---
title: Given that a pupil is wrongly accused of having instigated a fight,… — Standing by a friend · tree and pragmatics
description: Given that a pupil is wrongly accused of having instigated a fight, ascertain the most appropriate conduct of a pupil who witnessed the incident. Exam question 3 of lesson 370 «Standing by a friend» of the everyday course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the quest
---

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# Exam question 3 · Standing by a friend

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Given that a pupil is wrongly accused of having instigated a fight, ascertain the most appropriate conduct of a pupil who witnessed the incident.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 3 · **The right answer:** option 3 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** you, pupil · **What happens:** give, accuse, instigate, ascertain, witness, conduct · **To what, where:** pupil, fight, appropriate conduct, incident

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 3 of lesson 370 «Standing by a friend» 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/370-standing-by-a-friend/#e3).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:370-standing-by-a-friend:e3:1
# text = Given that a pupil is wrongly accused of having instigated a fight, ascertain the most appropriate conduct of a pupil who witnessed the incident.
1	Given	give	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	14	advcl	_	_
2	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	7	mark	_	_
3	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	pupil	pupil	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nsubj:pass	_	_
5	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	7	aux:pass	_	_
6	wrongly	wrongly	ADV	RB	_	7	advmod	_	_
7	accused	accuse	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	1	advcl	_	_
8	of	of	SCONJ	IN	_	10	mark	_	_
9	having	have	AUX	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	10	aux	_	_
10	instigated	instigate	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	7	xcomp	_	_
11	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
12	fight	fight	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	14	punct	_	_
14	ascertain	ascertain	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
15	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	18	det	_	_
16	most	most	ADV	RBS	Degree=Sup	17	advmod	_	_
17	appropriate	appropriate	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	18	amod	_	_
18	conduct	conduct	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	obj	_	_
19	of	of	ADP	IN	_	21	case	_	_
20	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	21	det	_	_
21	pupil	pupil	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	18	nmod	_	_
22	who	who	PRON	WP	PronType=Rel	23	nsubj	_	_
23	witnessed	witness	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	21	acl:relcl	_	_
24	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	25	det	_	_
25	incident	incident	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	23	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
26	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	14	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **give** | participle | you *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn break\_down-45.8 «NP V»: agent=Patient |
| 2 | **accuse** | present · passive |  | a pupil |  |  |  | wrongly *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **instigate** | gerund · perfect |  | a fight |  |  |  |  | vn engender-27.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Precondition fight=Patient |
| 4 | **ascertain** | imperative | you *not said here* | the appropriate conduct of a pupil |  |  |  |  | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent conduct=Topic |
| 5 | **witness** | past | a pupil | the incident |  |  |  |  | vn captain-29.8-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent incident=Beneficiary |
| 6 | **conduct** |  |  | a pupil |  |  |  |  | nom conduct «act transitive»: of=patient |

<!-- .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 -->
To remain silent so as to avoid involvement

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:370-standing-by-a-friend:e3:o1:1
# text = To remain silent so as to avoid involvement
1	To	to	PART	TO	_	2	mark	_	_
2	remain	remain	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	7	advcl	_	_
3	silent	silent	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	xcomp	_	_
4	so	so	ADV	RB	_	7	advmod	_	_
5	as	as	SCONJ	IN	_	7	mark	_	_
6	to	to	PART	TO	_	7	mark	_	_
7	avoid	avoid	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
8	involvement	involvement	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **remain** | to-infinitive |  |  |  |  |  | silent *property* | vn exist-47.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 2 | **avoid** | to-infinitive |  | involvement |  |  |  |  | vn avoid-52 «NP V NP.location»: agent=Agent involvement=Location |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
To accuse a different pupil without evidence

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:370-standing-by-a-friend:e3:o2:1
# text = To accuse a different pupil without evidence
1	To	to	PART	TO	_	2	mark	_	_
2	accuse	accuse	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	different	different	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	pupil	pupil	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
6	without	without	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	evidence	evidence	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **accuse** | to-infinitive |  | a different pupil |  |  |  | without evidence | vn suspect-81 «NP V NP PP.attribute»: agent=Agent pupil=Theme |

### Option 3 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
To give a truthful account to the head teacher

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:370-standing-by-a-friend:e3:o3:1
# text = To give a truthful account to the head teacher
1	To	to	PART	TO	_	2	mark	_	_
2	give	give	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	truthful	truthful	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	account	account	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
6	to	to	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
8	head	head	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	compound	_	_
9	teacher	teacher	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **give** | to-infinitive |  | a truthful account | the head teacher |  |  |  | vn give-13.1-1 «NP V NP PP.recipient»: agent=Agent account=Theme to teacher=Recipient |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
To accept responsibility on the accused pupil's behalf

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:370-standing-by-a-friend:e3:o4:1
# text = To accept responsibility on the accused pupil's behalf
1	To	to	PART	TO	_	2	mark	_	_
2	accept	accept	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	responsibility	responsibility	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
4	on	on	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
6	accused	accuse	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	7	amod	_	_
7	pupil	pupil	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	's	's	PART	POS	_	7	case	_	_
9	behalf	behalf	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **accept** | to-infinitive |  | responsibility |  | the accused pupil's behalf |  |  | vn obtain-13.5.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent responsibility=Theme |
| 2 | **accuse** | participle |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn suspect-81 «NP V PP.theme S\_ING»: agent=Agent |

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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: [Standing by a friend, exam 2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/everyday/370-standing-by-a-friend/e2/)
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