---
title: Holly's mum, from Leeds: "I were going spare, love!" ("Going spare"… — Letting a friend down: broken promises… · tree and pragmatics
description: Holly's mum, from Leeds: "I were going spare, love!" ("Going spare" means frantic with worry.) What helped them afterwards? Test 9 · ★ of lesson 4 «Letting a friend down: broken promises and spilled secrets» of the reflection course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics o
---

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# Test 9 · ★ · Letting a friend down: broken promises and spilled secrets

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Holly's mum, from Leeds: "I were going spare, love!" ("Going spare" means frantic with worry.) What helped them afterwards?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 1 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** I, Going · **What happens:** go, mean, help · **To what, where:** spare, mum · **Speech:** someone speaks here

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This is test 9 · ★ of lesson 4 «Letting a friend down: broken promises and spilled secrets» of the reflection 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/reflection/4-letting-a-friend-down-broken-promises-and-spilled-secrets/#t9).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* Holly's mum, from Leeds: "I were going spare, love!"

```conllu
# sent_id = question:reflection:4-letting-a-friend-down-broken-promises-and-spilled-secrets:t9:1
# text = Holly's mum, from Leeds: "I were going spare, love!"
1	Holly	Holly	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	3	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	's	's	PART	POS	_	1	case	_	_
3	mum	mum	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	6	punct	_	_
5	from	from	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	Leeds	Leeds	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	3	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	:	:	PUNCT	:	_	11	punct	_	_
8	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	11	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	11	nsubj	_	_
10	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	11	aux	_	_
11	going	go	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	3	conj	_	_
12	spare	spare	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	11	xcomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	14	punct	_	_
14	love	love	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	vocative	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	!	!	PUNCT	.	_	14	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	14	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **go** *in a quote* | past · progressive | I |  |  |  |  | love *vocative*; spare *property* | vn disappearance-48.2-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

<!-- .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.

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 2:* ("Going spare" means frantic with worry.)

```conllu
# sent_id = question:reflection:4-letting-a-friend-down-broken-promises-and-spilled-secrets:t9:2
# text = ("Going spare" means frantic with worry.)
1	(	(	PUNCT	-LRB-	_	6	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	3	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	Going	go	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	6	csubj	_	_
4	spare	spare	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	3	punct	_	_
6	means	mean	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
7	frantic	frantic	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	xcomp	_	_
8	with	with	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
9	worry	worry	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	6	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	)	)	PUNCT	-RRB-	_	6	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **go** *in a quote* | gerund |  | spare |  |  |  |  | vn meander-47.7 «PP.location V NP»: agent=Location spare=Theme |
| 2 | **mean** | present | Going |  |  |  |  | frantic *property* | vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V S»: agent=Agent |

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 3:* What helped them afterwards?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:reflection:4-letting-a-friend-down-broken-promises-and-spilled-secrets:t9:3
# text = What helped them afterwards?
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	2	nsubj	_	_
2	helped	help	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	obj	_	_
4	afterwards	afterwards	ADV	RB	_	2	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **help** | past |  | mum |  |  |  | afterwards *property* | vn help-72.1-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent they=Beneficiary |

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Saying sorry and agreeing to text where she goes

```conllu
# sent_id = question:reflection:4-letting-a-friend-down-broken-promises-and-spilled-secrets:t9:o1:1
# text = Saying sorry and agreeing to text where she goes
1	Saying	say	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
2	sorry	sorry	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	1	obj	_	_
3	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	4	cc	_	_
4	agreeing	agree	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	1	conj	_	_
5	to	to	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	text	text	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	xcomp	_	_
7	where	where	ADV	WRB	PronType=Rel	9	advmod	_	_
8	she	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	9	nsubj	_	_
9	goes	go	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	advcl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **say** *speech: assert* | gerund |  | sorry |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V NP.topic»: agent=Agent sorry=Topic |
| 2 | **agree** *speech: agree* | gerund |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn correspond-36.1-1 «NP V what S\_INF»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 3 | **text** *not said to happen* | infinitive |  |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 4 | **go** | present | she |  |  |  |  |  | vn disappearance-48.2-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Never going out of the house again, even with friends

```conllu
# sent_id = question:reflection:4-letting-a-friend-down-broken-promises-and-spilled-secrets:t9:o2:1
# text = Never going out of the house again, even with friends
1	Never	never	ADV	RB	PronType=Neg	2	advmod	_	_
2	going	go	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
3	out	out	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
4	of	of	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	house	house	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
7	again	again	ADV	RB	_	2	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	11	punct	_	_
9	even	even	ADV	RB	_	11	advmod	_	_
10	with	with	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
11	friends	friend	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **go out** | gerund |  | the house |  |  | again | with friends | tree rules |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Arguing about the punishment until Mum finally gave in

```conllu
# sent_id = question:reflection:4-letting-a-friend-down-broken-promises-and-spilled-secrets:t9:o3:1
# text = Arguing about the punishment until Mum finally gave in
1	Arguing	argue	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	8	csubj	_	_
2	about	about	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	punishment	punishment	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obl	_	_
5	until	until	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	Mum	mum	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obl	_	_
7	finally	finally	ADV	RB	_	8	advmod	_	_
8	gave	give	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
9	in	in	ADP	RP	_	8	compound:prt	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **argue** *speech: disagree* | gerund |  |  |  |  | until Mum | about the punishment | vn correspond-36.1-1 «NP V PP.theme S»: agent=Agent about punishment=Topic |
| 2 | **give in** | past | Arguing |  |  |  |  | finally *property* | vn acquiesce-95.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Promising to lie better and get home earlier next time

```conllu
# sent_id = question:reflection:4-letting-a-friend-down-broken-promises-and-spilled-secrets:t9:o4:1
# text = Promising to lie better and get home earlier next time
1	Promising	promise	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
2	to	to	PART	TO	_	3	mark	_	_
3	lie	lie	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	1	xcomp	_	_
4	better	well	ADV	RBR	Degree=Cmp	3	advmod	_	_
5	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	6	cc	_	_
6	get	get	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	conj	_	_
7	home	home	ADV	RB	_	6	advmod	_	_
8	earlier	early	ADV	RBR	Degree=Cmp	6	advmod	_	_
9	next	next	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	10	amod	_	_
10	time	time	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obl:unmarked	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **promise** *speech: promise* | gerund |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn promise-37.13 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 2 | **lie** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive |  |  |  |  |  | well *property* | vn assuming\_position-50 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **get** | infinitive |  |  |  |  | time | early, home *property* | vn comprehend-87.2-1 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Experiencer |

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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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