---
title: my mate says u can tell a bad stranger cos they look scary and messy — Strangers and tricky people · tree and pragmatics
description: my mate says u can tell a bad stranger cos they look scary and messy Test 18 · ★★ of lesson 58 «Strangers and tricky people» 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 18 · ★★ · Strangers and tricky people

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
my mate says u can tell a bad stranger cos they look scary and messy

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 4 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** mate, u, they · **What happens:** say, tell, look · **To what, where:** bad stranger · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 18 · ★★ of lesson 58 «Strangers and tricky people» 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/58-strangers-and-tricky-people/#t18).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:58-strangers-and-tricky-people:t18:1
# text = my mate says u can tell a bad stranger cos they look scary and messy
1	my	my	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Sing|Person=1|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	2	nmod:poss	_	_
2	mate	mate	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	says	say	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	u	you	PRON	PRP	Abbr=Yes|Case=Nom|Person=2|PronType=Prs	6	nsubj	_	_
5	can	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	6	aux	_	_
6	tell	tell	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	ccomp	_	_
7	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
8	bad	bad	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	amod	_	_
9	stranger	stranger	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	iobj	_	_
10	cos	cos	SCONJ	IN	_	12	mark	_	_
11	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	12	nsubj	_	_
12	look	look	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	advcl	_	_
13	scary	scary	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	12	xcomp	_	_
14	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	15	cc	_	_
15	messy	messy	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	13	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **say** *speech: assert* | present | my mate |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 2 | **tell** *speech: assert* | can | u |  | a bad stranger |  |  |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP.recipient»: agent=Agent stranger=Recipient |
| 3 | **look** | present | they |  |  |  |  | scary *property* | vn stimulus\_subject-30.4 «NP V ADJ»: agent=Stimulus |

<!-- .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 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
He is right, nice clothes mean safe

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:58-strangers-and-tricky-people:t18:o1:1
# text = He is right, nice clothes mean safe
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	cop	_	_
3	right	right	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	7	punct	_	_
5	nice	nice	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	clothes	clothes	NOUN	NNS	Number=Ptan	7	nsubj	_	_
7	mean	mean	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	conj	_	_
8	safe	safe	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	xcomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | He |  |  |  |  | right *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **mean** | present | nice clothes |  |  |  |  | safe *property* | vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V S»: agent=Agent |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
He is right, if they are wearing sunglasses and a hat pulled down low over their face

<!-- fold The tree, 17 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:58-strangers-and-tricky-people:t18:o2:1
# text = He is right, if they are wearing sunglasses and a hat pulled down low over their face
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	cop	_	_
3	right	right	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	8	punct	_	_
5	if	if	SCONJ	IN	_	8	mark	_	_
6	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	8	nsubj	_	_
7	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	8	aux	_	_
8	wearing	wear	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	3	parataxis	_	_
9	sunglasses	sunglasses	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	obj	_	_
10	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	13	cc	_	_
11	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
12	hat	hat	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	nsubj	_	_
13	pulled	pull	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	8	conj	_	_
14	down	down	ADV	RB	_	13	advmod	_	_
15	low	low	ADV	RB	Degree=Pos	13	advmod	_	_
16	over	over	ADP	IN	_	18	case	_	_
17	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	18	nmod:poss	_	_
18	face	face	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | He |  |  |  |  | right *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **wear** *a condition, not said to happen* | present · progressive | they | sunglasses |  |  |  |  | vn wipe\_manner-10.4.1-1 «NP V NP.source»: agent=Agent sunglasses=Source |
| 3 | **pull down** | past | a hat |  |  | sunglasses's face |  | down, low *property* | vn slide-11.2 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
He is right, bad people look scary

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:58-strangers-and-tricky-people:t18:o3:1
# text = He is right, bad people look scary
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	cop	_	_
3	right	right	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	7	punct	_	_
5	bad	bad	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	people	people	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	nsubj	_	_
7	look	look	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	conj	_	_
8	scary	scary	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	xcomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | He |  |  |  |  | right *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **look** | present | bad people |  |  |  |  | scary *property* | vn stimulus\_subject-30.4 «NP V ADJ»: agent=Stimulus |

### Option 4 · ✓ the right answer {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Wrong; you cannot tell whether a person is safe just from how they look

<!-- fold The tree, 15 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:58-strangers-and-tricky-people:t18:o4:1
# text = Wrong; you cannot tell whether a person is safe just from how they look
1	Wrong	wrong	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	advcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	;	;	PUNCT	:	_	6	punct	_	_
3	you	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Person=2|PronType=Prs	6	nsubj	_	_
4	can	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	6	aux	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	6	advmod	_	_
6	tell	tell	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
7	whether	whether	SCONJ	IN	_	11	mark	_	_
8	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	person	person	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	nsubj	_	_
10	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	11	cop	_	_
11	safe	safe	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	ccomp	_	_
12	just	just	ADV	RB	_	16	advmod	_	_
13	from	from	SCONJ	IN	_	16	mark	_	_
14	how	how	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	16	advmod	_	_
15	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	16	nsubj	_	_
16	look	look	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	advcl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **tell** *speech: assert* | can | you |  |  |  |  |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **is** | present | a person |  |  |  |  | safe *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **look** | present | they |  |  |  |  |  | vn stimulus\_subject-30.4 «NP V PP.attribute»: agent=Stimulus |

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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: [Strangers and tricky people, test 17](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/everyday/58-strangers-and-tricky-people/t17/)
- next →: [Strangers and tricky people, test 19](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/everyday/58-strangers-and-tricky-people/t19/)
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