8:o4:1
# text = Telling a story at bedtime
1	Telling	tell	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
2	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	story	story	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
4	at	at	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	bedtime	bedtime	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **tell** *speech: assert* | gerund |  | a story |  | bedtime |  |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP.recipient»: agent=Agent story=Recipient |

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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: [Why people lie, and what is not a lie, test 7](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/everyday/195-why-people-lie/t7/)
- next →: [Why people lie, and what is not a lie, test 9](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/everyday/195-why-people-lie/t9/)
- ↑ back to [Why people lie, and what is not a lie](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/everyday/195-why-people-lie/)