---
title: Which is the best reason never to blame your brother for your mess? — Lies that do real harm · tree and pragmatics
description: Which is the best reason never to blame your brother for your mess? Test 5 · ★ of lesson 197 «Lies that do real harm» 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 5 · ★ · Lies that do real harm

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Which is the best reason never to blame your brother for your mess?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 2 · **The right answer:** option 4 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** your · **What happens:** be, not blame, mess · **To what, where:** best reason, brother

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This is test 5 · ★ of lesson 197 «Lies that do real harm» 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/197-harmful-lies/#t5).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:197-harmful-lies:t5:1
# text = Which is the best reason never to blame your brother for your mess?
1	Which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	5	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	best	good	ADJ	JJS	Degree=Sup	5	amod	_	_
5	reason	reason	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
6	never	never	ADV	RB	PronType=Neg	8	advmod	_	_
7	to	to	PART	TO	_	8	mark	_	_
8	blame	blame	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	acl	_	_
9	your	your	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Person=2|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	10	nmod:poss	_	_
10	brother	brother	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obj	_	_
11	for	for	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
12	your	your	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Person=2|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	13	nmod:poss	_	_
13	mess	mess	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present |  | the best reason |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **not** **blame** | to-infinitive |  | your brother |  |  |  | for your mess | vn judgment-33.1 «NP V NP PP.attribute»: agent=Agent brother=Theme for mess=Attribute |
| 3 | **mess** |  | your |  |  |  |  |  | nom mess «state transitive»: poss=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 -->
Because he might blame you for his own mess next time instead

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:197-harmful-lies:t5:o1:1
# text = Because he might blame you for his own mess next time instead
1	Because	because	SCONJ	IN	_	4	mark	_	_
2	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
3	might	might	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
4	blame	blame	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
5	you	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Person=2|PronType=Prs	4	obj	_	_
6	for	for	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
7	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	9	nmod:poss	_	_
8	own	own	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	amod	_	_
9	mess	mess	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
10	next	next	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	11	amod	_	_
11	time	time	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl:unmarked	_	_
12	instead	instead	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **blame** | might | he | you |  |  | time | for his own mess; instead *property* | vn judgment-33.1 «NP V NP PP.attribute»: agent=Agent you=Theme for mess=Attribute |
| 2 | **mess** |  | his *= he* |  |  |  |  |  | nom mess «state transitive»: poss=agent |

### Option 2 · ← Mova's choice {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Because parents can always tell who did it

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:197-harmful-lies:t5:o2:1
# text = Because parents can always tell who did it
1	Because	because	SCONJ	IN	_	5	mark	_	_
2	parents	parent	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	nsubj	_	_
3	can	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	5	aux	_	_
4	always	always	ADV	RB	PronType=Tot	5	advmod	_	_
5	tell	tell	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
6	who	who	PRON	WP	PronType=Rel	7	nsubj	_	_
7	did	do	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	ccomp	_	_
8	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	7	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **tell** *speech: assert* | can | parents |  |  |  |  | always *property* | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V how S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 2 | **do** | past |  | it |  |  |  |  | vn act-114-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent it=Eventuality |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Because it is hard to remember who did what

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:197-harmful-lies:t5:o3:1
# text = Because it is hard to remember who did what
1	Because	because	SCONJ	IN	_	4	mark	_	_
2	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	expl	_	_
3	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
4	hard	hard	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
5	to	to	PART	TO	_	6	mark	_	_
6	remember	remember	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	csubj	_	_
7	who	who	PRON	WP	PronType=Rel	8	nsubj	_	_
8	did	do	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	6	ccomp	_	_
9	what	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	8	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present |  |  |  |  |  | hard *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **remember** | to-infinitive |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn characterize-29.2-1-1 «NP V what S»: agent=Agent clause=Theme |
| 3 | **do** | past |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn act-114-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent what=Eventuality |

### Option 4 · ✓ the right answer {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
He would be punished for something he did not do

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:197-harmful-lies:t5:o4:1
# text = He would be punished for something he did not do
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj:pass	_	_
2	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
3	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	aux:pass	_	_
4	punished	punish	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
5	for	for	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	something	something	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Ind	4	obl	_	_
7	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	10	nsubj	_	_
8	did	do	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	10	aux	_	_
9	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	10	advmod	_	_
10	do	do	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	6	acl:relcl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **punish** | would · passive |  | He |  |  |  | for something | vn prosecute-33.2-1 «NP V NP PP.theme»: subject=Patient for something=Theme |
| 2 | **not** **do** | past · do-support | he |  |  |  |  |  | vn act-114-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

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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: [Lies that do real harm, test 4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/everyday/197-harmful-lies/t4/)
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