---
title: Tom kicks the ball at Ben's back while Ben is tying his shoelace. Wh… — Music practice and ball games · tree and pragmatics
description: Tom kicks the ball at Ben's back while Ben is tying his shoelace. Why is that wrong? Test 6 · ★ of lesson 246 «Music practice and ball games» 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 6 · ★ · Music practice and ball games

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Tom kicks the ball at Ben's back while Ben is tying his shoelace. Why is that wrong?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 4 · **The right answer:** option 4 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** Tom, Ben, that · **What happens:** kick, tie, be · **To what, where:** ball, back, shoelace

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 6 · ★ of lesson 246 «Music practice and ball games» 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/246-music-practice-and-ball-safety/#t6).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* Tom kicks the ball at Ben's back while Ben is tying his shoelace.

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:246-music-practice-and-ball-safety:t6:1
# text = Tom kicks the ball at Ben's back while Ben is tying his shoelace.
1	Tom	Tom	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	2	nsubj	_	_
2	kicks	kick	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	ball	ball	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
5	at	at	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
6	Ben	Ben	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	8	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	's	's	PART	POS	_	6	case	_	_
8	back	back	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
9	while	while	SCONJ	IN	_	12	mark	_	_
10	Ben	Ben	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	12	nsubj	_	_
11	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	12	aux	_	_
12	tying	tie	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	2	advcl	_	_
13	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	14	nmod:poss	_	_
14	shoelace	shoelace	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **kick** | present | Tom | the ball |  | Ben's back |  |  | vn swat-18.2 «NP V NP PP.location»: agent=Agent ball=Patient at back=Location |
| 2 | **tie** | present · progressive | Ben | Ben's shoelace |  |  |  |  | vn mix-22.1-2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent shoelace=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 that wrong?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:246-music-practice-and-ball-safety:t6:2
# text = Why is that wrong?
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	that	that	PRON	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	4	nsubj	_	_
4	wrong	wrong	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

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

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The ball might get dirty

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:246-music-practice-and-ball-safety:t6:o1:1
# text = The ball might get dirty
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	ball	ball	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
3	might	might	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
4	get	get	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
5	dirty	dirty	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	xcomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **get** | might | the ball |  |  |  |  | dirty *property* | vn comprehend-87.2-1 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Experiencer |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It is fine if it is only a joke

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:246-music-practice-and-ball-safety:t6:o2:1
# text = It is fine if it is only a joke
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	expl	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	cop	_	_
3	fine	fine	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
4	if	if	SCONJ	IN	_	9	mark	_	_
5	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	9	nsubj	_	_
6	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	9	cop	_	_
7	only	only	ADV	RB	_	9	advmod	_	_
8	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	joke	joke	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	advcl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present |  |  |  |  |  | fine *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **is a** *a condition, not said to happen* | present | it | a joke |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Ben should have been watching the ball all the time

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:246-music-practice-and-ball-safety:t6:o3:1
# text = Ben should have been watching the ball all the time
1	Ben	Ben	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
2	should	should	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	5	aux	_	_
3	have	have	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	aux	_	_
4	been	be	AUX	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	5	aux	_	_
5	watching	watch	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	ball	ball	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obj	_	_
8	all	all	DET	PDT	PronType=Tot	10	det:predet	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	time	time	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl:unmarked	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **watch** | should · perfect · progressive | Ben | the ball |  |  | time |  | vn assessment-34.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent ball=Theme |

### Option 4 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Ben was not ready, it hurts and it starts fights

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:246-music-practice-and-ball-safety:t6:o4:1
# text = Ben was not ready, it hurts and it starts fights
1	Ben	Ben	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
2	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
3	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	4	advmod	_	_
4	ready	ready	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	7	punct	_	_
6	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	7	nsubj	_	_
7	hurts	hurt	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	parataxis	_	_
8	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	10	cc	_	_
9	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	10	nsubj	_	_
10	starts	start	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	conj	_	_
11	fights	fight	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	10	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **is** | past | Ben |  |  |  |  | ready *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **hurt** | present | it |  |  |  |  |  | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V NP-PRO-ARB»: agent=Stimulus |
| 3 | **start** | present | it | fights |  |  |  |  | vn begin-55.1-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent fight=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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