---
title: It being given that a person's actions are observed, determine what… — Thinking cleverly about people · tree and pragmatics
description: It being given that a person's actions are observed, determine what may be known of them. Exam question 4 of lesson 60 «Thinking cleverly about 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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# Exam question 4 · Thinking cleverly about people

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It being given that a person's actions are observed, determine what may be known of them.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 2 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** person · **What happens:** give, observe, determine, know, act · **To what, where:** It, actions

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 4 of lesson 60 «Thinking cleverly about people» of the everyday course of Mova's primary school, asked in stiff, formal language. 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/60-reasoning-about-people/#e4).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:60-reasoning-about-people:e4:1
# text = It being given that a person's actions are observed, determine what may be known of them.
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj:pass	_	_
2	being	be	AUX	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	3	aux:pass	_	_
3	given	give	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
4	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	10	mark	_	_
5	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	person	person	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	's	's	PART	POS	_	6	case	_	_
8	actions	action	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	10	nsubj:pass	_	_
9	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	10	aux:pass	_	_
10	observed	observe	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	12	advcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	10	punct	_	_
12	determine	determine	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	3	parataxis	_	_
13	what	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	16	nsubj:pass	_	_
14	may	may	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	16	aux	_	_
15	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	16	aux:pass	_	_
16	known	know	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	3	parataxis	_	_
17	of	of	ADP	IN	_	18	case	_	_
18	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	16	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
19	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **give** | gerund · passive |  | It |  |  |  |  | vn give-13.1-1 «NP V NP»: subject=Theme |
| 2 | **observe** | present · passive |  | a person's actions |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V NP.topic»: subject=Topic |
| 3 | **determine** | infinitive |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn conjecture-29.5 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent |
| 4 | **know** | may · passive |  |  |  |  |  | of actions *= action* | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1-1 «NP V NP PP.attribute»: subject=Stimulus |
| 5 | **act** |  | a person |  |  |  |  |  | nom action «act intransitive»: poss=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 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Both what the person does and always the reason why

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:60-reasoning-about-people:e4:o1:1
# text = Both what the person does and always the reason why
1	Both	both	CCONJ	CC	_	2	cc:preconj	_	_
2	what	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	0	root	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	person	person	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
5	does	do	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	2	acl:relcl	_	_
6	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	9	cc	_	_
7	always	always	ADV	RB	PronType=Tot	9	advmod	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	reason	reason	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	conj	_	_
10	why	why	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	2	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **do** | present | the person |  |  |  |  |  | vn act-114-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
What the person does, but not always why

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:60-reasoning-about-people:e4:o2:1
# text = What the person does, but not always why
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	person	person	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
4	does	do	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	1	acl:relcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	9	punct	_	_
6	but	but	CCONJ	CC	_	9	cc	_	_
7	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	8	advmod	_	_
8	always	always	ADV	RB	PronType=Tot	9	advmod	_	_
9	why	why	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	1	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **do** | present | the person |  |  |  |  |  | vn act-114-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Only the person's private thoughts and feelings

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:60-reasoning-about-people:e4:o3:1
# text = Only the person's private thoughts and feelings
1	Only	only	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	person	person	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	's	's	PART	POS	_	3	case	_	_
5	private	private	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	thoughts	thought	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	0	root	_	_
7	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	8	cc	_	_
8	feelings	feeling	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **think** |  | the person |  |  |  |  |  | nom thought «cognition transitive»: poss=agent |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Nothing whatsoever about the person concerned

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:60-reasoning-about-people:e4:o4:1
# text = Nothing whatsoever about the person concerned
1	Nothing	nothing	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Neg	0	root	_	_
2	whatsoever	whatsoever	ADV	RB	_	1	advmod	_	_
3	about	about	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	person	person	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	nmod	_	_
6	concerned	concerned	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
```

<!-- .note -->
The frames reader finds no event or fact in this sentence.

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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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