---
title: Which is the most polite way to get a stranger's attention? — Greetings, goodbyes, please and thank… · tree and pragmatics
description: Which is the most polite way to get a stranger's attention? Test 10 · ★ of lesson 296 «Greetings, goodbyes, please and thank you, and table manners» 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 10 · ★ · Greetings, goodbyes, please and thank you, and table manners

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Which is the most polite way to get a stranger's attention?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 4 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** stranger · **What happens:** be, get, attend · **To what, where:** polite way, attention

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This is test 10 · ★ of lesson 296 «Greetings, goodbyes, please and thank you, and table manners» 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/296-greetings-goodbyes-and-table-manners/#t10).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:296-greetings-goodbyes-and-table-manners:t10:1
# text = Which is the most polite way to get a stranger's attention?
1	Which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	6	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	cop	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
4	most	most	ADV	RBS	Degree=Sup	5	advmod	_	_
5	polite	polite	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	way	way	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
7	to	to	PART	TO	_	8	mark	_	_
8	get	get	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	6	acl	_	_
9	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	stranger	stranger	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	's	's	PART	POS	_	10	case	_	_
12	attention	attention	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	6	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present |  | the polite way |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **get** | to-infinitive |  | a stranger's attention |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer attention=Stimulus |
| 3 | **attend** |  | a stranger |  |  |  |  |  | nom attention «cognition intransitive»: poss=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 · ← Mova's choice {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Pulling at their sleeve

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:296-greetings-goodbyes-and-table-manners:t10:o1:1
# text = Pulling at their sleeve
1	Pulling	pull	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
2	at	at	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
3	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	4	nmod:poss	_	_
4	sleeve	sleeve	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **pull** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  | at their sleeve | vn push-12-1 «NP V PP-Conative»: agent=Agent at sleeve=Theme |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Whistling loudly

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:296-greetings-goodbyes-and-table-manners:t10:o2:1
# text = Whistling loudly
1	Whistling	whistle	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
2	loudly	loudly	ADV	RB	_	1	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **whistle** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  | loudly *property* | vn manner\_speaking-37.3 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Clapping your hands near them

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:296-greetings-goodbyes-and-table-manners:t10:o3:1
# text = Clapping your hands near them
1	Clapping	clap	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
2	your	your	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Person=2|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	3	nmod:poss	_	_
3	hands	hand	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	1	obj	_	_
4	near	near	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	1	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **clap** | gerund |  | your hands |  |  |  | near hands *= hand* | vn sound\_emission-43.2 «PP.location V NP»: agent=Location hand=Theme |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Saying «Excuse me»

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:296-greetings-goodbyes-and-table-manners:t10:o4:1
# text = Saying «Excuse me»
1	Saying	say	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
2	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	3	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	Excuse	excuse	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	1	ccomp	_	_
4	me	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	3	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **say** *speech: assert* | gerund |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 2 | **excuse** *in a quote* | infinitive |  | me |  |  |  |  | vn judgment-33.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent i=Theme |

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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: [Greetings, goodbyes, please and thank…, test 9](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/everyday/296-greetings-goodbyes-and-table-manners/t9/)
- next →: [Greetings, goodbyes, please and thank…, test 11](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/everyday/296-greetings-goodbyes-and-table-manners/t11/)
- ↑ back to [Greetings, goodbyes, please and thank you, and table manners](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/everyday/296-greetings-goodbyes-and-table-manners/)