---
title: A message says «Text this to ten friends or a monster will visit you… — Rumours and gossip · tree and pragmatics
description: A message says «Text this to ten friends or a monster will visit you tonight.» What is it? Test 4 · ★ 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 wrong.
---

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# Test 4 · ★ · Rumours and gossip

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A message says «Text this to ten friends or a monster will visit you tonight.» What is it?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 2 · **The right answer:** option 1 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** message, monster · **What happens:** say, text, visit, be · **To what, where:** this, you · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 4 · ★ 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/#t4).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* A message says «Text this to ten friends or a monster will visit you tonight.»

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:202-rumours-and-gossip:t4:1
# text = A message says «Text this to ten friends or a monster will visit you tonight.»
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	message	message	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	says	say	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	5	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	Text	text	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	ccomp	_	_
6	this	this	PRON	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	5	obj	_	_
7	to	to	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	ten	ten	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	9	nummod	_	_
9	friends	friend	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	obl	_	_
10	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	14	cc	_	_
11	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
12	monster	monster	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	nsubj	_	_
13	will	will	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	14	aux	_	_
14	visit	visit	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	conj	_	_
15	you	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Person=2|PronType=Prs	14	obj	_	_
16	tonight	tonight	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	obl:unmarked	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
18	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	5	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **say** *speech: assert* | present | a message |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 2 | **text** *in a quote* | infinitive |  | this |  |  |  | to ten friends | tree rules |
| 3 | **visit** *in a quote* | future | a monster | you |  |  | tonight |  | vn meet-36.3-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent you=Co-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 it?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:202-rumours-and-gossip:t4:2
# text = What is it?
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	0	root	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	1	cop	_	_
3	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	1	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | monster |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 · ✓ the right answer {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A hoax meant to scare and spread

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:202-rumours-and-gossip:t4:o1:1
# text = A hoax meant to scare and spread
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	hoax	hoax	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	meant	mean	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	2	acl	_	_
4	to	to	PART	TO	_	5	mark	_	_
5	scare	scare	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	xcomp	_	_
6	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	7	cc	_	_
7	spread	spread	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **mean** | participle |  | a hoax *not said here* |  |  |  |  | vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V S\_INF»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 2 | **scare** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V ADV-Middle»: agent=Experiencer |
| 3 | **spread** | infinitive |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn appear-48.1.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

### Option 2 · ← Mova's choice {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A message you must send to stay safe

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:202-rumours-and-gossip:t4:o2:1
# text = A message you must send to stay safe
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	message	message	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	you	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Person=2|PronType=Prs	5	nsubj	_	_
4	must	must	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	5	aux	_	_
5	send	send	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	2	acl:relcl	_	_
6	to	to	PART	TO	_	7	mark	_	_
7	stay	stay	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	xcomp	_	_
8	safe	safe	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	xcomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **send** | must | you | a message *not said here* |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **stay** | to-infinitive | a message *not said here* |  |  |  |  | safe *property* | vn exist-47.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Something to ignore unless you have pets

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:202-rumours-and-gossip:t4:o3:1
# text = Something to ignore unless you have pets
1	Something	something	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Ind	0	root	_	_
2	to	to	PART	TO	_	3	mark	_	_
3	ignore	ignore	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	1	acl	_	_
4	unless	unless	SCONJ	IN	_	6	mark	_	_
5	you	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Person=2|PronType=Prs	6	nsubj	_	_
6	have	have	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=2|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	advcl	_	_
7	pets	pet	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **ignore** | to-infinitive |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn neglect-75.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **have** *a condition, not said to happen* | present | you | pets |  |  |  |  | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent pet=Patient |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A real warning from the police

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:202-rumours-and-gossip:t4:o4:1
# text = A real warning from the police
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	real	real	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	warning	warning	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
4	from	from	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	police	police	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .note -->
The frames reader finds no event or fact in this sentence.

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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 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/everyday/202-rumours-and-gossip/t3/)
- next →: [Rumours and gossip, test 5](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/everyday/202-rumours-and-gossip/t5/)
- ↑ back to [Rumours and gossip](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/everyday/202-rumours-and-gossip/)