---
title: You want to ask a stranger at the bus stop the time. Which is best? — Manners: greeting every worker, handsh… · tree and pragmatics
description: You want to ask a stranger at the bus stop the time. Which is best? Test 8 · ★ of lesson 323 «Manners: greeting every worker, handshakes, «How's it going?», introductions, goodbyes, please and thank you, excuse me, and table manners» of the everyday course of Mova's primary school, with the dependen
---

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# Test 8 · ★ · Manners: greeting every worker, handshakes, «How's it goin…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
You want to ask a stranger at the bus stop the time. Which is best?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 4 · **The right answer:** option 4 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** You · **What happens:** want, ask, be · **To what, where:** stranger, bus stop

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 8 · ★ of lesson 323 «Manners: greeting every worker, handshakes, «How's it going?», introductions, goodbyes, please and thank you, excuse me, 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/323-greetings-handshakes-goodbyes-please-and-table-manners/#t8).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* You want to ask a stranger at the bus stop the time.

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:323-greetings-handshakes-goodbyes-please-and-table-manners:t8:1
# text = You want to ask a stranger at the bus stop the time.
1	You	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Person=2|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	want	want	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=2|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	to	to	PART	TO	_	4	mark	_	_
4	ask	ask	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	2	xcomp	_	_
5	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	stranger	stranger	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	iobj	_	_
7	at	at	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
9	bus	bus	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	compound	_	_
10	stop	stop	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
11	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
12	time	time	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl:unmarked	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **want** | present | You |  |  |  |  |  | vn want-32.1-1-1 «NP V NP S\_INF»: agent=Pivot clause=Theme |
| 2 | **ask** *speech: ask* *not said to happen* | to-infinitive | You *not said here* |  | a stranger | the bus stop | time |  | vn inquire-37.1.2 «NP V NP.recipient»: agent=Agent stranger=Recipient |

<!-- .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:* Which is best?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:323-greetings-handshakes-goodbyes-please-and-table-manners:t8:2
# text = Which is best?
1	Which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	3	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	cop	_	_
3	best	good	ADJ	JJS	Degree=Sup	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

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

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Pull their sleeve and point at their watch

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:323-greetings-handshakes-goodbyes-please-and-table-manners:t8:o1:1
# text = Pull their sleeve and point at their watch
1	Pull	pull	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	3	nmod:poss	_	_
3	sleeve	sleeve	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
4	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	5	cc	_	_
5	point	point	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	conj	_	_
6	at	at	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	8	nmod:poss	_	_
8	watch	watch	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **pull** | imperative | you *not said here* | their sleeve and point |  | sleeve's watch |  |  | vn get-13.5.1 «NP V NP PP.source NP.asset»: agent=Agent sleeve=Theme at watch=Asset |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Shout «Time!» at them

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:323-greetings-handshakes-goodbyes-please-and-table-manners:t8:o2:1
# text = Shout «Time!» at them
1	Shout	shout	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	3	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	Time	time	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	!	!	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	1	punct	_	_
6	at	at	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	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 | **shout** *speech: express* | imperative | you *not said here* |  |  |  | time | at them *= they* | vn manner\_speaking-37.3 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
«What's the time?»

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:323-greetings-handshakes-goodbyes-please-and-table-manners:t8:o3:1
# text = «What's the time?»
1	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	5	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	5	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	's	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	time	time	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	5	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** *in a quote* | present |  | the time |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
«Excuse me, do you know the time, please?»

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:323-greetings-handshakes-goodbyes-please-and-table-manners:t8:o4:1
# text = «Excuse me, do you know the time, please?»
1	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	2	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	Excuse	excuse	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	me	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	2	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	7	punct	_	_
5	do	do	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=2|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	7	aux	_	_
6	you	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Person=2|PronType=Prs	7	nsubj	_	_
7	know	know	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	2	conj	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	time	time	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	2	punct	_	_
11	please	please	INTJ	UH	_	2	discourse	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **excuse** *in a quote* | imperative | you *not said here* | me |  |  |  |  | vn judgment-33.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent i=Theme |
| 2 | **know** *in a quote* | present · do-support | you |  |  |  | time |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Experiencer |

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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: [Manners: greeting every worker, handsh…, test 7](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/everyday/323-greetings-handshakes-goodbyes-please-and-table-manners/t7/)
- next →: [Manners: greeting every worker, handsh…, test 9](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/everyday/323-greetings-handshakes-goodbyes-please-and-table-manners/t9/)
- ↑ back to [Manners: greeting every worker, handshakes, «How's it going?», introductions, goodbyes, please and thank you, excuse me, and table manners](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/everyday/323-greetings-handshakes-goodbyes-please-and-table-manners/)