---
title: Why can repeating even a TRUE piece of gossip be wrong? — Rumours and gossip · tree and pragmatics
description: Why can repeating even a TRUE piece of gossip be wrong? Test 2 · ★ of lesson 202 «Rumours and gossip» 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 right.
---

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# Test 2 · ★ · Rumours and gossip

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Why can repeating even a TRUE piece of gossip be wrong?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 3 · **The right answer:** option 3 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** you · **What happens:** repeat, be · **To what, where:** TRUE piece

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This is test 2 · ★ of lesson 202 «Rumours and gossip» 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/202-rumours-and-gossip/#t2).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:202-rumours-and-gossip:t2:1
# text = Why can repeating even a TRUE piece of gossip be wrong?
1	Why	why	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	3	advmod	_	_
2	can	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	3	aux	_	_
3	repeating	repeat	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	11	csubj	_	_
4	even	even	ADV	RB	_	7	advmod	_	_
5	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
6	TRUE	true	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
7	piece	piece	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
8	of	of	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
9	gossip	gossip	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nmod	_	_
10	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	11	cop	_	_
11	wrong	wrong	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	11	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **repeat** | can |  | a TRUE piece of gossip |  |  |  |  | vn begin-55.1-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent piece=Eventuality |
| 2 | **is** | imperative | you *not said here* |  |  |  |  | wrong *property* | tree rules |

<!-- .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 only adults may share news

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:202-rumours-and-gossip:t2:o1:1
# text = Because only adults may share news
1	Because	because	SCONJ	IN	_	5	mark	_	_
2	only	only	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	_
3	adults	adult	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	nsubj	_	_
4	may	may	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	5	aux	_	_
5	share	share	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
6	news	news	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **share** | may | adults | news |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
True things can never hurt anyone

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:202-rumours-and-gossip:t2:o2:1
# text = True things can never hurt anyone
1	True	true	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	amod	_	_
2	things	thing	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	nsubj	_	_
3	can	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	5	aux	_	_
4	never	never	ADV	RB	PronType=Neg	5	advmod	_	_
5	hurt	hurt	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
6	anyone	anyone	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Ind	5	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **hurt** | can | True things | anyone |  |  |  |  | vn hurt-40.8.3-2 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer anyone=Patient |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It can still embarrass and hurt the person

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:202-rumours-and-gossip:t2:o3:1
# text = It can still embarrass and hurt the person
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
2	can	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
3	still	still	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
4	embarrass	embarrass	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
5	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	6	cc	_	_
6	hurt	hurt	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	conj	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	person	person	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **embarrass** | can | It |  |  |  | still |  | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V NP-PRO-ARB»: agent=Stimulus |
| 2 | **hurt** | infinitive |  | the person |  |  |  |  | vn hurt-40.8.3-2 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer person=Patient |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Because true gossip is always boring

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:202-rumours-and-gossip:t2:o4:1
# text = Because true gossip is always boring
1	Because	because	SCONJ	IN	_	6	mark	_	_
2	true	true	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	gossip	gossip	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	_
4	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	cop	_	_
5	always	always	ADV	RB	PronType=Tot	6	advmod	_	_
6	boring	boring	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | true gossip |  |  |  |  | always, boring *property* | tree rules |

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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: [Rumours and gossip, test 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/everyday/202-rumours-and-gossip/t1/)
- next →: [Rumours and gossip, test 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/everyday/202-rumours-and-gossip/t3/)
- ↑ back to [Rumours and gossip](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/everyday/202-rumours-and-gossip/)