--- title: The favourite, the black sheep, covering for each other and hand-me-downs — a lesson of Mova's school · trees and pragmatics description: «The favourite, the black sheep, covering for each other and hand-me-downs», a lesson of the everyday course of Mova's primary school, sentence by sentence with dependency trees and pragmatics. It begins: Then Fern hears Nan say, «Fern's the one who's always in trouble.» Fern folds her arms: «I'm th --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/509-the-favourite-the-black-sheep-covering-and-hand-me-downs/) [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 favourite, the black sheep, coveri… # The favourite, the black sheep, covering for each other and hand-me-downs Lesson 509 of the everyday course of Mova's primary school: 29 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/509-the-favourite-the-black-sheep-covering-and-hand-me-downs/). - [1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/509-the-favourite-the-black-sheep-covering-and-hand-me-downs/1/) — Then Fern hears Nan say, «Fern's the one who's always in trouble.» Fern folds her arms: «I'm the black sheep then, am I?» A black sheep is the one who doesn't fit the family's picture. - [2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/509-the-favourite-the-black-sheep-covering-and-hand-me-downs/2/) — Labels stick, and they can be unfair, but a label isn't you. - [4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/509-the-favourite-the-black-sheep-covering-and-hand-me-downs/4/) — Same boy, different eyes. - [5](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/509-the-favourite-the-black-sheep-covering-and-hand-me-downs/5/) — Kids often feel there's a favourite. - [6](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/509-the-favourite-the-black-sheep-covering-and-hand-me-downs/6/) — In Atlanta, Marquis gets a car for his 17th birthday; Ezekiel got a cheap bike for his 10th. - [8](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/509-the-favourite-the-black-sheep-covering-and-hand-me-downs/8/) — Sometimes it's real, and sometimes it's because different ages get different things. - [10](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/509-the-favourite-the-black-sheep-covering-and-hand-me-downs/10/) — «That's not fair,» says Nkechi, calmly. - [11](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/509-the-favourite-the-black-sheep-covering-and-hand-me-downs/11/) — Treating girls and boys differently like that is unfair, and many families are changing it, sometimes because a kid spoke up. - [12](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/509-the-favourite-the-black-sheep-covering-and-hand-me-downs/12/) — Covering for each other can be funny. - [13](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/509-the-favourite-the-black-sheep-covering-and-hand-me-downs/13/) — In Llandudno, Rhiannon breaks Mam's favourite mug. - [15](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/509-the-favourite-the-black-sheep-covering-and-hand-me-downs/15/) — Mam: «We haven't got a cat.» Both girls burst out laughing and own up. - [16](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/509-the-favourite-the-black-sheep-covering-and-hand-me-downs/16/) — In Galway, Darragh sneaks a biscuit and Aoibheann says nothing; next day she sneaks one and he says nothing. - [18](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/509-the-favourite-the-black-sheep-covering-and-hand-me-downs/18/) — In Ohio, Mason-Tyler breaks the TV remote and his big brother takes the blame, but Mason-Tyler feels so bad that he confesses. - [19](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/509-the-favourite-the-black-sheep-covering-and-hand-me-downs/19/) — Hand-me-downs are clothes passed down from an older child. - [20](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/509-the-favourite-the-black-sheep-covering-and-hand-me-downs/20/) — In Croydon, Ollie-Ray's school trousers were his brother's and are a bit long. - [23](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/509-the-favourite-the-black-sheep-covering-and-hand-me-downs/23/) — In Melbourne a girl says, «Isn't that your sister's dress?» Coco twirls: «Yeah, it's vintage, babe.» Everyone laughs, with her. - [24](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/509-the-favourite-the-black-sheep-covering-and-hand-me-downs/24/) — In Edinburgh, Hamish and Isla-Mae hardly spoke, until their dad got ill last year; Isla-Mae started making Hamish toast and helping with homework. - [26](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/509-the-favourite-the-black-sheep-covering-and-hand-me-downs/26/) — Hard times can bring siblings closer. - [27](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/509-the-favourite-the-black-sheep-covering-and-hand-me-downs/27/) — In Sheffield it goes the other way: Becca's sister turns 13, calls Becca «so cringe» and stops letting her in her room. - [28](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/509-the-favourite-the-black-sheep-covering-and-hand-me-downs/28/) — That often passes; meanwhile Becca can give her space and find her own friends. - [30](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/509-the-favourite-the-black-sheep-covering-and-hand-me-downs/30/) — A «black sheep» is the family member who doesn't fit the family's idea of itself; being different is not being wrong. - [31](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/509-the-favourite-the-black-sheep-covering-and-hand-me-downs/31/) — Children often feel a parent has a favourite; sometimes it is real, sometimes different ages simply get different things. - [32](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/509-the-favourite-the-black-sheep-covering-and-hand-me-downs/32/) — Telling a parent calmly, «Sometimes I feel you like him more», is a good way to bring it up; most parents want to know. - [33](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/509-the-favourite-the-black-sheep-covering-and-hand-me-downs/33/) — Treating a child worse because she is a girl, or he is a boy, is unfair, and many families are changing it. - [34](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/509-the-favourite-the-black-sheep-covering-and-hand-me-downs/34/) — Covering for a sibling is a kind of loyalty, but lies usually come out. - [35](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/509-the-favourite-the-black-sheep-covering-and-hand-me-downs/35/) — Small secrets, like a sneaked biscuit, can be a sibling deal; anything about safety must be told to a grown-up. - [36](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/509-the-favourite-the-black-sheep-covering-and-hand-me-downs/36/) — Letting someone take your blame feels bad, and owning up usually feels better. - [38](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/509-the-favourite-the-black-sheep-covering-and-hand-me-downs/38/) — Hard times, like a parent being ill, can bring siblings closer. - [39](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/509-the-favourite-the-black-sheep-covering-and-hand-me-downs/39/) — When a sibling becomes a teenager they may want space for a while; it often passes. - ← previous: [Fighting, ignoring each other and sharing a room](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/508-fighting-ignoring-each-other-and-sharing-a-room/) - next →: [Cousins: like a sister, posh, or far away](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/510-cousins-like-a-sister-posh-or-far-away/) - ↑ back to [Everyday](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/)