---
title: Identify the principal reason for which a promise made to oneself is… — Promises to friends and to yourself · tree and pragmatics
description: Identify the principal reason for which a promise made to oneself is frequently more difficult to keep than a promise made to another. Exam question 1 of lesson 359 «Promises to friends and to yourself» of the everyday course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the q
---

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# Exam question 1 · Promises to friends and to yourself

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Identify the principal reason for which a promise made to oneself is frequently more difficult to keep than a promise made to another.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 2 · **The right answer:** option 4 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** you, promise · **What happens:** identify, make, be, keep · **To what, where:** principal reason, promise

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 1 of lesson 359 «Promises to friends and to yourself» of the everyday course of Mova's primary school, asked in stiff, formal language. 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/359-promises-to-friends-and-to-yourself/#e1).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:359-promises-to-friends-and-to-yourself:e1:1
# text = Identify the principal reason for which a promise made to oneself is frequently more difficult to keep than a promise made to another.
1	Identify	identify	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
3	principal	principal	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	amod	_	_
4	reason	reason	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
5	for	for	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	15	obl	_	_
7	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	promise	promise	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	15	nsubj	_	_
9	made	make	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	8	acl	_	_
10	to	to	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
11	oneself	oneself	PRON	PRP	PronType=Prs|Reflex=Yes	9	obl	_	_
12	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	15	cop	_	_
13	frequently	frequently	ADV	RB	_	14	advmod	_	_
14	more	more	ADV	RBR	Degree=Cmp	15	advmod	_	_
15	difficult	difficult	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	acl:relcl	_	_
16	to	to	PART	TO	_	17	mark	_	_
17	keep	keep	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	15	csubj	_	_
18	than	than	ADP	IN	_	20	case	_	_
19	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	20	det	_	_
20	promise	promise	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	17	obl	_	_
21	made	make	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	20	acl	_	_
22	to	to	ADP	IN	_	23	case	_	_
23	another	another	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	21	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
24	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **identify** | imperative | you *not said here* | the principal reason |  |  |  |  | vn characterize-29.2-1-1 «NP V NP S\_ING»: agent=Agent reason=Theme |
| 2 | **make** | participle |  | a promise *not said here* |  |  |  | to oneself | vn build-26.1-1 «NP.asset V NP»: agent=Asset |
| 3 | **is** | present | a promise |  |  |  |  | for the principal reason; difficult *property* | tree rules |
| 4 | **keep** | to-infinitive |  |  |  |  |  | than a promise | vn keep-15.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent |
| 5 | **make** | participle |  | a promise *not said here* |  |  |  | to another | vn build-26.1-1 «NP.asset V NP»: agent=Asset |

<!-- .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 -->
It is enforced by law

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:359-promises-to-friends-and-to-yourself:e1:o1:1
# text = It is enforced by law
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj:pass	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux:pass	_	_
3	enforced	enforce	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
4	by	by	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	law	law	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **enforce** | present · passive | law | It |  |  |  |  | vn enforce-63 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent subject=Theme |

### Option 2 · ← Mova's choice {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It is invariably of greater magnitude than any promise made to another person

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:359-promises-to-friends-and-to-yourself:e1:o2:1
# text = It is invariably of greater magnitude than any promise made to another person
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	6	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	cop	_	_
3	invariably	invariably	ADV	RB	_	6	advmod	_	_
4	of	of	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	greater	great	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	6	amod	_	_
6	magnitude	magnitude	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
7	than	than	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	any	any	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	9	det	_	_
9	promise	promise	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nmod	_	_
10	made	make	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	9	acl	_	_
11	to	to	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
12	another	another	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	13	det	_	_
13	person	person	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | It |  |  |  |  | of greater magnitude; than any promise; invariably *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **make** | participle |  | any promise *not said here* |  |  |  | to another person | vn build-26.1-1 «NP.asset V NP»: agent=Asset |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It is not a genuine commitment

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:359-promises-to-friends-and-to-yourself:e1:o3:1
# text = It is not a genuine commitment
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	6	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	cop	_	_
3	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	6	advmod	_	_
4	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
5	genuine	genuine	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	commitment	commitment	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **is a** | present | It | a genuine commitment |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
No external party verifies or enforces it

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:359-promises-to-friends-and-to-yourself:e1:o4:1
# text = No external party verifies or enforces it
1	No	no	DET	DT	PronType=Neg	3	det	_	_
2	external	external	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	party	party	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
4	verifies	verify	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	6	cc	_	_
6	enforces	enforce	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	conj	_	_
7	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	6	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **verify** | present | no external party |  |  |  |  |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **enforce** | present | no external party *not said here* | party |  |  |  |  | vn enforce-63 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent it=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: [Promises to friends and to yourself, test 10](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/everyday/359-promises-to-friends-and-to-yourself/t10/)
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