--- title: Why might Alfie stop believing Oliver's promises? — Promises to family · tree and pragmatics description: Why might Alfie stop believing Oliver's promises? Test 10 · ★ of lesson 358 «Promises to family» 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. --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/everyday/358-promises-to-little-brothers-gran-dad-and-the-cat/t10/) [home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/) / [questions](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/) / [Everyday](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/everyday/) / [Promises to family](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/everyday/358-promises-to-little-brothers-gran-dad-and-the-cat/) / t10 # Test 10 · ★ · Promises to family Why might Alfie stop believing Oliver's promises? **Mova's choice:** option 3 · **The right answer:** option 3 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** Alfie, Oliver · **What happens:** stop, believe, promise · **To what, where:** promises This is test 10 · ★ of lesson 358 «Promises to family» 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/358-promises-to-little-brothers-gran-dad-and-the-cat/#t10). ## The question {#question} ```conllu # sent_id = question:everyday:358-promises-to-little-brothers-gran-dad-and-the-cat:t10:1 # text = Why might Alfie stop believing Oliver's promises? 1 Why why ADV WRB PronType=Int 4 advmod _ _ 2 might might AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 4 aux _ _ 3 Alfie Alfie PROPN NNP Number=Sing 4 nsubj _ _ 4 stop stop VERB VBP Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 0 root _ _ 5 believing believe VERB VBG VerbForm=Ger 4 xcomp _ _ 6 Oliver Oliver PROPN NNP Number=Sing 8 nmod:poss _ SpaceAfter=No 7 's 's PART POS _ 6 case _ _ 8 promises promise NOUN NNS Number=Plur 5 obj _ SpaceAfter=No 9 ? ? PUNCT . _ 4 punct _ _ ``` | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **stop** | might | Alfie | | | | | | vn stop-55.4-1-1 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Affector clause=Eventuality | | 2 | **believe** | gerund | Alfie *not said here* | Oliver's promises | | | | | vn admire-31.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer promise=Stimulus | | 3 | **promise** | | Oliver | | | | | | nom promise «communication transitive»: poss=agent | 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} Promises are too long to remember ```conllu # sent_id = question:everyday:358-promises-to-little-brothers-gran-dad-and-the-cat:t10:o1:1 # text = Promises are too long to remember 1 Promises promise NOUN NNS Number=Plur 4 nsubj _ _ 2 are be AUX VBP Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 4 cop _ _ 3 too too ADV RB _ 4 advmod _ _ 4 long long ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 0 root _ _ 5 to to PART TO _ 6 mark _ _ 6 remember remember VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 4 advcl _ _ ``` | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **is** | present | Promises | | | | | long *property* | tree rules | | 2 | **remember** | to-infinitive | Promises *not said here* | | | | | | vn characterize-29.2-1-1 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Agent | ### Option 2 {#o2} Little children can't understand what a promise is at all ```conllu # sent_id = question:everyday:358-promises-to-little-brothers-gran-dad-and-the-cat:t10:o2:1 # text = Little children can't understand what a promise is at all 1 Little little ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 2 amod _ _ 2 children child NOUN NNS Number=Plur 5 nsubj _ _ 3 ca can AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 5 aux _ SpaceAfter=No 4 n't not PART RB Polarity=Neg 5 advmod _ _ 5 understand understand VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 0 root _ _ 6 what what PRON WP PronType=Int 5 ccomp _ _ 7 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 8 det _ _ 8 promise promise NOUN NN Number=Sing 6 nsubj _ _ 9 is be AUX VBZ Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 6 cop _ _ 10 at at ADP IN _ 11 case _ _ 11 all all DET DT PronType=Tot 6 obl _ _ ``` | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **not** **understand** | can | Little children | | | | | | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Experiencer | | 2 | **is a** | present | a promise | | | all | | | tree rules | ### Option 3 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer {#o3} Broken promises make people stop trusting your word ```conllu # sent_id = question:everyday:358-promises-to-little-brothers-gran-dad-and-the-cat:t10:o3:1 # text = Broken promises make people stop trusting your word 1 Broken broken ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 2 amod _ _ 2 promises promise NOUN NNS Number=Plur 3 nsubj _ _ 3 make make VERB VBP Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 0 root _ _ 4 people people NOUN NNS Number=Plur 3 obj _ _ 5 stop stop VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 3 xcomp _ _ 6 trusting trust VERB VBG VerbForm=Ger 5 xcomp _ _ 7 your your PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Person=2|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 8 nmod:poss _ _ 8 word word NOUN NN Number=Sing 6 obj _ _ ``` | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **make** | present | Broken promises | people | | | | | tree rules | | 2 | **stop** | infinitive | people *not said here* | | | | | | vn stop-55.4-1-1 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Affector clause=Eventuality | | 3 | **trust** | gerund | people *not said here* | your word | | | | | vn conjecture-29.5-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent word=Theme | | 4 | **word** | | your | | | | | | nom word «communication transitive»: poss=agent | ### Option 4 {#o4} Alfie is too young to trust anyone ```conllu # sent_id = question:everyday:358-promises-to-little-brothers-gran-dad-and-the-cat:t10:o4:1 # text = Alfie is too young to trust anyone 1 Alfie Alfie PROPN NNP Number=Sing 4 nsubj _ _ 2 is be AUX VBZ Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 4 cop _ _ 3 too too ADV RB _ 4 advmod _ _ 4 young young ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 0 root _ _ 5 to to PART TO _ 6 mark _ _ 6 trust trust VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 4 advcl _ _ 7 anyone anyone PRON NN Number=Sing|PronType=Ind 6 obj _ _ ``` | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **is** | present | Alfie | | | | | young *property* | tree rules | | 2 | **trust** | to-infinitive | Alfie *not said here* | anyone | | | | | vn conjecture-29.5-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent anyone=Theme | **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. - ← previous: [Promises to family, test 9](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/everyday/358-promises-to-little-brothers-gran-dad-and-the-cat/t9/) - next →: [Promises to family, exam 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/everyday/358-promises-to-little-brothers-gran-dad-and-the-cat/e1/) - ↑ back to [Promises to family](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/everyday/358-promises-to-little-brothers-gran-dad-and-the-cat/)