---
title: A boy sees two people stealing a bike. What is the safest thing to do? — Helpers in town and building sites · tree and pragmatics
description: A boy sees two people stealing a bike. What is the safest thing to do? Test 7 · ★ of lesson 274 «Helpers in town and building sites» 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 7 · ★ · Helpers in town and building sites

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A boy sees two people stealing a bike. What is the safest thing to do?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 2 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** boy, two people, safest thing · **What happens:** see, steal, be, do · **To what, where:** two people, bike

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 7 · ★ of lesson 274 «Helpers in town and building sites» 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/274-helpers-in-town-and-building-sites/#t7).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* A boy sees two people stealing a bike.

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:274-helpers-in-town-and-building-sites:t7:1
# text = A boy sees two people stealing a bike.
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	boy	boy	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	sees	see	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	two	two	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	5	nummod	_	_
5	people	people	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obj	_	_
6	stealing	steal	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	5	acl	_	_
7	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	bike	bike	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **see** | present | a boy | two people |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer people=Stimulus |
| 2 | **steal** | gerund | two people *not said here* | a bike |  |  |  |  | vn appear-48.1.1 «PP.location V NP»: agent=Location bike=Theme |

<!-- .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 the safest thing to do?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:274-helpers-in-town-and-building-sites:t7:2
# text = What is the safest thing to do?
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	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	safest	safe	ADJ	JJS	Degree=Sup	5	amod	_	_
5	thing	thing	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	nsubj	_	_
6	to	to	PART	TO	_	7	mark	_	_
7	do	do	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	acl	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | the safest thing |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **do** | to-infinitive | the safest thing *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn act-114-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 · ← Mova's choice {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Chase them on his own to get it back

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:274-helpers-in-town-and-building-sites:t7:o1:1
# text = Chase them on his own to get it back
1	Chase	chase	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	1	obj	_	_
3	on	on	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
4	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	5	nmod:poss	_	_
5	own	own	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	1	obl	_	_
6	to	to	PART	TO	_	7	mark	_	_
7	get	get	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	1	advcl	_	_
8	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	7	obj	_	_
9	back	back	ADV	RB	_	7	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **chase** | imperative | you *not said here* | them *= they* |  | his own |  |  | vn chase-51.6 «NP V NP PP.location»: agent=Agent they=Theme on own=Trajectory |
| 2 | **get back** | to-infinitive | you *not said here* | it |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer it=Stimulus |

### Option 2 · ✓ the right answer {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Tell an adult or call the police

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:274-helpers-in-town-and-building-sites:t7:o2:1
# text = Tell an adult or call the police
1	Tell	tell	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	adult	adult	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
4	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	5	cc	_	_
5	call	call	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	1	conj	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	police	police	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **tell** *speech: assert* | imperative | you *not said here* |  | a adult |  |  |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP.recipient»: agent=Agent adult=Recipient |
| 2 | **call** | infinitive | you *not said here* | the police |  |  |  |  | vn initiate\_communication-37.4.2-1 «NP V NP.recipient»: agent=Agent police=Recipient |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Shout at them and try to grab the bike

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:274-helpers-in-town-and-building-sites:t7:o3:1
# text = Shout at them and try to grab the bike
1	Shout	shout	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	at	at	ADP	IN	_	3	case	_	_
3	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	1	obl	_	_
4	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	5	cc	_	_
5	try	try	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	1	conj	_	_
6	to	to	PART	TO	_	7	mark	_	_
7	grab	grab	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	xcomp	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	bike	bike	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **shout** *speech: express* | imperative | you *not said here* |  |  |  |  | at them *= they* | vn manner\_speaking-37.3 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **try** | infinitive | you *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn try-61.1 «NP V S\_INF»: agent=Agent clause=Eventuality |
| 3 | **grab** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive | you *not said here* | the bike |  |  |  |  | vn steal-10.5-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent bike=Theme |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Do nothing, because it is not his bike

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:274-helpers-in-town-and-building-sites:t7:o4:1
# text = Do nothing, because it is not his bike
1	Do	do	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	nothing	nothing	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Neg	1	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	9	punct	_	_
4	because	because	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	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	9	advmod	_	_
8	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	9	nmod:poss	_	_
9	bike	bike	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **do** | imperative | you *not said here* | nothing |  |  |  |  | vn act-114-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent nothing=Eventuality |
| 2 | **not** **is a** | present | it | his bike |  |  |  |  | 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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