Exam question 1 · Punctuation that changes meaning

Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the function of the comma in the sentence "Let's eat, Grandma!"?

Mova's choice: option 2 · The right answer: option 2 · right ✓ · Who acts: 's · What happens: follow, characteris, let, eat · To what, where: function, 's

This is exam question 1 of lesson 14 «Punctuation that changes meaning» 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	1 Which	nmod
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 comma	case
12	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	13 comma	det
13	comma	comma	NOUN	Number=Sing	10 function	nmod
14	in	in	ADP	_	16 sentence	case
15	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	16 sentence	det
16	sentence	sentence	NOUN	Number=Sing	13 comma	nmod
17	"	"	PUNCT	_	18 Let	punct
18	Let	let	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	8 characterises	conj
19	's	we	PRON	Case=Acc Number=Plur Person=1 PronType=Prs	18 Let	obj
20	eat	eat	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	18 Let	xcomp
21	,	,	PUNCT	_	22 Grandma	punct
22	Grandma	grandma	NOUN	Number=Sing	18 Let	vocative
23	!	!	PUNCT	_	18 Let	punct
24	"	"	PUNCT	_	18 Let	punct
25	?	?	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 comma in the sentence	accurately property	tree rules
3	let in a quote	infinitive		's	Grandma vocative	tree rules
4	eat in a quote	infinitive	's not said here			vn eat-39.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent

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

It separates items in a list of foods

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 separates	nsubj
2	separates	separate	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	items	item	NOUN	Number=Plur	2 separates	obj
4	in	in	ADP	_	6 list	case
5	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	6 list	det
6	list	list	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 separates	obl
7	of	of	ADP	_	8 foods	case
8	foods	food	NOUN	Number=Plur	6 list	nmod

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	separate	present	It	items				in a list of foods goal	vn classify-29.10 «NP V NP PP.goal»: agent=Agent item=Theme in list=Goal
2	list			foods					nom list «communication transitive»: of=patient

Option 2 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer

It marks the direct address of the person named

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	5 address	det
4	direct	direct	ADJ	Degree=Pos	5 address	amod
5	address	address	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 marks	obj
6	of	of	ADP	_	8 person	case
7	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	8 person	det
8	person	person	NOUN	Number=Sing	5 address	nmod
9	named	name	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	8 person	acl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	roles by
1	mark	present	It	the direct address of the person	vn image_impression-25.1 «NP V NP.destination»: agent=Agent address=Destination
2	name	participle		the person not said here	vn appoint-29.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent
3	address			the person	nom address «communication transitive»: of=patient

Option 3

It indicates possession by the person named

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 indicates	nsubj
2	indicates	indicate	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	possession	possession	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 indicates	obj
4	by	by	ADP	_	6 person	case
5	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	6 person	det
6	person	person	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 indicates	obl
7	named	name	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	6 person	acl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	indicate	present	It	possession				by the person	vn indicate-78-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Pivot possession=Topic
2	name	participle		the person not said here					vn appoint-29.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent

Option 4

It concludes the sentence

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 concludes	nsubj
2	concludes	conclude	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	4 sentence	det
4	sentence	sentence	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 concludes	obj

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	conclude	present	It	the sentence					vn deduce-97.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent sentence=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.

This page in Markdown → https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/language/14-punctuation-that-changes-meaning/e1/