---
title: Oscar can't think of a promise he kept when it was hard. What would… — Keeping promises · tree and pragmatics
description: Oscar can't think of a promise he kept when it was hard. What would the vicar likely suggest? Test 8 of lesson 86 «Keeping promises» of the religion ethics course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each option; Mova's choice was right.
---

<!-- md -->
[Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/religion-ethics/86-keeping-promises/t8/)

<!-- crumbs -->
[home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/) / [questions](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/) / [Religion ethics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/religion-ethics/) / [Keeping promises](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/religion-ethics/86-keeping-promises/) / t8

# Test 8 · Keeping promises

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Oscar can't think of a promise he kept when it was hard. What would the vicar likely suggest?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 3 · **The right answer:** option 3 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** Oscar, promise, vicar · **What happens:** not think, keep, be, suggest · **To what, where:** promise

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 8 of lesson 86 «Keeping promises» 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/86-keeping-promises/#t8).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* Oscar can't think of a promise he kept when it was hard.

```conllu
# sent_id = question:religion-ethics:86-keeping-promises:t8:1
# text = Oscar can't think of a promise he kept when it was hard.
1	Oscar	Oscar	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
2	ca	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	n't	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	4	advmod	_	_
4	think	think	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
5	of	of	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	promise	promise	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
8	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	9	nsubj	_	_
9	kept	keep	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	7	acl:relcl	_	_
10	when	when	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	13	advmod	_	_
11	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	13	expl	_	_
12	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	13	cop	_	_
13	hard	hard	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	xcomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **think** *speech: other* | can | Oscar |  |  |  |  | of a promise | vn focus-87.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **keep** | past | Oscar | a promise *not said here* |  |  |  |  | vn keep-15.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent promise=Theme |
| 3 | **is** | past | a promise *not said here* |  |  |  |  | hard *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.

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 2:* What would the vicar likely suggest?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:religion-ethics:86-keeping-promises:t8:2
# text = What would the vicar likely suggest?
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	6	obj	_	_
2	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	6	aux	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	vicar	vicar	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	_
5	likely	likely	ADV	RB	_	6	advmod	_	_
6	suggest	suggest	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	6	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **suggest** *speech: suggest* | would | the vicar |  |  |  |  | likely *property* | vn say-37.7-1-1-1 «NP V NP.topic»: agent=Agent what=Topic |

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Promise something really huge to make up for it all at once

```conllu
# sent_id = question:religion-ethics:86-keeping-promises:t8:o1:1
# text = Promise something really huge to make up for it all at once
1	Promise	promise	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	something	something	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Ind	1	obj	_	_
3	really	really	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
4	huge	huge	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	amod	_	_
5	to	to	PART	TO	_	6	mark	_	_
6	make	make	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	1	advcl	_	_
7	up	up	ADP	RP	_	6	compound:prt	_	_
8	for	for	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
9	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	6	obl	_	_
10	all	all	ADV	RB	_	6	advmod	_	_
11	at	at	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
12	once	once	ADV	RB	NumForm=Word|NumType=Mult	10	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **promise** *speech: promise* | imperative | you *not said here* | something |  |  |  |  | vn future\_having-13.3 «NP V NP.theme (PP)»: agent=Agent something=Theme |
| 2 | **make up** | to-infinitive | you *not said here* |  |  |  |  | for it; all *property* | vn comprise-107.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Theme |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Copy someone else's story for Sunday school and say it's yours

```conllu
# sent_id = question:religion-ethics:86-keeping-promises:t8:o2:1
# text = Copy someone else's story for Sunday school and say it's yours
1	Copy	copy	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	someone	someone	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Ind	5	nmod:poss	_	_
3	else	else	ADV	RB	_	2	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	's	's	PART	POS	_	2	case	_	_
5	story	story	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
6	for	for	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	Sunday	Sunday	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	8	compound	_	_
8	school	school	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nmod	_	_
9	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	10	cc	_	_
10	say	say	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	1	conj	_	_
11	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	13	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	's	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	13	cop	_	_
13	yours	your	PRON	PRP	Person=2|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	10	ccomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **copy** | imperative | you *not said here* | someone's story |  |  |  | for Sunday school | vn scribble-25.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent story=Theme |
| 2 | **say** *speech: assert* | infinitive | you *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **is a** | present | story | yours |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

### Option 3 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Start with a small promise this week and keep it

```conllu
# sent_id = question:religion-ethics:86-keeping-promises:t8:o3:1
# text = Start with a small promise this week and keep it
1	Start	start	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	with	with	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
3	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	small	small	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	promise	promise	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obl	_	_
6	this	this	DET	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	7	det	_	_
7	week	week	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obl:unmarked	_	_
8	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	9	cc	_	_
9	keep	keep	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	1	conj	_	_
10	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	9	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **start** | imperative | you *not said here* |  |  |  | week | with a small promise | vn begin-55.1-1-1 «NP V PP.subeventuality»: agent=Eventuality with promise=Subeventuality |
| 2 | **keep** | infinitive | you *not said here* | promise |  |  |  |  | vn keep-15.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent it=Theme |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Never make any promises at all, so you can never break one

```conllu
# sent_id = question:religion-ethics:86-keeping-promises:t8:o4:1
# text = Never make any promises at all, so you can never break one
1	Never	never	ADV	RB	PronType=Neg	2	advmod	_	_
2	make	make	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	any	any	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	4	det	_	_
4	promises	promise	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obj	_	_
5	at	at	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	all	all	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	2	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	12	punct	_	_
8	so	so	ADV	RB	_	12	advmod	_	_
9	you	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Person=2|PronType=Prs	12	nsubj	_	_
10	can	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	12	aux	_	_
11	never	never	ADV	RB	PronType=Neg	12	advmod	_	_
12	break	break	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	2	conj	_	_
13	one	one	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	12	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **make** | imperative | you *not said here* | any promises |  | all |  |  | vn build-26.1-1 «NP.asset V NP»: agent=Asset promise=Product |
| 2 | **not** **break** | can | you | one |  |  |  |  | vn hurt-40.8.3-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer one=Patient |

<!-- div src -->

**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 -->

<!-- pn -->
- ← previous: [Keeping promises, test 7](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/religion-ethics/86-keeping-promises/t7/)
- next →: [Keeping promises, test 9](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/religion-ethics/86-keeping-promises/t9/)
- ↑ back to [Keeping promises](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/religion-ethics/86-keeping-promises/)