Exam question 4 · Saying sorry, and the sorry that is not accepted
Ascertain the correct position where an apology, sincerely offered, is declined by the injured party.
Mova's choice: option 1 · The right answer: option 4 · wrong ✗ · Who acts: you, injured party · What happens: ascertain, offer, decline · To what, where: correct position, apology
This is exam question 4 of lesson 477 «Saying sorry, and the sorry that is not accepted» of the everyday 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 | 4 position | det |
| 3 | correct | correct | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 4 position | amod |
| 4 | position | position | NOUN | Number=Sing | 1 Ascertain | obj |
| 5 | where | where | ADV | PronType=Rel | 13 declined | advmod |
| 6 | an | a | DET | Definite=Ind PronType=Art | 7 apology | det |
| 7 | apology | apology | NOUN | Number=Sing | 13 declined | nsubj:pass |
| 8 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 10 offered | punct |
| 9 | sincerely | sincerely | ADV | _ | 10 offered | advmod |
| 10 | offered | offer | VERB | Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass | 7 apology | acl |
| 11 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 10 offered | punct |
| 12 | is | be | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | 13 declined | aux:pass |
| 13 | declined | decline | VERB | Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass | 4 position | acl:relcl |
| 14 | by | by | ADP | _ | 17 party | case |
| 15 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 17 party | det |
| 16 | injured | injured | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 17 party | amod |
| 17 | party | party | NOUN | Number=Sing | 13 declined | obl |
| 18 | . | . | PUNCT | _ | 1 Ascertain | punct |
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ascertain | imperative | you not said here | the correct position | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent position=Topic | ||||
| 2 | offer | participle | a apology not said here | sincerely property | vn future_having-13.3 «NP V NP.theme (PP)»: agent=Agent | ||||
| 3 | decline | present · passive | the injured party | a apology | vn reject-77.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent subject=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
The injured party is obliged to accept it forthwith
The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)
| # | word | lemma | UPOS | features | head | relation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 3 party | det |
| 2 | injured | injured | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 3 party | amod |
| 3 | party | party | NOUN | Number=Sing | 5 obliged | nsubj:pass |
| 4 | is | be | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | 5 obliged | aux:pass |
| 5 | obliged | oblige | VERB | Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass | root | root |
| 6 | to | to | PART | _ | 7 accept | mark |
| 7 | accept | accept | VERB | VerbForm=Inf | 5 obliged | xcomp |
| 8 | it | it | PRON | Case=Acc Gender=Neut Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 7 accept | obj |
| 9 | forthwith | forthwith | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 7 accept | xcomp |
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | oblige | present · passive | the injured party | vn compel-59.1-1 «NP V NP S_INF»: subject=Patient clause=Result | |||||
| 2 | accept | to-infinitive | party | forthwith property | vn obtain-13.5.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent it=Theme |
Option 2
The apologising party is thereby released from all regard for the other
The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)
| # | word | lemma | UPOS | features | head | relation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 3 party | det |
| 2 | apologising | apologise | VERB | VerbForm=Ger | 3 party | amod |
| 3 | party | party | NOUN | Number=Sing | 6 released | nsubj:pass |
| 4 | is | be | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | 6 released | aux:pass |
| 5 | thereby | thereby | ADV | _ | 6 released | advmod |
| 6 | released | release | VERB | Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass | root | root |
| 7 | from | from | ADP | _ | 9 regard | case |
| 8 | all | all | DET | PronType=Tot | 9 regard | det |
| 9 | regard | regard | NOUN | Number=Sing | 6 released | obl |
| 10 | for | for | ADP | _ | 12 other | case |
| 11 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 12 other | det |
| 12 | other | other | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 6 released | obl |
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | apologise speech: apologize | gerund | tree rules | ||||||
| 2 | release | present · passive | the apologising party | all regard | for the other; thereby property | vn free-10.6.3-1 «NP V NP S_ING»: subject=Source |
Option 3
The apology must be repeated until accepted
The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)
| # | word | lemma | UPOS | features | head | relation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 2 apology | det |
| 2 | apology | apology | NOUN | Number=Sing | 5 repeated | nsubj:pass |
| 3 | must | must | AUX | VerbForm=Fin | 5 repeated | aux |
| 4 | be | be | AUX | VerbForm=Inf | 5 repeated | aux:pass |
| 5 | repeated | repeat | VERB | Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass | root | root |
| 6 | until | until | SCONJ | _ | 7 accepted | mark |
| 7 | accepted | accept | VERB | Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass | 5 repeated | advcl |
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | repeat | must · passive | the apology | vn begin-55.1-1-1 «NP V NP»: subject=Eventuality | |||||
| 2 | accept | participle | vn obtain-13.5.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent |
Option 4 · ✓ the right answer
Acceptance rests with the injured party and cannot be compelled
The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)
| # | word | lemma | UPOS | features | head | relation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Acceptance | acceptance | NOUN | Number=Sing | 2 rests | nsubj |
| 2 | rests | rest | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | root | root |
| 3 | with | with | ADP | _ | 6 party | case |
| 4 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 6 party | det |
| 5 | injured | injured | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 6 party | amod |
| 6 | party | party | NOUN | Number=Sing | 2 rests | obl |
| 7 | and | and | CCONJ | _ | 11 compelled | cc |
| 8 | can | can | AUX | VerbForm=Fin | 11 compelled | aux |
| 9 | not | not | PART | Polarity=Neg | 11 compelled | advmod |
| 10 | be | be | AUX | VerbForm=Inf | 11 compelled | aux:pass |
| 11 | compelled | compel | VERB | Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass | 2 rests | conj |
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | rest | present | Acceptance | with the injured party | vn spatial_configuration-47.6-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme | ||||
| 2 | not compel | can · passive | Acceptance not said here | vn compel-59.1-1 «NP V NP» |
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/everyday/477-saying-sorry-and-the-sorry-that-is-not-accepted/e4/