---
title: A boy in Arizona tells his mum every day «I promise I'll practise pi… — Promises · tree and pragmatics
description: A boy in Arizona tells his mum every day «I promise I'll practise piano later» and never does. What is happening to his promises? Test 1 · ★ of lesson 199 «Promises» of the everyday course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each option; Mova's ch
---

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# Test 1 · ★ · Promises

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A boy in Arizona tells his mum every day «I promise I'll practise piano later» and never does. What is happening to his promises?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 3 · **The right answer:** option 3 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** boy, I · **What happens:** tell, promise, practise, not do, happen · **To what, where:** mum · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 1 · ★ of lesson 199 «Promises» 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/199-promises/#t1).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* A boy in Arizona tells his mum every day «I promise I'll practise piano later» and never does.

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:199-promises:t1:1
# text = A boy in Arizona tells his mum every day «I promise I'll practise piano later» and never does.
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	boy	boy	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
3	in	in	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
4	Arizona	Arizona	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	_
5	tells	tell	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
6	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	7	nmod:poss	_	_
7	mum	mum	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obj	_	_
8	every	every	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	9	det	_	_
9	day	day	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl:unmarked	_	_
10	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	12	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	12	nsubj	_	_
12	promise	promise	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	parataxis	_	_
13	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	15	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	'll	will	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	15	aux	_	_
15	practise	practise	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	12	ccomp	_	_
16	piano	piano	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	17	obl:unmarked	_	_
17	later	late	ADV	RBR	Degree=Cmp	15	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
18	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	12	punct	_	_
19	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	21	cc	_	_
20	never	never	ADV	RB	PronType=Neg	21	advmod	_	_
21	does	do	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	12	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
22	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **tell** *speech: assert* | present | a boy in Arizona |  | boy's mum |  | day |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP S»: agent=Agent mum=Recipient clause=Topic |
| 2 | **promise** *speech: promise* *in a quote* | present | a boy in Arizona *= boy* |  |  |  |  |  | vn promise-37.13 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 3 | **practise** *in a quote* | future | a boy in Arizona *= boy* |  |  |  |  | late *property* | tree rules |
| 4 | **not** **do** | present | I *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn act-114-1 «NP V»: agent=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.

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 2:* What is happening to his promises?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:199-promises:t1:2
# text = What is happening to his promises?
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	3	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux	_	_
3	happening	happen	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
4	to	to	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	6	nmod:poss	_	_
6	promises	promise	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **happen** | present · progressive |  |  |  |  |  | to boy's promises | vn occur-48.3-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 2 | **promise** |  | boy |  |  |  |  |  | nom promise «communication transitive»: poss=agent |

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
They are getting stronger and stronger each time

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:199-promises:t1:o1:1
# text = They are getting stronger and stronger each time
1	They	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux	_	_
3	getting	get	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
4	stronger	strong	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	3	xcomp	_	_
5	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	6	cc	_	_
6	stronger	strong	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	4	conj	_	_
7	each	each	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	8	det	_	_
8	time	time	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl:unmarked	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **get** | present · progressive | They |  |  |  | time | strong *property* | vn comprehend-87.2-1 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Experiencer |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
She will believe him a little more each day

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:199-promises:t1:o2:1
# text = She will believe him a little more each day
1	She	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	will	will	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	3	aux	_	_
3	believe	believe	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
4	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	obj	_	_
5	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	little	little	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	obl:unmarked	_	_
7	more	more	ADV	RBR	Degree=Cmp	3	advmod	_	_
8	each	each	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	9	det	_	_
9	day	day	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl:unmarked	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **believe** | future | She | him *= he* |  |  | day |  | vn admire-31.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer he=Stimulus |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
They are starting to mean nothing to her

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:199-promises:t1:o3:1
# text = They are starting to mean nothing to her
1	They	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux	_	_
3	starting	start	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
4	to	to	PART	TO	_	5	mark	_	_
5	mean	mean	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	xcomp	_	_
6	nothing	nothing	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Neg	5	obj	_	_
7	to	to	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
8	her	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	6	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **start** | present · progressive | They |  |  |  |  |  | vn begin-55.1-1-1 «NP V S\_INF»: agent=Agent clause=Eventuality |
| 2 | **mean** | to-infinitive | They *not said here* | nothing |  |  |  | to her *= she* | vn representation-110.1 «NP V NP PP.attribute»: agent=Pivot nothing=Theme to she=Attribute |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Promises that are repeated always come true

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:199-promises:t1:o4:1
# text = Promises that are repeated always come true
1	Promises	promise	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	0	root	_	_
2	that	that	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	4	nsubj:pass	_	_
3	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux:pass	_	_
4	repeated	repeat	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	1	acl:relcl	_	_
5	always	always	ADV	RB	PronType=Tot	6	advmod	_	_
6	come	come	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	xcomp	_	_
7	true	true	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	xcomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **repeat** | present · passive |  | Promises |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **come** | infinitive |  |  |  |  |  | always, true *property* | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

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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, exam 4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/everyday/198-telling-when-someone-may-be-lying/e4/)
- next →: [Promises, test 2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/everyday/199-promises/t2/)
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