--- title: Greeting adults and teachers — a lesson of Mova's school · trees and pragmatics description: «Greeting adults and teachers», a lesson of the everyday course of Mova's primary school, sentence by sentence with dependency trees and pragmatics. It begins: When a grown-up says hello to you, you look at them, smile and say hello back, using their name if you know it; ignoring a greeting feels ru --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/121-greeting-adults-and-teachers/) [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/) / [Everyday](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/) / Greeting adults and teachers # Greeting adults and teachers Lesson 121 of the everyday course of Mova's primary school: 20 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/everyday/121-greeting-adults-and-teachers/). - [0](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/121-greeting-adults-and-teachers/0/) — When a grown-up says hello to you, you look at them, smile and say hello back, using their name if you know it; ignoring a greeting feels rude to the other person. - [1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/121-greeting-adults-and-teachers/1/) — With adults it is safest to start formal: "Mr", "Mrs", "Ms" or "Dr" with their surname, until they tell you to use their first name. - [2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/121-greeting-adults-and-teachers/2/) — Every adult deserves the same kind greeting, whether they are the head teacher, the school caretaker, a cleaner or a dinner lady. - [4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/121-greeting-adults-and-teachers/4/) — A boy in Manchester meets his teacher in the supermarket on Saturday; he smiles and says "Hello, Mrs Patel", then lets her get on with her shopping. - [5](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/121-greeting-adults-and-teachers/5/) — When an adult greets you, you look at them, smile and say hello back. - [6](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/121-greeting-adults-and-teachers/6/) — Use "Mr", "Mrs", "Ms" or "Dr" with the surname until an adult asks you to use their first name. - [7](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/121-greeting-adults-and-teachers/7/) — "Good morning" is said before midday, "good afternoon" until about six, and "good evening" after that. - [8](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/121-greeting-adults-and-teachers/8/) — "Good night" is said when parting in the evening or going to bed, and the reply is "Good night" too. - [9](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/121-greeting-adults-and-teachers/9/) — In a shop you greet the shopkeeper before asking for what you need. - [10](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/121-greeting-adults-and-teachers/10/) — Children who greet adults themselves, instead of hiding behind a parent, seem confident and polite. - [11](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/121-greeting-adults-and-teachers/11/) — Caretakers, cleaners and dinner ladies deserve the same respect as the head teacher. - [12](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/121-greeting-adults-and-teachers/12/) — Take off your headphones before you answer someone who speaks to you. - [13](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/121-greeting-adults-and-teachers/13/) — You may say hello to a stranger, but you never stop to chat, go anywhere or take anything, and you tell a trusted adult. - [14](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/121-greeting-adults-and-teachers/14/) — A substitute or supply teacher deserves the same good behaviour as your usual teacher. - [15](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/121-greeting-adults-and-teachers/15/) — When the head teacher walks into the classroom, pupils stop talking and look up, and some schools ask them to stand. - [16](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/121-greeting-adults-and-teachers/16/) — Calling a teacher "Mum" or "Dad" by accident happens to almost everyone, so you laugh it off and carry on. - [17](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/121-greeting-adults-and-teachers/17/) — A boy in Ohio was so keen to be polite that he answered every question from a friendly man at the park, including his address; the man turned up near his house, and his parents had to call the police. - [18](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/121-greeting-adults-and-teachers/18/) — A girl in Leeds would not greet or answer her new teacher for weeks because she was shy; the teacher thought she was unhappy at school, and it took a long talk with her mum to sort it out. - [19](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/121-greeting-adults-and-teachers/19/) — Being polite to adults never means you must give personal details, go anywhere with them or keep their secrets. - [20](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/121-greeting-adults-and-teachers/20/) — Children who never greet or answer adults are often misunderstood as rude or upset, even when they are only shy. - ← previous: [Home myths, first aid and weather warnings](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/120-home-myths-first-aid-and-warnings/) - next →: [Greeting friends and relatives](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/122-greeting-friends-and-relatives/) - ↑ back to [Everyday](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/)