---
title: Why does a good magician tell you to watch his face as he talks? — April Fools' Day and how magic tricks… · tree and pragmatics
description: Why does a good magician tell you to watch his face as he talks? Test 3 · ★ of lesson 279 «April Fools' Day and how magic tricks work» 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 3 · ★ · April Fools' Day and how magic tricks work

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Why does a good magician tell you to watch his face as he talks?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 2 · **The right answer:** option 4 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** he · **What happens:** do, tell, watch, talk · **To what, where:** good magician, you, face · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 3 · ★ of lesson 279 «April Fools' Day and how magic tricks work» 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/279-april-fools-and-magic-tricks/#t3).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:279-april-fools-and-magic-tricks:t3:1
# text = Why does a good magician tell you to watch his face as he talks?
1	Why	why	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	2	advmod	_	_
2	does	do	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	advcl	_	_
3	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	good	good	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	magician	magician	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
6	tell	tell	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
7	you	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Person=2|PronType=Prs	6	iobj	_	_
8	to	to	PART	TO	_	9	mark	_	_
9	watch	watch	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	6	xcomp	_	_
10	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	11	nmod:poss	_	_
11	face	face	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obj	_	_
12	as	as	SCONJ	IN	_	14	mark	_	_
13	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	14	nsubj	_	_
14	talks	talk	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	9	advcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	6	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **do** | present |  | a good magician |  |  |  |  | vn act-114-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent magician=Eventuality |
| 2 | **tell** *speech: assert* | present |  |  | you |  |  |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP S\_INF»: agent=Agent you=Recipient clause=Topic |
| 3 | **watch** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive |  | his face |  |  |  |  | vn assessment-34.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent face=Theme |
| 4 | **talk** | present | he |  |  |  |  |  | vn talk-37.5 «NP V»: agent=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.

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Because he wants a photo

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:279-april-fools-and-magic-tricks:t3:o1:1
# text = Because he wants a photo
1	Because	because	SCONJ	IN	_	3	mark	_	_
2	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
3	wants	want	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	photo	photo	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **want** | present | he | a photo |  |  |  |  | vn want-32.1-1-1 «NP V NP ADV»: agent=Pivot photo=Theme |

### Option 2 · ← Mova's choice {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Because his face holds the secret and the answer to the trick

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:279-april-fools-and-magic-tricks:t3:o2:1
# text = Because his face holds the secret and the answer to the trick
1	Because	because	SCONJ	IN	_	4	mark	_	_
2	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	3	nmod:poss	_	_
3	face	face	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
4	holds	hold	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	secret	secret	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obj	_	_
7	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	9	cc	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	answer	answer	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	conj	_	_
10	to	to	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
11	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
12	trick	trick	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **hold** | present | his face | the secret and the answer |  |  |  | to the trick | vn keep-15.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent secret=Theme |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Because looking at hands is rude

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:279-april-fools-and-magic-tricks:t3:o3:1
# text = Because looking at hands is rude
1	Because	because	SCONJ	IN	_	2	mark	_	_
2	looking	look	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	6	csubj	_	_
3	at	at	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
4	hands	hand	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obl	_	_
5	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	cop	_	_
6	rude	rude	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **look** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  | at hands | vn peer-30.3 «NP V PP.theme»: agent=Agent at hand=Theme |
| 2 | **is** | present | looking |  |  |  |  | rude *property* | tree rules |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
To draw your attention away from his hands

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:279-april-fools-and-magic-tricks:t3:o4:1
# text = To draw your attention away from his hands
1	To	to	PART	TO	_	2	mark	_	_
2	draw	draw	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	your	your	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Person=2|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	4	nmod:poss	_	_
4	attention	attention	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
5	away	away	ADV	RB	_	2	advmod	_	_
6	from	from	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	8	nmod:poss	_	_
8	hands	hand	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **draw** | to-infinitive |  | your attention |  |  |  | away *property* | vn scribble-25.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent attention=Theme |
| 2 | **attend** |  | your |  |  |  |  |  | nom attention «cognition intransitive»: poss=agent |

<!-- div src -->

**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.

<!-- /div -->

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- ← previous: [April Fools' Day and how magic tricks…, test 2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/everyday/279-april-fools-and-magic-tricks/t2/)
- next →: [April Fools' Day and how magic tricks…, test 4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/everyday/279-april-fools-and-magic-tricks/t4/)
- ↑ back to [April Fools' Day and how magic tricks work](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/everyday/279-april-fools-and-magic-tricks/)