Test 1 · ★ · Honest with yourself: excuses, pride and the truth inside
Your mate says, "Excuses aren't lies, they're just reasons." What is wrong when the excuse is made up?
Mova's choice: option 3 · The right answer: option 3 · right ✓ · Who acts: mate, Excuses · What happens: say, not be, be, make up · To what, where: lies, reasons, excuse · Speech: someone speaks here
This is test 1 · ★ of lesson 98 «Honest with yourself: excuses, pride and the truth inside» of the religion ethics course of Mova's primary school. The page gives the question's syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause, then the 4 options as the student saw them, each with its tree and pragmatics. Every text is parsed by Mova itself. How the student answered it, with the score of every option and why: the test at school.
The question
Sentence 1: Your mate says, "Excuses aren't lies, they're just reasons."
The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)
| # | word | lemma | UPOS | features | head | relation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Your | your | PRON | Case=Gen Person=2 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs | 2 mate | nmod:poss |
| 2 | mate | mate | NOUN | Number=Sing | 3 says | nsubj |
| 3 | says | say | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | root | root |
| 4 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 9 lies | punct |
| 5 | " | " | PUNCT | _ | 9 lies | punct |
| 6 | Excuses | excuse | NOUN | Number=Plur | 9 lies | nsubj |
| 7 | are | be | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | 9 lies | cop |
| 8 | n't | not | PART | Polarity=Neg | 9 lies | advmod |
| 9 | lies | lie | NOUN | Number=Plur | 3 says | conj |
| 10 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 14 reasons | punct |
| 11 | they | they | PRON | Case=Nom Number=Plur Person=3 PronType=Prs | 14 reasons | nsubj |
| 12 | 're | be | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | 14 reasons | cop |
| 13 | just | just | ADV | _ | 14 reasons | advmod |
| 14 | reasons | reason | NOUN | Number=Plur | 3 says | parataxis |
| 15 | . | . | PUNCT | _ | 14 reasons | punct |
| 16 | " | " | PUNCT | _ | 14 reasons | punct |
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | say speech: assert | present | Your mate | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic | |||||
| 2 | not is a in a quote | present | Excuses | lies | tree rules | ||||
| 3 | is a in a quote | present | Excuses = excuse | reasons | tree rules |
One row per clause the reader finds. «not said here»: a role filled from the clause above. «roles by»: a VerbNet class and frame when one fits the verb, else the reader's rules on the tree.
Sentence 2: What is wrong when the excuse is made up?
The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)
| # | word | lemma | UPOS | features | head | relation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | What | what | PRON | PronType=Int | 3 wrong | nsubj |
| 2 | is | be | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | 3 wrong | cop |
| 3 | wrong | wrong | ADJ | Degree=Pos | root | root |
| 4 | when | when | SCONJ | _ | 8 made | mark |
| 5 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 6 excuse | det |
| 6 | excuse | excuse | NOUN | Number=Sing | 8 made | nsubj:pass |
| 7 | is | be | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | 8 made | aux:pass |
| 8 | made | make | VERB | Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass | 3 wrong | advcl |
| 9 | up | up | ADP | _ | 8 made | compound:prt |
| 10 | ? | ? | PUNCT | _ | 3 wrong | punct |
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | is | present | wrong property | tree rules | |||||
| 2 | make up | present · passive | the excuse | vn comprise-107.2-1 «NP V NP»: subject=Pivot |
The options
Option 1
Nothing; all excuses are honest reasons
The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)
| # | word | lemma | UPOS | features | head | relation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nothing | nothing | PRON | Number=Sing PronType=Neg | root | root |
| 2 | ; | ; | PUNCT | _ | 7 reasons | punct |
| 3 | all | all | DET | PronType=Tot | 4 excuses | det |
| 4 | excuses | excuse | NOUN | Number=Plur | 7 reasons | nsubj |
| 5 | are | be | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | 7 reasons | cop |
| 6 | honest | honest | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 7 reasons | amod |
| 7 | reasons | reason | NOUN | Number=Plur | 1 Nothing | conj |
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | is a | present | all excuses | honest reasons | tree rules |
Option 2
Excuses are fine if they're funny
The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)
| # | word | lemma | UPOS | features | head | relation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Excuses | excuse | NOUN | Number=Plur | 3 fine | nsubj |
| 2 | are | be | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | 3 fine | cop |
| 3 | fine | fine | ADJ | Degree=Pos | root | root |
| 4 | if | if | SCONJ | _ | 7 funny | mark |
| 5 | they | they | PRON | Case=Nom Number=Plur Person=3 PronType=Prs | 7 funny | nsubj |
| 6 | 're | be | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | 7 funny | cop |
| 7 | funny | funny | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 3 fine | csubj |
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | is | present | Excuses | fine property | tree rules | ||||
| 2 | is a condition, not said to happen | present | Excuses = excuse | funny property | tree rules |
Option 3 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer
A made-up excuse is a lie, and it stops you fixing the problem
The tree, 14 words
The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)
| # | word | lemma | UPOS | features | head | relation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | A | a | DET | Definite=Ind PronType=Art | 5 excuse | det |
| 2 | made | make | VERB | Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass | 5 excuse | amod |
| 3 | - | - | PUNCT | _ | 2 made | punct |
| 4 | up | up | NOUN | Number=Sing | 2 made | compound |
| 5 | excuse | excuse | NOUN | Number=Sing | 8 lie | nsubj |
| 6 | is | be | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | 8 lie | cop |
| 7 | a | a | DET | Definite=Ind PronType=Art | 8 lie | det |
| 8 | lie | lie | NOUN | Number=Sing | root | root |
| 9 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 12 stops | punct |
| 10 | and | and | CCONJ | _ | 12 stops | cc |
| 11 | it | it | PRON | Case=Nom Gender=Neut Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 12 stops | nsubj |
| 12 | stops | stop | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | 8 lie | acl:relcl |
| 13 | you | you | PRON | Case=Acc Person=2 PronType=Prs | 12 stops | obj |
| 14 | fixing | fix | VERB | VerbForm=Ger | 12 stops | xcomp |
| 15 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 16 problem | det |
| 16 | problem | problem | NOUN | Number=Sing | 14 fixing | obj |
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | make | participle | vn build-26.1-1 «NP.asset V NP»: agent=Asset | ||||||
| 2 | is a | present | a made excuse | a lie | tree rules | ||||
| 3 | stop | present | excuse | you | tree rules | ||||
| 4 | fix | gerund | excuse not said here | the problem | vn shake-22.3-2 «NP V NP together»: agent=Agent problem=Patient |
Option 4
Excuses are only lies if the teacher checks
The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)
| # | word | lemma | UPOS | features | head | relation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Excuses | excuse | NOUN | Number=Plur | 4 lies | nsubj |
| 2 | are | be | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | 4 lies | cop |
| 3 | only | only | ADV | _ | 4 lies | advmod |
| 4 | lies | lie | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | root | root |
| 5 | if | if | SCONJ | _ | 8 checks | mark |
| 6 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 7 teacher | det |
| 7 | teacher | teacher | NOUN | Number=Sing | 8 checks | nsubj |
| 8 | checks | check | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | 4 lies | advcl |
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | is | present | Excuses | lie property | tree rules | ||||
| 2 | check a condition, not said to happen | present | the teacher | vn assessment-34.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent |
Text: the tests of Mova's primary school, written for Mova (world/data/school/), as the course runner gave them to the student. Trees: Mova's own parse — the en model on the CPU, when the site is built — not checked by a teacher; they may be wrong. Frames: Mova's frames reader (prag), each text read on its own. Elamur Cosmic License.
This page in Markdown → https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/religion-ethics/98-honest-with-yourself-excuses-pride-and-the-truth-inside/t1/