--- title: Promises to family — a lesson of Mova's school · trees and pragmatics description: «Promises to family», a lesson of the everyday course of Mova's primary school, sentence by sentence with dependency trees and pragmatics. It begins: Oliver in Sydney promised his little brother Alfie they would build a Lego rocket after school. --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/358-promises-to-little-brothers-gran-dad-and-the-cat/) [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/) / Promises to family # Promises to family Lesson 358 of the everyday course of Mova's primary school: 22 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/358-promises-to-little-brothers-gran-dad-and-the-cat/). - [0](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/358-promises-to-little-brothers-gran-dad-and-the-cat/0/) — Oliver in Sydney promised his little brother Alfie they would build a Lego rocket after school. - [1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/358-promises-to-little-brothers-gran-dad-and-the-cat/1/) — Then his mates knocked and he went to the skate park. - [2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/358-promises-to-little-brothers-gran-dad-and-the-cat/2/) — Alfie waited by the window all afternoon with the box open. - [3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/358-promises-to-little-brothers-gran-dad-and-the-cat/3/) — When Oliver came home, Alfie was crying and Mum just looked sad. - [4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/358-promises-to-little-brothers-gran-dad-and-the-cat/4/) — Oliver said sorry, and on Saturday he played with Alfie the whole morning — the rocket, two spaceships and a moon base. - [5](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/358-promises-to-little-brothers-gran-dad-and-the-cat/5/) — Maya promised to feed the cat while Mum was at work and forgot. - [6](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/358-promises-to-little-brothers-gran-dad-and-the-cat/6/) — The cat meowed all night and Mum was cross. - [7](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/358-promises-to-little-brothers-gran-dad-and-the-cat/7/) — Maya grumbled «it's only one dinner» and went to bed in a huff, but in the morning she apologised, fed him first thing, and set a reminder on the kitchen clock so it would not happen again. - [8](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/358-promises-to-little-brothers-gran-dad-and-the-cat/8/) — A promise is your word that someone can plan around. - [9](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/358-promises-to-little-brothers-gran-dad-and-the-cat/9/) — To a little brother, a gran or a cat, a broken promise means waiting, disappointment or hunger. - [10](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/358-promises-to-little-brothers-gran-dad-and-the-cat/10/) — Lucy promised to tidy her room before going out and didn't, so she could not go out the next day. - [11](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/358-promises-to-little-brothers-gran-dad-and-the-cat/11/) — Sam forgot to call Gran, who waited by the phone all evening; he called her the next day and said sorry. - [12](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/358-promises-to-little-brothers-gran-dad-and-the-cat/12/) — Will went to the park instead of helping Dad wash the car; he said sorry and helped the next week. - [14](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/358-promises-to-little-brothers-gran-dad-and-the-cat/14/) — A no-show leaves the other person guessing. - [15](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/358-promises-to-little-brothers-gran-dad-and-the-cat/15/) — A promise is a commitment that another person relies on. - [16](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/358-promises-to-little-brothers-gran-dad-and-the-cat/16/) — Promises to small children matter as much as promises to adults; they remember and wait. - [18](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/358-promises-to-little-brothers-gran-dad-and-the-cat/18/) — If you need to break a plan, telling the person in advance is kinder than not turning up. - [19](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/358-promises-to-little-brothers-gran-dad-and-the-cat/19/) — Telling a secret you promised to keep can hurt a friendship badly. - [20](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/358-promises-to-little-brothers-gran-dad-and-the-cat/20/) — Something you borrow is a promise to give it back. - [21](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/358-promises-to-little-brothers-gran-dad-and-the-cat/21/) — Changing a habit, such as teasing, usually takes many tries. - [22](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/358-promises-to-little-brothers-gran-dad-and-the-cat/22/) — Reminders, like a note or an alarm, help people keep promises when they are forgetful. - [23](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/358-promises-to-little-brothers-gran-dad-and-the-cat/23/) — Keeping small promises builds trust, so people believe your bigger ones. - ← previous: [Snooping on phones, diaries and letters](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/357-snooping-on-phones-bags-calls-and-codes/) - next →: [Promises to friends and to yourself](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/359-promises-to-friends-and-to-yourself/) - ↑ back to [Everyday](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/)