Exam question 1 · Plurals that make no sense: mice, sheep and geese

Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the plural "mice"?

Mova's choice: option 1 · The right answer: option 1 · right ✓ · What happens: follow, characteris · To what, where: plural mice

This is exam question 1 of lesson 10 «Plurals that make no sense: mice, sheep and geese» of the language 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	12 mice	det
10	plural	plural	ADJ	Degree=Pos	12 mice	amod
11	"	"	PUNCT	_	12 mice	punct
12	mice	mouse	NOUN	Number=Plur	8 characterises	obj
13	"	"	PUNCT	_	12 mice	punct
14	?	?	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 plural mice				of the following statements; 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 · ✓ the right answer

It preserves an ancient pattern in which the vowel within the word is altered

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 preserves	nsubj
2	preserves	preserve	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	an	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	5 pattern	det
4	ancient	ancient	ADJ	Degree=Pos	5 pattern	amod
5	pattern	pattern	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 preserves	obj
6	in	in	ADP	_	7 which	case
7	which	which	PRON	PronType=Rel	14 altered	obl
8	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	9 vowel	det
9	vowel	vowel	NOUN	Number=Sing	14 altered	nsubj:pass
10	within	within	ADP	_	12 word	case
11	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	12 word	det
12	word	word	NOUN	Number=Sing	9 vowel	nmod
13	is	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	14 altered	aux:pass
14	altered	alter	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	5 pattern	acl:relcl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	preserve	present	It	a ancient pattern					vn defend-72.3 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent pattern=Beneficiary
2	alter	present · passive		the vowel within the word		a ancient pattern			vn other_cos-45.4 «NP V NP.patient»: subject=Patient

Option 2

It constitutes a spelling error subsequently accepted

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 constitutes	nsubj
2	constitutes	constitute	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	5 error	det
4	spelling	spelling	NOUN	Number=Sing	5 error	compound
5	error	error	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 constitutes	obj
6	subsequently	subsequently	ADV	_	7 accepted	advmod
7	accepted	accept	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	5 error	acl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	constitute	present	It	a spelling error					vn comprise-107.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Theme error=Pivot
2	accept	participle		a spelling error not said here				subsequently property	vn obtain-13.5.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent

Option 3

It is borrowed from the French language

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	3 borrowed	nsubj:pass
2	is	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	3 borrowed	aux:pass
3	borrowed	borrow	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	root	root
4	from	from	ADP	_	7 language	case
5	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	7 language	det
6	French	French	ADJ	Degree=Pos	7 language	amod
7	language	language	NOUN	Number=Sing	3 borrowed	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	borrow	present · passive		It		the French language			vn obtain-13.5.2 «NP V NP PP.source»: subject=Theme from language=Source

Option 4

It is formed by the regular addition of "-s"

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	3 formed	nsubj:pass
2	is	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	3 formed	aux:pass
3	formed	form	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	root	root
4	by	by	ADP	_	7 addition	case
5	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	7 addition	det
6	regular	regular	ADJ	Degree=Pos	7 addition	amod
7	addition	addition	NOUN	Number=Sing	3 formed	obl
8	of	of	ADP	_	10 -s	case
9	"	"	PUNCT	_	10 -s	punct
10	-s	-	NOUN	Number=Plur	7 addition	nmod
11	"	"	PUNCT	_	7 addition	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	form	present · passive	the regular addition of -s	It					vn appear-48.1.1 «PP.location V NP»: agent=Location subject=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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