--- title: Joining a game, and the shy kid — a lesson of Mova's school · trees and pragmatics description: «Joining a game, and the shy kid», a lesson of the everyday course of Mova's primary school, sentence by sentence with dependency trees and pragmatics. It begins: Lily is shy and wants to join the skipping game. --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/466-joining-a-game-and-the-shy-kid/) [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/) / Joining a game, and the shy kid # Joining a game, and the shy kid Lesson 466 of the everyday course of Mova's primary school: 39 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/466-joining-a-game-and-the-shy-kid/). - [0](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/466-joining-a-game-and-the-shy-kid/0/) — Lily is shy and wants to join the skipping game. - [1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/466-joining-a-game-and-the-shy-kid/1/) — Three breaks in a row she stands near the rope, pretending to tie her shoelace, until the lace is nearly worn through. - [2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/466-joining-a-game-and-the-shy-kid/2/) — On the fourth day Maddie says, «Wanna turn? - [3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/466-joining-a-game-and-the-shy-kid/3/) — Ellie's arms are dead.» Lily turns, then jumps, then sings the rhyme louder than anyone. - [4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/466-joining-a-game-and-the-shy-kid/4/) — That's how joining usually works: stand close, watch, offer to help — turn the rope, fetch the ball — and then ask. - [5](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/466-joining-a-game-and-the-shy-kid/5/) — Sam asks some boys, «Can I play?» «Nah, teams are even, mate.» He goes red and walks off fast. - [6](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/466-joining-a-game-and-the-shy-kid/6/) — Ten minutes later two boys go in, one with a nosebleed, one hunting a lost jumper. - [7](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/466-joining-a-game-and-the-shy-kid/7/) — Sam asks again: «Go on then, you're with us.» He scores. - [8](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/466-joining-a-game-and-the-shy-kid/8/) — Connor tries the opposite way: he barges into a game he isn't in, grabs the ball and shouts, «Oi, YOU, mark him, you're rubbish!» «Who even are you?» they say, and tell him to get lost. - [9](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/466-joining-a-game-and-the-shy-kid/9/) — Next day he asks politely and plays where they put him. - [10](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/466-joining-a-game-and-the-shy-kid/10/) — By Friday he's picked first. - [11](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/466-joining-a-game-and-the-shy-kid/11/) — Jake is too cool to say he wants to play conkers. - [12](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/466-joining-a-game-and-the-shy-kid/12/) — «Conkers is so mid, it's literally a nut on a string,» he says — and watches every single game. - [14](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/466-joining-a-game-and-the-shy-kid/14/) — At his cousin's birthday Kieran knows nobody and hides in the kitchen with the dog, until his auntie hands him a bowl: «Be a love, go round with the crisps.» Suddenly everyone talks to him, mostly about crisps. - [16](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/466-joining-a-game-and-the-shy-kid/16/) — In Swansea Lily's cousin tells the local kids, «This is Lily, be nice, she's lush» — Welsh for lovely. - [17](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/466-joining-a-game-and-the-shy-kid/17/) — Lily has never played rounders; she misses five times, then whacks the ball into the duck pond, and everyone, Lily too, screams laughing. - [18](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/466-joining-a-game-and-the-shy-kid/18/) — She's one of them now. - [19](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/466-joining-a-game-and-the-shy-kid/19/) — And when Ruby beats Sam at chess in nine moves and says «GG, easy» — good game — Sam laughs and asks for a rematch next week. - [20](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/466-joining-a-game-and-the-shy-kid/20/) — Shy people need the right kind of push. - [21](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/466-joining-a-game-and-the-shy-kid/21/) — Hana reads thick fantasy books alone every break. - [22](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/466-joining-a-game-and-the-shy-kid/22/) — Chloe sits on the next bench with her own book and says nothing. - [24](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/466-joining-a-game-and-the-shy-kid/24/) — The dragon eats the king's crown. - [25](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/466-joining-a-game-and-the-shy-kid/25/) — I died.» Mia does it wrong: «Why are you so quiet? - [26](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/466-joining-a-game-and-the-shy-kid/26/) — Can you even talk?» in front of the whole table, and the new boy leaves red-faced. - [27](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/466-joining-a-game-and-the-shy-kid/27/) — Two days later she asks him, «Do you like drawing?» — he shows her a notebook of amazing robots. - [28](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/466-joining-a-game-and-the-shy-kid/28/) — New boy Theo has a stammer; kids keep finishing his words for him — «b-b-bus? - [29](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/466-joining-a-game-and-the-shy-kid/29/) — He means bus» — until he stops putting his hand up. - [30](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/466-joining-a-game-and-the-shy-kid/30/) — The teacher asks the class to wait and let him finish. - [31](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/466-joining-a-game-and-the-shy-kid/31/) — By half-term Theo tells the whole class a joke, start to finish, and it's a good one. - [32](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/466-joining-a-game-and-the-shy-kid/32/) — To join a game, stand close, watch, offer to help, then ask to play. - [33](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/466-joining-a-game-and-the-shy-kid/33/) — A «no» to joining a game isn't always forever; asking again when the game changes often works. - [34](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/466-joining-a-game-and-the-shy-kid/34/) — Barging in and bossing people about makes others want you out; fitting in first works better. - [35](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/466-joining-a-game-and-the-shy-kid/35/) — Pretending you don't care about a game makes joining harder; just say «Can I have a go?» - [36](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/466-joining-a-game-and-the-shy-kid/36/) — Having a small job, like handing round food at a party, helps shy people start talking. - [37](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/466-joining-a-game-and-the-shy-kid/37/) — Some shy people want quiet company first; sitting nearby and letting them come to you can work. - [39](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/466-joining-a-game-and-the-shy-kid/39/) — A stammer means a person's words sometimes repeat or get stuck; it has nothing to do with how clever they are. - [40](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/466-joining-a-game-and-the-shy-kid/40/) — When someone stammers, wait, look at them and let them finish their own words. - [41](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/466-joining-a-game-and-the-shy-kid/41/) — Being bad at a game can still help you make friends if you laugh at yourself. - [42](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/466-joining-a-game-and-the-shy-kid/42/) — Being beaten by a friend can be fun, and asking people to play is how many friendships start. - ← previous: [The new kid and the first day](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/465-the-new-kid-and-the-first-day/) - next →: [Friends through games and clubs](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/467-friends-through-games-and-clubs/) - ↑ back to [Everyday](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/)