---
title: Sam's hands are shaking when the officer asks him questions. What he… — When the police come · tree and pragmatics
description: Sam's hands are shaking when the officer asks him questions. What helps most? Test 9 · ★ 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 9 · ★ · When the police come

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Sam's hands are shaking when the officer asks him questions. What helps most?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 2 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** hands, officer · **What happens:** shake, ask, help · **To what, where:** questions, Sam

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 9 · ★ 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/#t9).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* Sam's hands are shaking when the officer asks him questions.

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:384-when-the-police-come:t9:1
# text = Sam's hands are shaking when the officer asks him questions.
1	Sam	Sam	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	3	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	's	's	PART	POS	_	1	case	_	_
3	hands	hand	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	nsubj	_	_
4	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	aux	_	_
5	shaking	shake	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
6	when	when	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	9	advmod	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	officer	officer	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	nsubj	_	_
9	asks	ask	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	advcl	_	_
10	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	9	obj	_	_
11	questions	question	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	9	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **shake** | present · progressive | Sam's hands |  |  |  |  |  | vn shake-22.3-2 «NP V ADV-Middle»: agent=Patient |
| 2 | **ask** *speech: ask* | present | the officer | questions | Sam |  |  |  | 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 helps most?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:384-when-the-police-come:t9:2
# text = What helps most?
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	2	nsubj	_	_
2	helps	help	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	most	most	ADV	RBS	Degree=Sup	2	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **help** | present |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn help-72.1-1-1 «NP V PP.theme»: agent=Agent |

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 · ← Mova's choice {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Say his friend saw it instead of him

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:384-when-the-police-come:t9:o1:1
# text = Say his friend saw it instead of him
1	Say	say	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	compound	_	_
2	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	3	nmod:poss	_	_
3	friend	friend	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
4	saw	see	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	obj	_	_
6	instead	instead	ADV	RB	ExtPos=ADP	8	case	_	_
7	of	of	ADP	IN	_	6	fixed	_	_
8	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **say** *speech: assert* | infinitive |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **see** | past | his Say friend | it |  |  |  | instead him *= he* | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer it=Stimulus |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Breathe, go slowly, and say only what he really saw

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:384-when-the-police-come:t9:o2:1
# text = Breathe, go slowly, and say only what he really saw
1	Breathe	breathe	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	3	punct	_	_
3	go	go	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	1	conj	_	_
4	slowly	slowly	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	7	punct	_	_
6	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	7	cc	_	_
7	say	say	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	1	conj	_	_
8	only	only	ADV	RB	_	9	advmod	_	_
9	what	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	7	obj	_	_
10	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	12	nsubj	_	_
11	really	really	ADV	RB	_	12	advmod	_	_
12	saw	see	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	9	acl:relcl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **breathe** | imperative | you *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn breathe-40.1.2-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **go** | infinitive | you *not said here* |  |  |  |  | slowly *property* | vn disappearance-48.2-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 3 | **say** *speech: assert* | infinitive | you *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V NP.topic»: agent=Agent what=Topic |
| 4 | **see** | past | he |  |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Experiencer |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Say whatever he thinks the officer wants to hear from him

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:384-when-the-police-come:t9:o3:1
# text = Say whatever he thinks the officer wants to hear from him
1	Say	say	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	whatever	whatever	PRON	WP	PronType=Rel	4	obj	_	_
3	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
4	thinks	think	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	1	ccomp	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	officer	officer	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nsubj	_	_
7	wants	want	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	ccomp	_	_
8	to	to	PART	TO	_	9	mark	_	_
9	hear	hear	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	7	xcomp	_	_
10	from	from	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
11	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	9	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .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 | **think** *speech: other* | present | he | whatever |  |  |  |  | vn consider-29.9-2 «NP V NP ADJ»: agent=Agent whatever=Attribute clause=Theme |
| 3 | **want** | present | the officer |  |  |  |  |  | vn want-32.1-1-1 «NP V NP S\_INF»: agent=Pivot clause=Theme |
| 4 | **hear** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive | the officer *not said here* |  |  |  |  | from officer | vn learn-14-2-1 «NP V PP.source»: agent=Agent from he=Source |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Say he forgot everything

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:384-when-the-police-come:t9:o4:1
# text = Say he forgot everything
1	Say	say	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
3	forgot	forget	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	1	ccomp	_	_
4	everything	everything	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Tot	3	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .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 | **forget** | past | he | everything |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

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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.

<!-- /div -->

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