---
title: Ella told three friends a rumour about Sam, then learned it was fals… — Rumours and gossip · tree and pragmatics
description: Ella told three friends a rumour about Sam, then learned it was false. What should she do? Test 5 · ★ 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 5 · ★ · Rumours and gossip

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Ella told three friends a rumour about Sam, then learned it was false. What should she do?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 3 · **The right answer:** option 3 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** Ella, rumour · **What happens:** tell, learn, be, do · **To what, where:** rumour, three friends · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 5 · ★ 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/#t5).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* Ella told three friends a rumour about Sam, then learned it was false.

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:202-rumours-and-gossip:t5:1
# text = Ella told three friends a rumour about Sam, then learned it was false.
1	Ella	Ella	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	2	nsubj	_	_
2	told	tell	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	three	three	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	4	nummod	_	_
4	friends	friend	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	iobj	_	_
5	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	rumour	rumour	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
7	about	about	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
8	Sam	Sam	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	6	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	11	punct	_	_
10	then	then	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	11	advmod	_	_
11	learned	learn	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	2	conj	_	_
12	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	14	nsubj	_	_
13	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	14	cop	_	_
14	false	false	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	11	ccomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **tell** *speech: assert* | past | Ella | a rumour | three friends |  |  | about Sam | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP-Dative NP»: agent=Agent friend=Recipient rumour=Topic |
| 2 | **learn** | past | Ella *not said here* |  |  |  | then |  | vn learn-14-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **is** | past | rumour |  |  |  |  | false *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.

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 2:* What should she do?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:202-rumours-and-gossip:t5:2
# text = What should she do?
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	4	obj	_	_
2	should	should	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
3	she	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
4	do	do	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **do** | should | Ella |  |  |  |  |  | vn act-114-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent what=Eventuality |

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Tell nobody, since it is now in the past

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:202-rumours-and-gossip:t5:o1:1
# text = Tell nobody, since it is now in the past
1	Tell	tell	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	nobody	nobody	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Neg	1	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	10	punct	_	_
4	since	since	SCONJ	IN	_	10	mark	_	_
5	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	10	nsubj	_	_
6	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	10	cop	_	_
7	now	now	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	10	advmod	_	_
8	in	in	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	past	past	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **tell** *speech: assert* | imperative | you *not said here* |  | nobody |  |  |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP.recipient»: agent=Agent nobody=Recipient |
| 2 | **is** | present | it |  |  | the past | now |  | tree rules |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Tell nobody, since it is now in the past and everyone will forget it

<!-- fold The tree, 14 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:202-rumours-and-gossip:t5:o2:1
# text = Tell nobody, since it is now in the past and everyone will forget it
1	Tell	tell	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	nobody	nobody	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Neg	1	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	10	punct	_	_
4	since	since	SCONJ	IN	_	10	mark	_	_
5	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	10	nsubj	_	_
6	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	10	cop	_	_
7	now	now	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	10	advmod	_	_
8	in	in	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	past	past	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obl	_	_
11	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	14	cc	_	_
12	everyone	everyone	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Tot	14	nsubj	_	_
13	will	will	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	14	aux	_	_
14	forget	forget	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	1	conj	_	_
15	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	14	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **tell** *speech: assert* | imperative | you *not said here* |  | nobody |  |  |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP.recipient»: agent=Agent nobody=Recipient |
| 2 | **is** | present | it |  |  | the past | now |  | tree rules |
| 3 | **forget** | future | everyone | past |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Tell the three friends it was false and apologise to Sam

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:202-rumours-and-gossip:t5:o3:1
# text = Tell the three friends it was false and apologise to Sam
1	Tell	tell	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
3	three	three	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	4	nummod	_	_
4	friends	friend	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	1	obj	_	_
5	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	7	nsubj	_	_
6	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	7	cop	_	_
7	false	false	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	acl:relcl	_	_
8	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	9	cc	_	_
9	apologise	apologise	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	1	conj	_	_
10	to	to	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
11	Sam	Sam	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	9	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **tell** *speech: assert* | imperative | you *not said here* |  | the three friends |  |  |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP.recipient»: agent=Agent friend=Recipient |
| 2 | **is** | past | it | the three friends *not said here* |  |  |  | false *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **apologise** *speech: apologize* | infinitive | you *not said here* |  | Sam |  |  |  | tree rules |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Start a different rumour about someone else

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:202-rumours-and-gossip:t5:o4:1
# text = Start a different rumour about someone else
1	Start	start	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
3	different	different	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	amod	_	_
4	rumour	rumour	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
5	about	about	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	someone	someone	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Ind	4	nmod	_	_
7	else	else	ADV	RB	_	6	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **start** | imperative | you *not said here* | a different rumour |  |  |  | about someone | vn begin-55.1-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent rumour=Eventuality |

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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 4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/everyday/202-rumours-and-gossip/t4/)
- next →: [Rumours and gossip, test 6](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/everyday/202-rumours-and-gossip/t6/)
- ↑ back to [Rumours and gossip](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/everyday/202-rumours-and-gossip/)