Exam question 2 · Brackets, dashes, colons, semicolons and hyphens

Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the function of the semicolon in "It rained; we stayed in"?

Mova's choice: option 1 · The right answer: option 2 · wrong ✗ · Who acts: It, we · What happens: follow, characteris, rain, stay in · To what, where: function, semicolon · Speech: someone speaks here

This is exam question 2 of lesson 36 «Brackets, dashes, colons, semicolons and hyphens» of the English 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 function	det
10	function	function	NOUN	Number=Sing	8 characterises	obj
11	of	of	ADP	_	13 semicolon	case
12	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	13 semicolon	det
13	semicolon	semicolon	NOUN	Number=Sing	10 function	nmod
14	in	in	SCONJ	_	17 rained	mark
15	"	"	PUNCT	_	17 rained	punct
16	It	it	PRON	Case=Nom Gender=Neut Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	17 rained	nsubj
17	rained	rain	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	13 semicolon	acl
18	;	;	PUNCT	_	20 stayed	punct
19	we	we	PRON	Case=Nom Number=Plur Person=1 PronType=Prs	20 stayed	nsubj
20	stayed	stay	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=1 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	8 characterises	parataxis
21	in	in	ADV	_	20 stayed	advmod
22	"	"	PUNCT	_	20 stayed	punct
23	?	?	PUNCT	_	8 characterises	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	other	roles by
1	follow	gerund				vn occur-48.3-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme
2	characteris	present		the function of the semicolon	of the following statements; accurately property	tree rules
3	rain in a quote	past	It	the semicolon not said here		tree rules
4	stay in in a quote	past	we			vn exist-47.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme

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 denotes the omission of letters

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	2 denotes	nsubj
2	denotes	denote	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	4 omission	det
4	omission	omission	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 denotes	obj
5	of	of	ADP	_	6 letters	case
6	letters	letter	NOUN	Number=Plur	4 omission	nmod

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	denote	present	It	the omission of letters					vn indicate-78 «NP V NP»: agent=Pivot omission=Topic
2	omit			letters					nom omission «act transitive»: of=patient

Option 2 · ✓ the right answer

It links two independent clauses closely related in meaning

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	2 links	nsubj
2	links	link	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	two	two	NUM	NumForm=Word NumType=Card	5 clauses	nummod
4	independent	independent	ADJ	Degree=Pos	5 clauses	amod
5	clauses	clause	NOUN	Number=Plur	2 links	obj
6	closely	closely	ADV	_	7 related	advmod
7	related	related	ADJ	Degree=Pos	5 clauses	amod
8	in	in	ADP	_	9 meaning	case
9	meaning	meaning	NOUN	Number=Sing	7 related	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	link	present	It	two independent clauses					vn mix-22.1-2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent clause=Patient

Option 3

It introduces a list of items subsequently enumerated

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	2 introduces	nsubj
2	introduces	introduce	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	4 list	det
4	list	list	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 introduces	obj
5	of	of	ADP	_	6 items	case
6	items	item	NOUN	Number=Plur	4 list	nmod
7	subsequently	subsequently	ADV	_	8 enumerated	advmod
8	enumerated	enumerate	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	6 items	acl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	other	roles by
1	introduce	present	It	a list of items		vn amalgamate-22.2-3-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent list=Patient
2	enumerate	participle		items not said here	subsequently property	tree rules
3	list			items		nom list «communication transitive»: of=patient

Option 4

It marks the end of a question

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	2 marks	nsubj
2	marks	mark	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	4 end	det
4	end	end	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 marks	obj
5	of	of	ADP	_	7 question	case
6	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	7 question	det
7	question	question	NOUN	Number=Sing	4 end	nmod

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	mark	present	It	the end of a question					vn image_impression-25.1 «NP V NP.destination»: agent=Agent end=Destination

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.

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