--- title: Prediction: what happens next — a lesson of Mova's school · trees and pragmatics description: «Prediction: what happens next», a lesson of the english course of Mova's primary school, sentence by sentence with dependency trees and pragmatics. It begins: A prediction is a sensible guess about what will happen next, built from clues in the text and from what you know about stories. --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/english/19-prediction-what-happens-next/) [home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/) / [school](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/) / [English](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/english/) / Prediction: what happens next # Prediction: what happens next Lesson 19 of the english course of Mova's primary school: 23 sentences, each with its syntax tree and pragmatics. The lessons are written for Mova, and their agreed trees are part of Mova corpus 0.4 (CC BY-SA 4.0). How Mova does on its tests: [the lesson at school](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/school-run/english/19-prediction-what-happens-next/). - [0](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/english/19-prediction-what-happens-next/0/) — A prediction is a sensible guess about what will happen next, built from clues in the text and from what you know about stories. - [1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/english/19-prediction-what-happens-next/1/) — «Sam saw the sign: DANGER: THIN ICE. - [2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/english/19-prediction-what-happens-next/2/) — He looked at the frozen pond and grinned.» The grin is the clue: Sam is probably going to step onto the ice, and stories love trouble, so he may well fall in. - [3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/english/19-prediction-what-happens-next/3/) — A prediction does not have to come true to be a good one. - [4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/english/19-prediction-what-happens-next/4/) — It has to be based on evidence. - [5](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/english/19-prediction-what-happens-next/5/) — In a test that says «Predict what might happen next, using evidence from the text (2 marks)», you need two things: what you think will happen, and the clue that makes you think so, joined with «because». - [6](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/english/19-prediction-what-happens-next/6/) — Good readers change their predictions as they go, like a weather forecaster who looks out of the window again. - [7](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/english/19-prediction-what-happens-next/7/) — Kai changes his mind halfway through a book: that is not failing, it is reading well. - [8](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/english/19-prediction-what-happens-next/8/) — And authors sometimes surprise us on purpose: Isla predicts the princess will save herself instead of waiting for a prince, and in many modern stories she does. - [10](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/english/19-prediction-what-happens-next/10/) — That is a real prediction in slang. - [11](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/english/19-prediction-what-happens-next/11/) — In a written answer he would write: «I think he will get caught because he keeps looking over his shoulder.» - [12](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/english/19-prediction-what-happens-next/12/) — A prediction is a sensible guess about what will happen next, based on clues. - [13](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/english/19-prediction-what-happens-next/13/) — A good prediction gives what might happen and the evidence that suggests it. - [14](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/english/19-prediction-what-happens-next/14/) — A prediction can earn marks even if the story turns out differently, as long as it fits the evidence. - [15](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/english/19-prediction-what-happens-next/15/) — Wild guesses with no link to the text, like a dragon turning into a cake for no reason, are not good predictions. - [16](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/english/19-prediction-what-happens-next/16/) — You can predict before reading, from the title, the cover and the pictures. - [17](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/english/19-prediction-what-happens-next/17/) — Good readers revise their predictions as they find new clues. - [18](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/english/19-prediction-what-happens-next/18/) — Knowing common story patterns helps: a character warned «never open the red door» very often opens it. - [19](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/english/19-prediction-what-happens-next/19/) — Authors sometimes break the usual pattern to surprise the reader. - [20](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/english/19-prediction-what-happens-next/20/) — A gasp, a scream or a dropped cup are clues that something surprising has happened. - [21](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/english/19-prediction-what-happens-next/21/) — A spoiler is when someone tells you the ending before you get there. - [22](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/english/19-prediction-what-happens-next/22/) — Predicting keeps you thinking about the story and makes reading more exciting. - [23](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/english/19-prediction-what-happens-next/23/) — Slang: «sus» means suspicious; «bet» (US) can mean «I'm sure» or «OK»; «gonna» means going to; «mid» means average, nothing special. - ← previous: [Inference: reading between the lines](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/english/18-inference-reading-between-the-lines/) - next →: [Vocabulary in context](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/english/20-vocabulary-in-context/) - ↑ back to [English](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/english/)