---
title: apparently a man outside the school told Lucy her mum was in hospita… — Telling when someone may be lying · tree and pragmatics
description: apparently a man outside the school told Lucy her mum was in hospital n tried to get her in his car, they say he had a knife Test 18 · ★★ of lesson 198 «Telling when someone may be lying» of the everyday course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of 
---

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# Test 18 · ★★ · Telling when someone may be lying

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
apparently a man outside the school told Lucy her mum was in hospital n tried to get her in his car, they say he had a knife

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 2 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** man, mum, they · **What happens:** tell, be, get, say, have · **To what, where:** Lucy, hospital n, car, knife · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 18 · ★★ of lesson 198 «Telling when someone may be lying» 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/198-telling-when-someone-may-be-lying/#t18).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:198-telling-when-someone-may-be-lying:t18:1
# text = apparently a man outside the school told Lucy her mum was in hospital n tried to get her in his car, they say he had a knife
1	apparently	apparently	ADV	RB	_	7	advmod	_	_
2	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	man	man	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nsubj	_	_
4	outside	outside	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	school	school	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nmod	_	_
7	told	tell	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	24	advcl	_	_
8	Lucy	Lucy	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	7	iobj	_	_
9	her	her	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	10	nmod:poss	_	_
10	mum	mum	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	15	nsubj	_	_
11	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	15	cop	_	_
12	in	in	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
13	hospital	hospital	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	compound	_	_
14	n	n	NOUN	NN	_	15	obl	_	_
15	tried	try	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	7	ccomp	_	_
16	to	to	PART	TO	_	17	mark	_	_
17	get	get	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	15	xcomp	_	_
18	her	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	17	obj	_	_
19	in	in	ADP	IN	_	21	case	_	_
20	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	21	nmod:poss	_	_
21	car	car	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	17	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
22	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	7	punct	_	_
23	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	24	nsubj	_	_
24	say	say	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
25	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	26	nsubj	_	_
26	had	have	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	24	ccomp	_	_
27	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	28	det	_	_
28	knife	knife	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	26	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **tell** *speech: assert* | past | a man outside the school |  | Lucy |  |  | apparently *property* | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP S\_INF»: agent=Agent lucy=Recipient clause=Topic |
| 2 | **is** | past | Lucy's mum |  |  | hospital n |  | try *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **get** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive | Lucy's mum *not said here* | Lucy |  | man's car |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer she=Stimulus |
| 4 | **say** *speech: assert* | present | they |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 5 | **have** | past | man | a knife |  |  |  |  | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent knife=Patient |

<!-- .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 · ← Mova's choice {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It's fine if he looks friendly

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:198-telling-when-someone-may-be-lying:t18:o1:1
# text = It's fine if he looks friendly
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	expl	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	's	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	cop	_	_
3	fine	fine	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
4	if	if	SCONJ	IN	_	6	mark	_	_
5	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	6	nsubj	_	_
6	looks	look	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	parataxis	_	_
7	friendly	friendly	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	xcomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present |  |  |  |  |  | fine *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **look** *a condition, not said to happen* | present | he |  |  |  |  | friendly *property* | vn stimulus\_subject-30.4 «NP V ADJ»: agent=Stimulus |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Never go with someone who says that; tell a teacher and check; the knife may be rumour

<!-- fold The tree, 17 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:198-telling-when-someone-may-be-lying:t18:o2:1
# text = Never go with someone who says that; tell a teacher and check; the knife may be rumour
1	Never	never	ADV	RB	PronType=Neg	2	advmod	_	_
2	go	go	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	with	with	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
4	someone	someone	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Ind	2	obl	_	_
5	who	who	PRON	WP	PronType=Rel	6	nsubj	_	_
6	says	say	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	acl:relcl	_	_
7	that	that	PRON	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	6	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	;	;	PUNCT	,	_	9	punct	_	_
9	tell	tell	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	2	conj	_	_
10	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	teacher	teacher	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obj	_	_
12	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	13	cc	_	_
13	check	check	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	;	;	PUNCT	:	_	19	punct	_	_
15	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	16	det	_	_
16	knife	knife	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	19	nsubj	_	_
17	may	may	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	19	aux	_	_
18	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	19	cop	_	_
19	rumour	rumour	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **go** | imperative | you *not said here* |  |  |  |  | with someone | vn help-72.1-2 «NP V PP.beneficiary»: agent=Agent with someone=Beneficiary |
| 2 | **say** *speech: assert* | present |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V NP.topic»: agent=Agent that=Topic |
| 3 | **tell** *speech: assert* | infinitive | you *not said here* |  | a teacher and check |  |  |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP.recipient»: agent=Agent teacher=Recipient |
| 4 | **is a** | may | the knife | rumour |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Ask to see his car first

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:198-telling-when-someone-may-be-lying:t18:o3:1
# text = Ask to see his car first
1	Ask	ask	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	to	to	PART	TO	_	3	mark	_	_
3	see	see	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	1	xcomp	_	_
4	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	5	nmod:poss	_	_
5	car	car	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
6	first	first	ADV	RB	NumForm=Word|NumType=Ord	3	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **ask** *speech: ask* | imperative | you *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn inquire-37.1.2 «NP V how S\_INF»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 2 | **see** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive | you *not said here* | his car |  |  |  | first *property* | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer car=Stimulus |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Go if he knows your mum's name

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:198-telling-when-someone-may-be-lying:t18:o4:1
# text = Go if he knows your mum's name
1	Go	go	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	if	if	SCONJ	IN	_	4	mark	_	_
3	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
4	knows	know	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	1	advcl	_	_
5	your	your	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Person=2|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	6	nmod:poss	_	_
6	mum	mum	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	's	's	PART	POS	_	6	case	_	_
8	name	name	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **go** | imperative | you *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn disappearance-48.2-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 2 | **know** *a condition, not said to happen* | present | he | your mum's name |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1-1 «NP V NP PP.attribute»: agent=Experiencer name=Stimulus |
| 3 | **name** |  | your mum |  |  |  |  |  | nom name «communication transitive»: poss=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.

<!-- /div -->

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- ← previous: [Telling when someone may be lying, test 17](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/everyday/198-telling-when-someone-may-be-lying/t17/)
- next →: [Telling when someone may be lying, test 19](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/everyday/198-telling-when-someone-may-be-lying/t19/)
- ↑ back to [Telling when someone may be lying](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/everyday/198-telling-when-someone-may-be-lying/)