--- title: Excuses and the lies that grow — a lesson of Mova's school · trees and pragmatics description: «Excuses and the lies that grow», a lesson of the everyday course of Mova's primary school, sentence by sentence with dependency trees and pragmatics. It begins: An excuse grows like a snowball. --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/337-excuses-and-the-lies-that-grow/) [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/) / Excuses and the lies that grow # Excuses and the lies that grow Lesson 337 of the everyday course of Mova's primary school: 25 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/337-excuses-and-the-lies-that-grow/). - [0](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/337-excuses-and-the-lies-that-grow/0/) — An excuse grows like a snowball. - [2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/337-excuses-and-the-lies-that-grow/2/) — It worked once, then twice, and he began to think it always would. - [3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/337-excuses-and-the-lies-that-grow/3/) — Then Tom's mum met his mum at the shop. - [4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/337-excuses-and-the-lies-that-grow/4/) — He was kept in after school for a week. - [5](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/337-excuses-and-the-lies-that-grow/5/) — Getting away with a lie three times does not make it safe; it only makes the lie bigger when it comes out, and by then the grown-ups wonder about all the other times too. - [6](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/337-excuses-and-the-lies-that-grow/6/) — Liam's piano excuse went the same way. - [7](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/337-excuses-and-the-lies-that-grow/7/) — He said he had practised all week; his teacher could hear the truth in the first two bars. - [8](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/337-excuses-and-the-lies-that-grow/8/) — The lesson was wasted, and he had to own up and make a practice chart for the fridge. - [9](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/337-excuses-and-the-lies-that-grow/9/) — Some lies hurt the liar most. - [10](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/337-excuses-and-the-lies-that-grow/10/) — Liam said a bruise came from falling, when a boy had pushed him, because he did not want to be a tell-tale. - [11](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/337-excuses-and-the-lies-that-grow/11/) — The boy did it again. - [12](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/337-excuses-and-the-lies-that-grow/12/) — When he finally told his teacher, she sorted it out in a day. - [13](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/337-excuses-and-the-lies-that-grow/13/) — Telling a grown-up when someone hurts you is not telling tales. - [14](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/337-excuses-and-the-lies-that-grow/14/) — Other children in Liam's class learned the same. - [15](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/337-excuses-and-the-lies-that-grow/15/) — A girl hid her peas under her plate and said she had eaten them; when the plate was lifted, the peas rolled out. - [16](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/337-excuses-and-the-lies-that-grow/16/) — A boy said he was too tired to visit his great-aunt, who had been looking forward to it; he put it right by making her a card and going with Mum the next Sunday. - [17](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/337-excuses-and-the-lies-that-grow/17/) — The fix for an excuse is always the same: tell the real reason, take the consequence, and next time ask properly or say what you are afraid of. - [18](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/337-excuses-and-the-lies-that-grow/18/) — Grown-ups need to know where you really are so they can keep you safe. - [19](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/337-excuses-and-the-lies-that-grow/19/) — A lie that works a few times usually gets found out in the end, often by chance. - [20](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/337-excuses-and-the-lies-that-grow/20/) — Getting away with something does not make it right or safe. - [21](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/337-excuses-and-the-lies-that-grow/21/) — Practice shows in what you can do, not in what you say you did. - [22](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/337-excuses-and-the-lies-that-grow/22/) — Age and height rules on rides are there for safety, not to spoil fun: a smaller body can slip out under the safety bar, and ride staff often measure you anyway. - [24](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/337-excuses-and-the-lies-that-grow/24/) — Hiding a letter from school does not hide the problem; it only hides you from help. - [25](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/337-excuses-and-the-lies-that-grow/25/) — Skipping hand-washing after the toilet can spread tummy bugs to you and your family. - [26](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/337-excuses-and-the-lies-that-grow/26/) — Making an excuse to skip a visit can hurt an old relative who was looking forward to it. - ← previous: [Little lies at home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/336-little-lies-at-home/) - next →: [Sweets, change and a friend's toy](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/338-sweets-change-and-a-friends-toy/) - ↑ back to [Everyday](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/)