---
title: Jake's aunt says, "Ah, he was only messing." What's wrong with that? — Chased, trapped, frightened: scary mom… · tree and pragmatics
description: Jake's aunt says, "Ah, he was only messing." What's wrong with that? Test 8 · ★ of lesson 7 «Chased, trapped, frightened: scary moments that come back at night» of the reflection course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each option; Mova's choic
---

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# Test 8 · ★ · Chased, trapped, frightened: scary moments that come back…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Jake's aunt says, "Ah, he was only messing." What's wrong with that?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 2 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** aunt, Jake · **What happens:** say, mess, be · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 8 · ★ of lesson 7 «Chased, trapped, frightened: scary moments that come back at night» 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/7-chased-trapped-frightened-scary-moments-that-come-back-at-night/#t8).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* Jake's aunt says, "Ah, he was only messing."

```conllu
# sent_id = question:reflection:7-chased-trapped-frightened-scary-moments-that-come-back-at-night:t8:1
# text = Jake's aunt says, "Ah, he was only messing."
1	Jake	Jake	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	3	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	's	's	PART	POS	_	1	case	_	_
3	aunt	aunt	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
4	says	say	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	12	punct	_	_
6	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	12	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	Ah	ah	INTJ	UH	_	12	discourse	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	7	punct	_	_
9	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	12	nsubj	_	_
10	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	12	aux	_	_
11	only	only	ADV	RB	_	12	advmod	_	_
12	messing	mess	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	4	ccomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	12	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	12	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **say** *speech: assert* | present | Jake's aunt |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 2 | **mess** *in a quote* | past · progressive | Jake |  |  |  |  |  | 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.

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 2:* What's wrong with that?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:reflection:7-chased-trapped-frightened-scary-moments-that-come-back-at-night:t8:2
# text = What's wrong with that?
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	3	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	's	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	cop	_	_
3	wrong	wrong	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
4	with	with	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	that	that	PRON	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	3	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present |  |  |  |  |  | with that; wrong *property* | tree rules |

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 · ← Mova's choice {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Jake should laugh too, because it was funny

```conllu
# sent_id = question:reflection:7-chased-trapped-frightened-scary-moments-that-come-back-at-night:t8:o1:1
# text = Jake should laugh too, because it was funny
1	Jake	Jake	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
2	should	should	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	3	aux	_	_
3	laugh	laugh	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
4	too	too	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	9	punct	_	_
6	because	because	SCONJ	IN	_	9	mark	_	_
7	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	9	nsubj	_	_
8	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	9	cop	_	_
9	funny	funny	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	parataxis	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **laugh** | should | Jake |  |  |  |  |  | vn nonverbal\_expression-40.2 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **is** | past | it |  |  |  |  | funny *property* | tree rules |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A "joke" isn't a joke if the one inside panics

```conllu
# sent_id = question:reflection:7-chased-trapped-frightened-scary-moments-that-come-back-at-night:t8:o2:1
# text = A "joke" isn't a joke if the one inside panics
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	3	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	joke	joke	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	3	punct	_	_
5	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	8	cop	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	n't	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	8	advmod	_	_
7	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	joke	joke	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
9	if	if	SCONJ	IN	_	13	mark	_	_
10	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	one	one	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	nsubj	_	_
12	inside	inside	ADV	RB	_	11	advmod	_	_
13	panics	panic	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	8	advcl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **is a** | present | a joke | a joke |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **panic** *a condition, not said to happen* | present | the one |  |  |  |  |  | vn bully-59.5 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It was only wrong because the shed was dirty

```conllu
# sent_id = question:reflection:7-chased-trapped-frightened-scary-moments-that-come-back-at-night:t8:o3:1
# text = It was only wrong because the shed was dirty
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
2	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
3	only	only	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
4	wrong	wrong	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
5	because	because	SCONJ	IN	_	9	mark	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	shed	shed	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	nsubj	_	_
8	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	9	cop	_	_
9	dirty	dirty	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	advcl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | past | It |  |  |  |  | wrong *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **is** | past | the shed |  |  |  |  | dirty *property* | tree rules |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Nothing; messing about can never really hurt anyone

```conllu
# sent_id = question:reflection:7-chased-trapped-frightened-scary-moments-that-come-back-at-night:t8:o4:1
# text = Nothing; messing about can never really hurt anyone
1	Nothing	nothing	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Neg	8	nsubj:pass	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	;	;	PUNCT	:	_	1	punct	_	_
3	messing	mess	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	1	acl	_	_
4	about	about	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	_
5	can	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	8	aux	_	_
6	never	never	ADV	RB	PronType=Neg	8	advmod	_	_
7	really	really	ADV	RB	_	8	advmod	_	_
8	hurt	hurt	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
9	anyone	anyone	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Ind	8	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **mess about** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  | about *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **not** **hurt** | can · passive |  | Nothing |  |  |  |  | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V NP ADJ»: subject=Experiencer anyone=Result |

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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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