---
title: A boy jokes at school that he has a gun in his bag. Why is this seri… — Jokes and teasing: when is it still fu… · tree and pragmatics
description: A boy jokes at school that he has a gun in his bag. Why is this serious even as a joke? Test 3 · ★★ of lesson 203 «Jokes and teasing: when is it still funny?» 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 wa
---

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# Test 3 · ★★ · Jokes and teasing: when is it still funny?

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A boy jokes at school that he has a gun in his bag. Why is this serious even as a joke?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 4 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** boy, this · **What happens:** joke, have, be · **To what, where:** school, gun, bag

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 3 · ★★ of lesson 203 «Jokes and teasing: when is it still funny?» 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/203-jokes-and-teasing/#t3).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* A boy jokes at school that he has a gun in his bag.

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:203-jokes-and-teasing:t3:1
# text = A boy jokes at school that he has a gun in his bag.
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	boy	boy	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	jokes	joke	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	at	at	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	school	school	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
6	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	8	mark	_	_
7	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	8	nsubj	_	_
8	has	have	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	advcl	_	_
9	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	gun	gun	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obj	_	_
11	in	in	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
12	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	13	nmod:poss	_	_
13	bag	bag	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **joke** *speech: other* | present | a boy |  |  | school |  |  | vn chit\_chat-37.6 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **have** | present | boy | a gun |  | boy's bag |  |  | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent gun=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.

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 2:* Why is this serious even as a joke?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:203-jokes-and-teasing:t3:2
# text = Why is this serious even as a joke?
1	Why	why	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	4	advmod	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
3	this	this	PRON	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	4	nsubj	_	_
4	serious	serious	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
5	even	even	ADV	RB	_	8	advmod	_	_
6	as	as	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	joke	joke	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

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

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 · ← Mova's choice {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Because school bags are not allowed at all

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:203-jokes-and-teasing:t3:o1:1
# text = Because school bags are not allowed at all
1	Because	because	SCONJ	IN	_	6	mark	_	_
2	school	school	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	compound	_	_
3	bags	bag	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	nsubj:pass	_	_
4	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	aux:pass	_	_
5	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	6	advmod	_	_
6	allowed	allow	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
7	at	at	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
8	all	all	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	6	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **allow** | present · passive |  | school bags |  | all |  |  | vn allow-64.1-1 «NP V NP»: subject=Beneficiary |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Because someone might laugh too loudly

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:203-jokes-and-teasing:t3:o2:1
# text = Because someone might laugh too loudly
1	Because	because	SCONJ	IN	_	4	mark	_	_
2	someone	someone	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Ind	4	nsubj	_	_
3	might	might	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
4	laugh	laugh	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
5	too	too	ADV	RB	_	6	advmod	_	_
6	loudly	loudly	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **laugh** | might | someone |  |  |  |  | loudly *property* | vn nonverbal\_expression-40.2 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It is serious only if the teacher hears it, otherwise it is just a laugh

<!-- fold The tree, 15 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:203-jokes-and-teasing:t3:o3:1
# text = It is serious only if the teacher hears it, otherwise it is just a laugh
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	cop	_	_
3	serious	serious	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
4	only	only	ADV	RB	_	8	advmod	_	_
5	if	if	SCONJ	IN	_	8	mark	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	teacher	teacher	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nsubj	_	_
8	hears	hear	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	advcl	_	_
9	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	8	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	16	punct	_	_
11	otherwise	otherwise	ADV	RB	_	16	advmod	_	_
12	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	16	nsubj	_	_
13	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	16	cop	_	_
14	just	just	ADV	RB	_	16	advmod	_	_
15	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	16	det	_	_
16	laugh	laugh	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | It |  |  |  |  | serious *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **hear** *a condition, not said to happen* | present | the teacher | it |  |  |  |  | vn see-30.1-1-1 «NP V S»: agent=Experiencer it=Stimulus |
| 3 | **is a** | present | teacher | a laugh |  |  |  | otherwise *property* | tree rules |

### Option 4 · ✓ the right answer {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Staff must treat it as real, causing alarm and serious trouble

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:203-jokes-and-teasing:t3:o4:1
# text = Staff must treat it as real, causing alarm and serious trouble
1	Staff	staff	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
2	must	must	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	3	aux	_	_
3	treat	treat	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
4	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	obj	_	_
5	as	as	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	real	real	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	8	punct	_	_
8	causing	cause	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	3	advcl	_	_
9	alarm	alarm	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obj	_	_
10	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	12	cc	_	_
11	serious	serious	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	12	amod	_	_
12	trouble	trouble	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **treat** | must | Staff | it |  |  |  | as real | vn characterize-29.2 «NP V NP S\_ING»: agent=Agent it=Theme as real=Attribute |
| 2 | **cause** | gerund | Staff *not said here* | alarm and serious trouble |  |  |  |  | vn engender-27.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Precondition alarm=Patient |

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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: [Jokes and teasing: when is it still fu…, test 2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/everyday/203-jokes-and-teasing/t2/)
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