Exam question 2 · Adding -ed and -ing: doubling and dropping e

Identify the condition under which the final consonant of a word of two syllables is doubled before a suffix commencing with a vowel.

Mova's choice: option 1 · The right answer: option 3 · wrong ✗ · Who acts: you, suffix · What happens: identify, double, commence, word · To what, where: condition, final consonant, two syllables

This is exam question 2 of lesson 7 «Adding -ed and -ing: doubling and dropping e» 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	Identify	identify	VERB	Mood=Imp VerbForm=Fin	root	root
2	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	3 condition	det
3	condition	condition	NOUN	Number=Sing	1 Identify	obj
4	under	under	ADP	_	5 which	case
5	which	which	PRON	PronType=Rel	16 doubled	obl
6	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	8 consonant	det
7	final	final	ADJ	Degree=Pos	8 consonant	amod
8	consonant	consonant	NOUN	Number=Sing	16 doubled	nsubj:pass
9	of	of	ADP	_	11 word	case
10	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	11 word	det
11	word	word	NOUN	Number=Sing	8 consonant	nmod
12	of	of	ADP	_	14 syllables	case
13	two	two	NUM	NumForm=Word NumType=Card	14 syllables	nummod
14	syllables	syllable	NOUN	Number=Plur	11 word	nmod
15	is	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	16 doubled	aux:pass
16	doubled	double	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	3 condition	acl:relcl
17	before	before	ADP	_	19 suffix	case
18	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	19 suffix	det
19	suffix	suffix	NOUN	Number=Sing	16 doubled	obl
20	commencing	commence	VERB	VerbForm=Ger	19 suffix	acl
21	with	with	ADP	_	23 vowel	case
22	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	23 vowel	det
23	vowel	vowel	NOUN	Number=Sing	20 commencing	obl
24	.	.	PUNCT	_	1 Identify	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	identify	imperative	you not said here	the condition				vn characterize-29.2-1-1 «NP V NP S_ING»: agent=Agent condition=Theme
2	double	present · passive		the final consonant of a word of two syllables	the condition	before a suffix		vn other_cos-45.4 «NP V NP.patient»: subject=Patient
3	commence	gerund	a suffix not said here				with a vowel	vn begin-55.1-1-1 «NP V PP.subeventuality»: agent=Eventuality with vowel=Subeventuality
4	word			two syllables				nom word «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

When the stress falls upon the first syllable

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	When	when	SCONJ	_	4 falls	mark
2	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	3 stress	det
3	stress	stress	NOUN	Number=Sing	4 falls	nsubj
4	falls	fall	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
5	upon	upon	ADP	_	8 syllable	case
6	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	8 syllable	det
7	first	first	ADJ	Degree=Pos NumForm=Word NumType=Ord	8 syllable	amod
8	syllable	syllable	NOUN	Number=Sing	4 falls	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	fall	present	the stress			the first syllable			vn occur-48.3 «NP V PP»: agent=Theme upon syllable=Location

Option 2

When the word is of American origin

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	When	when	ADV	PronType=Int	7 origin	advmod
2	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	3 word	det
3	word	word	NOUN	Number=Sing	7 origin	nsubj
4	is	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	7 origin	cop
5	of	of	ADP	_	7 origin	case
6	American	American	ADJ	Degree=Pos	7 origin	amod
7	origin	origin	NOUN	Number=Sing	root	root

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	is	present	the word					of American origin	tree rules

Option 3 · ✓ the right answer

When the stress falls upon the final syllable

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	When	when	SCONJ	_	4 falls	mark
2	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	3 stress	det
3	stress	stress	NOUN	Number=Sing	4 falls	nsubj
4	falls	fall	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
5	upon	upon	ADP	_	8 syllable	case
6	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	8 syllable	det
7	final	final	ADJ	Degree=Pos	8 syllable	amod
8	syllable	syllable	NOUN	Number=Sing	4 falls	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	fall	present	the stress			the final syllable			vn occur-48.3 «NP V PP»: agent=Theme upon syllable=Location

Option 4

When the word contains more than five letters

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	When	when	SCONJ	_	4 contains	mark
2	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	3 word	det
3	word	word	NOUN	Number=Sing	4 contains	nsubj
4	contains	contain	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
5	more	more	ADJ	Degree=Cmp ExtPos=ADV	7 five	advmod
6	than	than	ADP	_	5 more	fixed
7	five	five	NUM	NumForm=Word NumType=Card	8 letters	nummod
8	letters	letter	NOUN	Number=Plur	4 contains	obj

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	contain	present	the word	five letters					vn comprise-107.2-2 «NP V NP»: agent=Pivot letter=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.

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