---
title: Mate: «tell the copper u never saw nothing, don't be a grass». What'… — When the police come · tree and pragmatics
description: Mate: «tell the copper u never saw nothing, don't be a grass». What's right for a witness? Test 2 · ★ of lesson 384 «When the police come» 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 2 · ★ · When the police come

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Mate: «tell the copper u never saw nothing, don't be a grass». What's right for a witness?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 3 · **The right answer:** option 2 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** u · **What happens:** tell, not see, do, not be, be · **To what, where:** copper, nothing, grass · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 2 · ★ of lesson 384 «When the police come» 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/384-when-the-police-come/#t2).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* Mate: «tell the copper u never saw nothing, don't be a grass».

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:384-when-the-police-come:t2:1
# text = Mate: «tell the copper u never saw nothing, don't be a grass».
1	Mate	mate	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	:	:	PUNCT	:	_	4	punct	_	_
3	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	4	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	tell	tell	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	1	parataxis	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	copper	copper	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obj	_	_
7	u	you	PRON	PRP	Abbr=Yes|Case=Nom|Person=2|PronType=Prs	9	nsubj	_	_
8	never	never	ADV	RB	PronType=Neg	9	advmod	_	_
9	saw	see	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=2|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	6	acl:relcl	_	_
10	nothing	nothing	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Neg	9	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	12	punct	_	_
12	do	do	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	n't	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	16	advmod	_	_
14	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	16	cop	_	_
15	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	16	det	_	_
16	grass	grass	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	4	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
18	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **tell** *speech: assert* *in a quote* | infinitive |  | the copper |  |  |  |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP.recipient»: agent=Agent copper=Recipient |
| 2 | **not** **see** *in a quote* | past | u | nothing |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer nothing=Stimulus |
| 3 | **do** *in a quote* | infinitive |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn act-114-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 4 | **not** **is a** *in a quote* | infinitive |  | a grass |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

<!-- .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:* What's right for a witness?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:384-when-the-police-come:t2:2
# text = What's right for a witness?
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	3	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	's	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	cop	_	_
3	right	right	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
4	for	for	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	witness	witness	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

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

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Blame someone you don't like very much

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:384-when-the-police-come:t2:o1:1
# text = Blame someone you don't like very much
1	Blame	blame	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	someone	someone	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Ind	1	obj	_	_
3	you	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Person=2|PronType=Prs	6	nsubj	_	_
4	do	do	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=2|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	aux	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	n't	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	6	advmod	_	_
6	like	like	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	2	acl:relcl	_	_
7	very	very	ADV	RB	_	8	advmod	_	_
8	much	much	ADV	RB	_	6	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **blame** | imperative | you *not said here* | someone |  |  |  |  | vn judgment-33.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent someone=Theme |
| 2 | **not** **like** | present · do-support | you |  |  |  |  |  | vn want-32.1-1-1 «NP V NP S\_INF»: agent=Pivot |

### Option 2 · ✓ the right answer {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Say honestly what you actually saw

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:384-when-the-police-come:t2:o2:1
# text = Say honestly what you actually saw
1	Say	say	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	honestly	honestly	ADV	RB	_	1	advmod	_	_
3	what	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	6	obj	_	_
4	you	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Person=2|PronType=Prs	6	nsubj	_	_
5	actually	actually	ADV	RB	_	6	advmod	_	_
6	saw	see	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=2|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	1	ccomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **say** *speech: assert* | imperative | you *not said here* |  |  |  |  | honestly *property* | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V how S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 2 | **see** | past | you |  |  |  |  | actually *property* | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer what=Stimulus |

### Option 3 · ← Mova's choice {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Say you saw nothing at all, to be safe

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:384-when-the-police-come:t2:o3:1
# text = Say you saw nothing at all, to be safe
1	Say	say	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	you	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Person=2|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
3	saw	see	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=2|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	1	ccomp	_	_
4	nothing	nothing	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Neg	3	obj	_	_
5	at	at	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	all	all	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	4	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	10	punct	_	_
8	to	to	PART	TO	_	10	mark	_	_
9	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	10	cop	_	_
10	safe	safe	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	1	parataxis	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **say** *speech: assert* | imperative | you *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 2 | **see** | past | you | nothing |  | all |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer nothing=Stimulus |
| 3 | **is** | to-infinitive |  |  |  |  |  | safe *property* | tree rules |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Make up a different, more exciting story

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:384-when-the-police-come:t2:o4:1
# text = Make up a different, more exciting story
1	Make	make	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	up	up	ADP	RP	_	1	compound:prt	_	_
3	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
4	different	different	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	amod	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	4	punct	_	_
6	more	more	ADV	RBR	Degree=Cmp	7	advmod	_	_
7	exciting	exciting	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	amod	_	_
8	story	story	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **make up** | imperative | you *not said here* | a different exciting story |  |  |  |  | vn comprise-107.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Theme story=Pivot |

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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: [When the police come, test 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/everyday/384-when-the-police-come/t1/)
- next →: [When the police come, test 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/everyday/384-when-the-police-come/t3/)
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