--- title: The broken window and other hidden accidents — a lesson of Mova's school · trees and pragmatics description: «The broken window and other hidden accidents», a lesson of the everyday course of Mova's primary school, sentence by sentence with dependency trees and pragmatics. It begins: Owen's football smashed Mr Patel's greenhouse in Leeds. --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/428-the-broken-window-and-other-hidden-accidents/) [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/) / The broken window and other hidden acc… # The broken window and other hidden accidents Lesson 428 of the everyday course of Mova's primary school: 32 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/428-the-broken-window-and-other-hidden-accidents/). - [0](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/428-the-broken-window-and-other-hidden-accidents/0/) — Owen's football smashed Mr Patel's greenhouse in Leeds. - [1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/428-the-broken-window-and-other-hidden-accidents/1/) — He and his mate legged it (ran off) and hid behind the shed. - [2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/428-the-broken-window-and-other-hidden-accidents/2/) — When Mr Patel came round, Owen said «Weren't us, we were inside.» His football was lying among the broken glass — with his name written on it in marker. - [3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/428-the-broken-window-and-other-hidden-accidents/3/) — Mum paid for the glass from his birthday money, and Owen had to say sorry to Mr Patel face to face, which felt worse than the glass. - [4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/428-the-broken-window-and-other-hidden-accidents/4/) — An accident is not a lie. - [5](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/428-the-broken-window-and-other-hidden-accidents/5/) — Hiding it is. - [6](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/428-the-broken-window-and-other-hidden-accidents/6/) — Ben's stone bounced off a wall and broke a school window; he walked away and told the dinner lady «No, miss». - [7](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/428-the-broken-window-and-other-hidden-accidents/7/) — The camera showed it all. - [8](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/428-the-broken-window-and-other-hidden-accidents/8/) — The head said: «A bounced stone is an accident. - [9](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/428-the-broken-window-and-other-hidden-accidents/9/) — Walking away and lying is a choice.» He got a detention — for the lie, not the window. - [10](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/428-the-broken-window-and-other-hidden-accidents/10/) — Hidden accidents send people chasing the wrong problem. - [12](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/428-the-broken-window-and-other-hidden-accidents/12/) — «The remote was a fiver. - [13](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/428-the-broken-window-and-other-hidden-accidents/13/) — The lie was a whole trip to the shop.» Finn dropped Dad's phone in the bath, dried it with a hair dryer and blamed «the update»; the repair shop said «water damage», and saying «it got wet» at once might have saved it. - [14](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/428-the-broken-window-and-other-hidden-accidents/14/) — Some hide-and-blame stories hurt others. - [15](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/428-the-broken-window-and-other-hidden-accidents/15/) — Aroha in Wellington cracked a lampshade trampolining in the lounge and blamed the cat; Mum said «The cat was at the vet all day. - [16](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/428-the-broken-window-and-other-hidden-accidents/16/) — Try again.» Aroha lost trampoline time for a week. - [18](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/428-the-broken-window-and-other-hidden-accidents/18/) — Mia hid Gran's broken china cat; Gran wasn't sad about the cat, only that Mia hadn't told her, and gave her a cwtch, the Welsh word for a cuddle. - [19](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/428-the-broken-window-and-other-hidden-accidents/19/) — Isla in Edinburgh broke her friend's pen and slipped it back into the pencil case; the next day she said «Aye, it was me, sorry, I'll get you a new one», and her friend was mad for a day, then fine. - [20](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/428-the-broken-window-and-other-hidden-accidents/20/) — Kai in Sydney showed the other way too. - [21](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/428-the-broken-window-and-other-hidden-accidents/21/) — A ball broke the Wilsons' window and three boys ran. - [22](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/428-the-broken-window-and-other-hidden-accidents/22/) — Kai went back alone and knocked: «G'day, that was me, sorry.» Mr Wilson, about to call the police, shook his hand, and Kai washed his car three times to help pay. - [23](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/428-the-broken-window-and-other-hidden-accidents/23/) — The other two were found from a neighbour's camera and were in far more trouble. - [24](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/428-the-broken-window-and-other-hidden-accidents/24/) — An accident is not a lie; hiding it or blaming someone else is. - [25](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/428-the-broken-window-and-other-hidden-accidents/25/) — The lie about an accident is often punished more than the accident itself. - [26](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/428-the-broken-window-and-other-hidden-accidents/26/) — Many places, like schools and shops, have cameras that record what happens. - [27](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/428-the-broken-window-and-other-hidden-accidents/27/) — Evidence like a named ball, a taped remote or a stain usually stays behind after an accident. - [28](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/428-the-broken-window-and-other-hidden-accidents/28/) — Hiding a broken thing makes people chase the wrong problem, like buying new batteries for a broken remote. - [29](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/428-the-broken-window-and-other-hidden-accidents/29/) — Electronics that get wet can sometimes be saved if a grown-up knows straight away. - [30](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/428-the-broken-window-and-other-hidden-accidents/30/) — Blaming a pet or a baby who cannot answer back is a cowardly lie and often fails. - [32](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/428-the-broken-window-and-other-hidden-accidents/32/) — Grown-ups often forgive accidents quickly but remember being lied to. - [33](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/428-the-broken-window-and-other-hidden-accidents/33/) — Coming back to say «it was me» is hard and brave, and people treat the one who owns up very differently. - [34](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/428-the-broken-window-and-other-hidden-accidents/34/) — Helping to pay for or fix damage, from pocket money or jobs, is a fair way to put an accident right. - ← previous: [«I did brush my teeth»: little lies at home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/427-i-did-brush-my-teeth-little-lies-at-home/) - next →: [The forged signature and how it always ends](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/429-the-forged-signature-and-how-it-always-ends/) - ↑ back to [Everyday](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/)