Exam question 3 · At the friend's home: what to say to the parents

Ascertain the signification of the valediction màn zǒu, as uttered by a host.

Mova's choice: option 1 · The right answer: option 3 · wrong ✗ · Who acts: you · What happens: ascertain, utter, signify · To what, where: signification, valediction

This is exam question 3 of lesson 28 «At the friend's home: what to say to the parents» of the Chinese street course of Mova's primary school, asked in stiff, formal language. 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

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	Ascertain	ascertain	VERB	Mood=Imp VerbForm=Fin	root	root
2	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	3 signification	det
3	signification	signification	NOUN	Number=Sing	1 Ascertain	obj
4	of	of	ADP	_	6 valediction	case
5	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	6 valediction	det
6	valediction	valediction	NOUN	Number=Sing	3 signification	nmod
7	màn	màn	X	Foreign=Yes	6 valediction	conj
8	zǒu	zǒu	X	Foreign=Yes	7 màn	flat
9	,	,	PUNCT	_	11 uttered	punct
10	as	as	SCONJ	_	11 uttered	mark
11	uttered	utter	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	1 Ascertain	parataxis
12	by	by	ADP	_	14 host	case
13	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	14 host	det
14	host	host	NOUN	Number=Sing	11 uttered	obl:agent
15	.	.	PUNCT	_	1 Ascertain	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	roles by
1	ascertain	imperative	you not said here	the signification of the valediction	vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent signification=Topic
2	utter speech: other	participle			vn say-37.7-1 «NP V how S»: agent=Agent
3	signify			the valediction	nom signification «communication transitive»: of=patient

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.

The options

Option 1 · ← Mova's choice

An instruction to the guest to proceed at reduced speed

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	An	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	2 instruction	det
2	instruction	instruction	NOUN	Number=Sing	root	root
3	to	to	ADP	_	5 guest	case
4	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	5 guest	det
5	guest	guest	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 instruction	nmod
6	to	to	PART	_	7 proceed	mark
7	proceed	proceed	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	2 instruction	acl
8	at	at	ADP	_	10 speed	case
9	reduced	reduce	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	10 speed	amod
10	speed	speed	NOUN	Number=Sing	7 proceed	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	proceed	to-infinitive				reduced speed			vn begin-55.1 «NP V S_INF»: agent=Agent
2	reduce	participle							vn limit-76 «NP V NP»: agent=Causer

Option 2

A reproach for the guest's tardiness

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	A	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	2 reproach	det
2	reproach	reproach	NOUN	Number=Sing	root	root
3	for	for	ADP	_	7 tardiness	case
4	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	5 guest	det
5	guest	guest	NOUN	Number=Sing	7 tardiness	nmod:poss
6	's	's	PART	_	5 guest	case
7	tardiness	tardiness	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 reproach	nmod

The frames reader finds no event or fact in this sentence.

Option 3 · ✓ the right answer

A wish for the guest's safe journey home

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	A	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	2 wish	det
2	wish	wish	NOUN	Number=Sing	root	root
3	for	for	ADP	_	8 journey	case
4	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	5 guest	det
5	guest	guest	NOUN	Number=Sing	8 journey	nmod:poss
6	's	's	PART	_	5 guest	case
7	safe	safe	ADJ	Degree=Pos	8 journey	amod
8	journey	journey	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 wish	nmod
9	home	home	ADV	_	8 journey	advmod

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	journey		the guest						nom journey «act transitive»: poss=agent

Option 4

A request that the guest remain for dinner

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	A	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	2 request	det
2	request	request	NOUN	Number=Sing	6 remain	nsubj
3	that	that	SCONJ	_	5 guest	mark
4	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	5 guest	det
5	guest	guest	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 request	acl
6	remain	remain	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
7	for	for	ADP	_	8 dinner	case
8	dinner	dinner	NOUN	Number=Sing	6 remain	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	remain	present	a request					for dinner	vn exist-47.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme

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/chinese-street/28-at-the-friends-home-what-to-say-to-the-parents/e3/