---
title: Which is the best way to tell a teacher they might be wrong? — When the teacher gets it wrong · tree and pragmatics
description: Which is the best way to tell a teacher they might be wrong? Test 3 · ★★ of lesson 33 «When the teacher gets it wrong» of the myths 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 3 · ★★ · When the teacher gets it wrong

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Which is the best way to tell a teacher they might be wrong?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 3 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** they · **What happens:** be, tell · **To what, where:** best way, teacher · **Speech:** someone speaks here

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This is test 3 · ★★ of lesson 33 «When the teacher gets it wrong» of the myths 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/myths/33-when-the-teacher-gets-it-wrong/#t3).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:myths:33-when-the-teacher-gets-it-wrong:t3:1
# text = Which is the best way to tell a teacher they might be wrong?
1	Which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	5	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	best	good	ADJ	JJS	Degree=Sup	5	amod	_	_
5	way	way	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
6	to	to	PART	TO	_	7	mark	_	_
7	tell	tell	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	acl	_	_
8	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	teacher	teacher	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obj	_	_
10	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	13	nsubj	_	_
11	might	might	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	13	aux	_	_
12	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	13	cop	_	_
13	wrong	wrong	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	ccomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present |  | the best way |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **tell** *speech: assert* | to-infinitive |  |  | a teacher |  |  |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP.recipient»: agent=Agent teacher=Recipient |
| 3 | **is** | might | they |  |  |  |  | wrong *property* | tree rules |

<!-- .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 -->
By refusing to do the work

```conllu
# sent_id = question:myths:33-when-the-teacher-gets-it-wrong:t3:o1:1
# text = By refusing to do the work
1	By	by	SCONJ	IN	_	2	mark	_	_
2	refusing	refuse	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
3	to	to	PART	TO	_	4	mark	_	_
4	do	do	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	2	xcomp	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	work	work	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **refuse** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn reject-77.2 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Agent clause=Theme |
| 2 | **not** **do** | to-infinitive |  | the work |  |  |  |  | vn act-114-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent work=Eventuality |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Loudly, in front of everyone, to be fair

```conllu
# sent_id = question:myths:33-when-the-teacher-gets-it-wrong:t3:o2:1
# text = Loudly, in front of everyone, to be fair
1	Loudly	loudly	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	1	punct	_	_
3	in	in	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
4	front	front	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
5	of	of	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	everyone	everyone	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Tot	4	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	10	punct	_	_
8	to	to	PART	TO	_	10	mark	_	_
9	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	10	cop	_	_
10	fair	fair	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	acl:relcl	_	_
```

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

### Option 3 · ✓ the right answer {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Privately, politely, with a good source

```conllu
# sent_id = question:myths:33-when-the-teacher-gets-it-wrong:t3:o3:1
# text = Privately, politely, with a good source
1	Privately	privately	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	1	punct	_	_
3	politely	politely	ADV	RB	_	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	3	punct	_	_
5	with	with	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
6	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
7	good	good	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	amod	_	_
8	source	source	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
```

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

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
By getting your parent to shout at them

```conllu
# sent_id = question:myths:33-when-the-teacher-gets-it-wrong:t3:o4:1
# text = By getting your parent to shout at them
1	By	by	SCONJ	IN	_	2	mark	_	_
2	getting	get	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	0	root	_	_
3	your	your	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Person=2|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	4	nmod:poss	_	_
4	parent	parent	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
5	to	to	PART	TO	_	6	mark	_	_
6	shout	shout	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	2	advcl	_	_
7	at	at	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
8	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	6	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **get** | gerund |  | your parent |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer parent=Stimulus |
| 2 | **shout** *speech: express* | to-infinitive |  |  |  |  |  | at them *= they* | vn manner\_speaking-37.3 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

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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: [When the teacher gets it wrong, test 2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/myths/33-when-the-teacher-gets-it-wrong/t2/)
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