---
title: «what's the point telling, adults never do nothing». What's true? — Adults who help and adults who don't · tree and pragmatics
description: «what's the point telling, adults never do nothing». What's true? Test 10 of lesson 392 «Adults who help and adults who don't» 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.
---

<!-- md -->
[Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/everyday/392-adults-who-help-and-adults-who-dont/t10/)

<!-- crumbs -->
[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/) / [Adults who help and adults who don't](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/everyday/392-adults-who-help-and-adults-who-dont/) / t10

# Test 10 · Adults who help and adults who don't

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
«what's the point telling, adults never do nothing». What's true?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 2 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** point, adults · **What happens:** tell, not do, be · **To what, where:** nothing · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 10 of lesson 392 «Adults who help and adults who don't» 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/392-adults-who-help-and-adults-who-dont/#t10).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* «what's the point telling, adults never do nothing».

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:392-adults-who-help-and-adults-who-dont:t10:1
# text = «what's the point telling, adults never do nothing».
1	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	6	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	what	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	6	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	's	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	aux	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	point	point	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	_
6	telling	tell	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	10	punct	_	_
8	adults	adult	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	10	nsubj	_	_
9	never	never	ADV	RB	PronType=Neg	10	advmod	_	_
10	do	do	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	ccomp	_	_
11	nothing	nothing	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Neg	10	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	10	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	6	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **tell** *speech: assert* *in a quote* | present · progressive | the point |  |  |  |  |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP S\_INF»: agent=Agent what=Recipient clause=Topic |
| 2 | **not** **do** *in a quote* | present | adults | nothing |  |  |  |  | vn act-114-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent nothing=Eventuality |

<!-- .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 true?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:392-adults-who-help-and-adults-who-dont:t10:2
# text = What's true?
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	true	true	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

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

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 · ← Mova's choice {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Adults only help rich kids

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:392-adults-who-help-and-adults-who-dont:t10:o1:1
# text = Adults only help rich kids
1	Adults	adult	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj	_	_
2	only	only	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	_
3	help	help	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	rich	rich	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	kids	kid	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obj	_	_
```

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

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Some don't, but many do, so keep telling

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:392-adults-who-help-and-adults-who-dont:t10:o2:1
# text = Some don't, but many do, so keep telling
1	Some	some	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	2	nsubj	_	_
2	do	do	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	10	aux	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	n't	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	2	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	7	punct	_	_
5	but	but	CCONJ	CC	_	7	cc	_	_
6	many	many	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	nsubj	_	_
7	do	do	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	2	parataxis	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	10	punct	_	_
9	so	so	ADV	RB	_	10	advmod	_	_
10	keep	keep	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
11	telling	tell	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	10	xcomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **do** | present | many |  |  |  |  |  | vn act-114-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **keep** | present · do-support |  |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 3 | **tell** *speech: assert* | gerund |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Only the police can help

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:392-adults-who-help-and-adults-who-dont:t10:o3:1
# text = Only the police can help
1	Only	only	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	police	police	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	nsubj	_	_
4	can	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	5	aux	_	_
5	help	help	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
```

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

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It's true, no adult ever helps, so don't bother

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:392-adults-who-help-and-adults-who-dont:t10:o4:1
# text = It's true, no adult ever helps, so don't bother
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	's	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	cop	_	_
3	true	true	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	8	punct	_	_
5	no	no	DET	DT	PronType=Neg	6	det	_	_
6	adult	adult	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nsubj	_	_
7	ever	ever	ADV	RB	PronType=Ind	8	advmod	_	_
8	helps	help	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	13	punct	_	_
10	so	so	ADV	RB	_	13	advmod	_	_
11	do	do	AUX	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	13	aux	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	n't	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	13	advmod	_	_
13	bother	bother	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	3	parataxis	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | It |  |  |  |  | true *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **help** | present | no adult |  |  |  | ever |  | vn help-72.1-1-1 «NP V PP.theme»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **not** **bother** | infinitive · do-support |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V ADV-Middle»: agent=Experiencer |

<!-- div src -->

**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 -->

<!-- pn -->
- ← previous: [Adults who help and adults who don't, test 9](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/everyday/392-adults-who-help-and-adults-who-dont/t9/)
- next →: [Adults who help and adults who don't, test 11](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/everyday/392-adults-who-help-and-adults-who-dont/t11/)
- ↑ back to [Adults who help and adults who don't](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/everyday/392-adults-who-help-and-adults-who-dont/)