Exam question 4 · Thank you, sorry, excuse me

Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the expression bù hǎoyìsi?

Mova's choice: option 1 · The right answer: option 3 · wrong ✗ · What happens: follow, characteris · To what, where: expression

This is exam question 4 of lesson 3 «Thank you, sorry, excuse me» 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	Which	which	PRON	PronType=Rel	8 characterises	nsubj
2	of	of	ADP	_	5 statements	case
3	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	5 statements	det
4	following	follow	VERB	VerbForm=Ger	5 statements	amod
5	statements	statement	NOUN	Number=Plur	8 characterises	obl
6	most	most	ADV	Degree=Sup	7 accurately	advmod
7	accurately	accurately	ADV	_	8 characterises	advmod
8	characterises	characteris	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
9	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	10 expression	det
10	expression	expression	NOUN	Number=Sing	8 characterises	obj
11	bù	bù	ADP	_	12 hǎoyìsi	case
12	hǎoyìsi	hǎoyìsi	NOUN	Foreign=Yes	10 expression	nmod
13	?	?	PUNCT	_	8 characterises	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	follow	gerund							vn occur-48.3-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme
2	characteris	present		the expression				of the following statements; bù hǎoyìsi; accurately property	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.

The options

Option 1 · ← Mova's choice

It is a request for passage through a crowd

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	It	it	PRON	Case=Nom Gender=Neut Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	4 request	nsubj
2	is	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	4 request	cop
3	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	4 request	det
4	request	request	NOUN	Number=Sing	root	root
5	for	for	ADP	_	6 passage	case
6	passage	passage	NOUN	Number=Sing	4 request	nmod
7	through	through	ADP	_	9 crowd	case
8	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	9 crowd	det
9	crowd	crowd	NOUN	Number=Sing	4 request	nmod

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	is a	present	It	a request		a crowd		for passage	tree rules

Option 2

It is a formal apology reserved for grave offences

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	It	it	PRON	Case=Nom Gender=Neut Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	5 apology	nsubj
2	is	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	5 apology	cop
3	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	5 apology	det
4	formal	formal	ADJ	Degree=Pos	5 apology	amod
5	apology	apology	NOUN	Number=Sing	root	root
6	reserved	reserve	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	5 apology	acl
7	for	for	ADP	_	9 offences	case
8	grave	grave	ADJ	Degree=Pos	9 offences	amod
9	offences	offence	NOUN	Number=Plur	6 reserved	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	is a	present	It	a formal apology					tree rules
2	reserve	participle		a formal apology not said here				for grave offences	vn get-13.5.1 «NP V NP PP.beneficiary»: agent=Agent for offence=Beneficiary

Option 3 · ✓ the right answer

It is a mild apology or expression of embarrassment employed for minor lapses

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	It	it	PRON	Case=Nom Gender=Neut Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	5 apology	nsubj
2	is	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	5 apology	cop
3	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	5 apology	det
4	mild	mild	ADJ	Degree=Pos	5 apology	amod
5	apology	apology	NOUN	Number=Sing	root	root
6	or	or	CCONJ	_	7 expression	cc
7	expression	expression	NOUN	Number=Sing	5 apology	conj
8	of	of	ADP	_	9 embarrassment	case
9	embarrassment	embarrassment	NOUN	Number=Sing	5 apology	nmod
10	employed	employ	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	9 embarrassment	acl
11	for	for	ADP	_	13 lapses	case
12	minor	minor	ADJ	Degree=Pos	13 lapses	amod
13	lapses	lapse	NOUN	Number=Plur	10 employed	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	is a	present	It	a mild apology or expression				of embarrassment	tree rules
2	employ	participle		embarrassment not said here				for minor lapses	vn use-105.1 «NP V NP PP.predicate»: agent=Agent for lapse=Eventuality

Option 4

It is an expression of condolence upon bereavement

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	It	it	PRON	Case=Nom Gender=Neut Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	4 expression	nsubj
2	is	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	4 expression	cop
3	an	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	4 expression	det
4	expression	expression	NOUN	Number=Sing	root	root
5	of	of	ADP	_	6 condolence	case
6	condolence	condolence	NOUN	Number=Sing	4 expression	nmod
7	upon	upon	ADP	_	8 bereavement	case
8	bereavement	bereavement	NOUN	Number=Sing	4 expression	nmod

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	is a	present	It	a expression				of condolence; upon bereavement	tree rules

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/3-thank-you-sorry-excuse-me/e4/