---
title: Why do searchers ask lost children to stay put rather than come to f… — Lost outdoors · tree and pragmatics
description: Why do searchers ask lost children to stay put rather than come to find them? Test 8 · ★ of lesson 49 «Lost outdoors» 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 right.
---

<!-- md -->
[Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/everyday/49-lost-outdoors/t8/)

<!-- 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/) / [Lost outdoors](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/everyday/49-lost-outdoors/) / t8

# Test 8 · ★ · Lost outdoors

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Why do searchers ask lost children to stay put rather than come to find them?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 1 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** searchers · **What happens:** ask, lose, stay, put, come, find · **To what, where:** lost children, children

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 8 · ★ of lesson 49 «Lost outdoors» 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/49-lost-outdoors/#t8).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:49-lost-outdoors:t8:1
# text = Why do searchers ask lost children to stay put rather than come to find them?
1	Why	why	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	4	advmod	_	_
2	do	do	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
3	searchers	searcher	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj	_	_
4	ask	ask	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
5	lost	lose	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	6	amod	_	_
6	children	child	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obj	_	_
7	to	to	PART	TO	_	8	mark	_	_
8	stay	stay	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	xcomp	_	_
9	put	put	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	8	xcomp	_	_
10	rather	rather	ADV	RB	ExtPos=CCONJ	12	cc	_	_
11	than	than	ADP	IN	_	10	fixed	_	_
12	come	come	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	9	conj	_	_
13	to	to	PART	TO	_	14	mark	_	_
14	find	find	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	12	advcl	_	_
15	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	14	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **ask** *speech: ask* | present · do-support | searchers |  | lost children |  |  |  | vn inquire-37.1.2 «NP V NP whether S\_INF»: agent=Agent child=Recipient clause=Topic |
| 2 | **lose** | participle |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn succeed-74-3-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **stay** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive | searchers *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 4 | **put** | infinitive | searchers *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn invest-13.5.4-1 «NP V PP»: agent=Agent |
| 5 | **come** | infinitive | searchers *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 6 | **find** | to-infinitive | searchers *not said here* | children *= child* |  |  |  |  | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent they=Topic |

<!-- .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 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Searchers can cover an area properly if the child is not moving

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:49-lost-outdoors:t8:o1:1
# text = Searchers can cover an area properly if the child is not moving
1	Searchers	searcher	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj	_	_
2	can	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	3	aux	_	_
3	cover	cover	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
4	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	area	area	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
6	properly	properly	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	_
7	if	if	SCONJ	IN	_	12	mark	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	child	child	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	nsubj	_	_
10	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	12	aux	_	_
11	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	12	advmod	_	_
12	moving	move	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	3	advcl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **cover** | can | Searchers | a area |  |  |  | properly *property* | vn fill-9.8-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Theme area=Destination |
| 2 | **not** **move** *a condition, not said to happen* | present · progressive | the child |  |  |  |  |  | vn roll-51.3.1 «NP.theme V»: agent=Theme |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It is against the law to walk in a forest

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:49-lost-outdoors:t8:o2:1
# text = It is against the law to walk in a forest
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	5	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
3	against	against	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	law	law	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
6	to	to	PART	TO	_	7	mark	_	_
7	walk	walk	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	acl	_	_
8	in	in	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	forest	forest	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | It |  |  |  |  | against the law | tree rules |
| 2 | **walk** | to-infinitive |  |  |  | a forest |  |  | vn run-51.3.2-2-1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme in forest=Trajectory |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Children walk too slowly to be useful

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:49-lost-outdoors:t8:o3:1
# text = Children walk too slowly to be useful
1	Children	child	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nsubj	_	_
2	walk	walk	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	too	too	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
4	slowly	slowly	ADV	RB	_	2	advmod	_	_
5	to	to	PART	TO	_	7	mark	_	_
6	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	7	cop	_	_
7	useful	useful	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	advcl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **walk** | present | Children |  |  |  |  | slowly *property* | vn run-51.3.2-2-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 2 | **is** | to-infinitive | Children *not said here* |  |  |  |  | useful *property* | tree rules |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Children always walk round in circles and end up back in the same place

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:49-lost-outdoors:t8:o4:1
# text = Children always walk round in circles and end up back in the same place
1	Children	child	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj	_	_
2	always	always	ADV	RB	PronType=Tot	3	advmod	_	_
3	walk	walk	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	round	round	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	_
5	in	in	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	circles	circle	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obl	_	_
7	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	8	cc	_	_
8	end	end	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	conj	_	_
9	up	up	ADP	RP	_	8	compound:prt	_	_
10	back	back	ADV	RB	_	8	advmod	_	_
11	in	in	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
12	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	14	det	_	_
13	same	same	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	14	amod	_	_
14	place	place	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **walk** | present | Children |  |  | circles |  | always, round *property* | vn run-51.3.2-2-1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme in circle=Trajectory |
| 2 | **end up** | present | Children *not said here* |  |  |  |  | in the same place *result* | vn become-109.1-1-1 «NP V PP.attribute»: agent=Patient in place=Result |

<!-- 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: [Lost outdoors, test 7](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/everyday/49-lost-outdoors/t7/)
- next →: [Lost outdoors, test 9](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/everyday/49-lost-outdoors/t9/)
- ↑ back to [Lost outdoors](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/everyday/49-lost-outdoors/)