---
title: everyone's saying the bullying stopped cos Josh hit the bully back,… — Bullying and how to stop it · tree and pragmatics
description: everyone's saying the bullying stopped cos Josh hit the bully back, so hitting back works Test 17 · ★ of lesson 55 «Bullying and how to stop it» 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/55-bullying/t17/)

<!-- 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/) / [Bullying and how to stop it](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/everyday/55-bullying/) / t17

# Test 17 · ★ · Bullying and how to stop it

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
everyone's saying the bullying stopped cos Josh hit the bully back, so hitting back works

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 1 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** everyone, bullying, Josh, hitting · **What happens:** say, stop, hit back, work · **To what, where:** bully · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 17 · ★ of lesson 55 «Bullying and how to stop it» 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/55-bullying/#t17).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:55-bullying:t17:1
# text = everyone's saying the bullying stopped cos Josh hit the bully back, so hitting back works
1	everyone	everyone	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Tot	3	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	's	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux	_	_
3	saying	say	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	bullying	bullying	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	_
6	stopped	stop	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	ccomp	_	_
7	cos	cos	SCONJ	IN	_	9	mark	_	_
8	Josh	Josh	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	9	nsubj	_	_
9	hit	hit	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	6	advcl	_	_
10	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	bully	bully	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obj	_	_
12	back	back	ADV	RB	_	9	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	17	punct	_	_
14	so	so	ADV	RB	_	17	advmod	_	_
15	hitting	hit	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	17	csubj	_	_
16	back	back	ADV	RB	_	15	advmod	_	_
17	works	work	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **say** *speech: assert* | present · progressive | everyone |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 2 | **stop** | past | the bullying |  |  |  |  |  | vn stop-55.4-1-1 «NP.eventuality V»: agent=Eventuality |
| 3 | **hit back** | past | Josh | the bully |  |  |  |  | vn contiguous\_location-47.8-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Theme bully=Co-Theme |
| 4 | **hit back** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn contiguous\_location-47.8-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 5 | **work** | present | hitting |  |  |  |  |  | vn employment-95.3 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

<!-- .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 -->
One story proves nothing; hitting back can make it worse, so tell an adult

<!-- fold The tree, 14 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:55-bullying:t17:o1:1
# text = One story proves nothing; hitting back can make it worse, so tell an adult
1	One	one	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	2	nummod	_	_
2	story	story	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	proves	prove	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	nothing	nothing	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Neg	3	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	;	;	PUNCT	,	_	9	punct	_	_
6	hitting	hit	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	9	csubj	_	_
7	back	back	ADV	RB	_	6	advmod	_	_
8	can	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	9	aux	_	_
9	make	make	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	parataxis	_	_
10	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	9	obj	_	_
11	worse	bad	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	9	xcomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	14	punct	_	_
13	so	so	ADV	RB	_	14	advmod	_	_
14	tell	tell	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	conj	_	_
15	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	16	det	_	_
16	adult	adult	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **prove** | present | One story | nothing |  |  |  |  | vn deduce-97.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent nothing=Theme |
| 2 | **hit back** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn contiguous\_location-47.8-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 3 | **make** | can | hitting | story |  |  |  | bad *property* | vn build-26.1-1 «NP.asset V NP»: agent=Asset it=Product |
| 4 | **tell** *speech: assert* | infinitive | One story *not said here* |  | a adult |  |  |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP.recipient»: agent=Agent adult=Recipient |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It proves hitting back always works

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:55-bullying:t17:o2:1
# text = It proves hitting back always works
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	proves	prove	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	hitting	hit	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	6	csubj	_	_
4	back	back	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	_
5	always	always	ADV	RB	PronType=Tot	6	advmod	_	_
6	works	work	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	2	ccomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **prove** | present | It |  |  |  |  |  | vn declare-29.4-1-1 «NP V what S\_INF»: agent=Agent clause=Theme |
| 2 | **hit back** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn contiguous\_location-47.8-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 3 | **work** | present | hitting |  |  |  |  | always *property* | vn employment-95.3 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It shows bullies only stop when someone finally hits them hard enough to scare them

<!-- fold The tree, 15 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:55-bullying:t17:o3:1
# text = It shows bullies only stop when someone finally hits them hard enough to scare them
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	shows	show	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	bullies	bully	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	nsubj	_	_
4	only	only	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
5	stop	stop	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	2	ccomp	_	_
6	when	when	SCONJ	WRB	_	9	mark	_	_
7	someone	someone	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Ind	9	nsubj	_	_
8	finally	finally	ADV	RB	_	9	advmod	_	_
9	hits	hit	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	advcl	_	_
10	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	9	obj	_	_
11	hard	hard	ADV	RB	Degree=Pos	9	advmod	_	_
12	enough	enough	ADV	RB	_	11	advmod	_	_
13	to	to	PART	TO	_	14	mark	_	_
14	scare	scare	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	11	advcl	_	_
15	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	14	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **show** | present | It |  |  |  |  |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V how S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 2 | **stop** | present | bullies |  |  |  |  |  | vn stop-55.4-1-1 «NP.eventuality V»: agent=Eventuality |
| 3 | **hit** | present | someone | bullies *= bully* |  |  |  | finally, hard *property* | vn contiguous\_location-47.8-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Theme they=Co-Theme |
| 4 | **scare** | to-infinitive | someone *not said here* | bullies *= bully* |  |  |  |  | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Stimulus they=Experiencer |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It means teachers never help

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:55-bullying:t17:o4:1
# text = It means teachers never help
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	means	mean	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	teachers	teacher	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obj	_	_
4	never	never	ADV	RB	PronType=Neg	5	advmod	_	_
5	help	help	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	2	ccomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **mean** | present | It | teachers |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **not** **help** | present |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn help-72.1-1-1 «NP V PP.theme»: agent=Agent |

<!-- 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: [Bullying and how to stop it, test 16](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/everyday/55-bullying/t16/)
- next →: [Bullying and how to stop it, test 18](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/everyday/55-bullying/t18/)
- ↑ back to [Bullying and how to stop it](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/everyday/55-bullying/)