---
title: «why'd you pray for my mum when she's not even christian?» asks a fr… — What Christians believe: prayer, forgi… · tree and pragmatics
description: «why'd you pray for my mum when she's not even christian?» asks a friend. What's the best answer? Test 9 · ★ of lesson 22 «What Christians believe: prayer, forgiveness, grace and heaven» of the religion ethics course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question a
---

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# Test 9 · ★ · What Christians believe: prayer, forgiveness, grace and he…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
«why'd you pray for my mum when she's not even christian?» asks a friend. What's the best answer?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 3 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** you, she, friend, best answer · **What happens:** pray, not be, ask, be · **Speech:** someone speaks here

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This is test 9 · ★ of lesson 22 «What Christians believe: prayer, forgiveness, grace and heaven» of the religion ethics 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/religion-ethics/22-prayer-forgiveness-grace-and-heaven/#t9).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* «why'd you pray for my mum when she's not even christian?» asks a friend.

```conllu
# sent_id = question:religion-ethics:22-prayer-forgiveness-grace-and-heaven:t9:1
# text = «why'd you pray for my mum when she's not even christian?» asks a friend.
1	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	5	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	why	why	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	5	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	'd	'd	PUNCT	``	_	5	punct	_	_
4	you	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Person=2|PronType=Prs	5	nsubj	_	_
5	pray	pray	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=2|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	17	ccomp	_	_
6	for	for	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	my	my	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Sing|Person=1|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	8	nmod:poss	_	_
8	mum	mum	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	_
9	when	when	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	14	advmod	_	_
10	she	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	14	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	's	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	14	cop	_	_
12	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	14	advmod	_	_
13	even	even	ADV	RB	_	14	advmod	_	_
14	christian	Christian	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	advcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	5	punct	_	_
17	asks	ask	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
18	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	19	det	_	_
19	friend	friend	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	17	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
20	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	17	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **pray** *in a quote* | present | you |  |  |  |  | for my mum | vn long-32.2 «NP V PP.theme»: agent=Pivot for mum=Theme |
| 2 | **not** **is** *in a quote* | present | she |  |  |  |  | christian *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **ask** *speech: ask* | present | a friend |  |  |  |  |  | vn inquire-37.1.2 «NP V how S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |

<!-- .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 the best answer?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:religion-ethics:22-prayer-forgiveness-grace-and-heaven:t9:2
# text = What's the best answer?
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	's	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	1	cop	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	best	good	ADJ	JJS	Degree=Sup	5	amod	_	_
5	answer	answer	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | the best answer |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 · ← Mova's choice {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
I was secretly trying to make her join my church

```conllu
# sent_id = question:religion-ethics:22-prayer-forgiveness-grace-and-heaven:t9:o1:1
# text = I was secretly trying to make her join my church
1	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
2	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
3	secretly	secretly	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
4	trying	try	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
5	to	to	PART	TO	_	6	mark	_	_
6	make	make	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	xcomp	_	_
7	her	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	6	obj	_	_
8	join	join	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	6	xcomp	_	_
9	my	my	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Sing|Person=1|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	10	nmod:poss	_	_
10	church	church	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **try** | past · progressive | I |  |  |  |  | secretly *property* | vn try-61.1 «NP V S\_INF»: agent=Agent clause=Eventuality |
| 2 | **make** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive | I *not said here* | her *= she* |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 3 | **join** *not said to happen* | infinitive | her *= she* *not said here* | my church |  |  |  |  | vn mix-22.1-2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent church=Patient |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Praying for other people is against the rules

```conllu
# sent_id = question:religion-ethics:22-prayer-forgiveness-grace-and-heaven:t9:o2:1
# text = Praying for other people is against the rules
1	Praying	pray	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	8	csubj	_	_
2	for	for	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
3	other	other	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	amod	_	_
4	people	people	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	1	obl	_	_
5	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	8	cop	_	_
6	against	against	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	rules	rule	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **pray** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  | for other people | vn long-32.2 «NP V PP.theme»: agent=Pivot for people=Theme |
| 2 | **is** | present | Praying |  |  |  |  | against the rules | tree rules |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Christians pray for everyone they care about

```conllu
# sent_id = question:religion-ethics:22-prayer-forgiveness-grace-and-heaven:t9:o3:1
# text = Christians pray for everyone they care about
1	Christians	Christian	PROPN	NNPS	Number=Plur	2	nsubj	_	_
2	pray	pray	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	for	for	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
4	everyone	everyone	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Tot	2	obl	_	_
5	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	6	nsubj	_	_
6	care	care	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	acl:relcl	_	_
7	about	about	ADP	IN	_	6	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **pray** | present | Christians |  |  |  |  | for everyone | vn long-32.2 «NP V PP.theme»: agent=Pivot for everyone=Theme |
| 2 | **care** | present | Christians *= christian* |  |  |  |  |  | vn care-88.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Experiencer |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Prayers only work for people who are Christians

```conllu
# sent_id = question:religion-ethics:22-prayer-forgiveness-grace-and-heaven:t9:o4:1
# text = Prayers only work for people who are Christians
1	Prayers	prayer	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj	_	_
2	only	only	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	_
3	work	work	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	for	for	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	people	people	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obl	_	_
6	who	who	PRON	WP	PronType=Rel	8	nsubj	_	_
7	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	8	cop	_	_
8	Christians	Christian	PROPN	NNPS	Number=Plur	5	appos	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **work** | present | Prayers |  |  |  |  | for people | vn employment-95.3 «NP V PP.beneficiary»: agent=Agent for people=Beneficiary |
| 2 | **is a** | present | people | Christians |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

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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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