Test 2 · ★ · Punctuation that changes meaning
A Gen Z sister texts "k." after you ask to borrow her charger. What's probably going on?
Mova's choice: option 1 · The right answer: option 4 · wrong ✗ · Who acts: Z sister, you · What happens: text, ask, borrow, go on · To what, where: k., charger
This is test 2 · ★ of lesson 14 «Punctuation that changes meaning» of the language course of Mova's primary school. 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
Sentence 1: A Gen Z sister texts "k." after you ask to borrow her charger.
The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)
| # | word | lemma | UPOS | features | head | relation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | A | a | DET | Definite=Ind PronType=Art | 4 sister | det |
| 2 | Gen | gen | NOUN | Number=Sing | 3 Z | compound |
| 3 | Z | z | NOUN | Number=Sing | 4 sister | compound |
| 4 | sister | sister | NOUN | Number=Sing | 5 texts | nsubj |
| 5 | texts | text | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | root | root |
| 6 | " | " | PUNCT | _ | 7 k. | punct |
| 7 | k. | K. | PROPN | Number=Sing | 5 texts | obj |
| 8 | " | " | PUNCT | _ | 7 k. | punct |
| 9 | after | after | SCONJ | _ | 11 ask | mark |
| 10 | you | you | PRON | Case=Nom Person=2 PronType=Prs | 11 ask | nsubj |
| 11 | ask | ask | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=2 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | 5 texts | advcl |
| 12 | to | to | PART | _ | 13 borrow | mark |
| 13 | borrow | borrow | VERB | VerbForm=Inf | 11 ask | xcomp |
| 14 | her | her | PRON | Case=Gen Gender=Fem Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs | 15 charger | nmod:poss |
| 15 | charger | charger | NOUN | Number=Sing | 13 borrow | obj |
| 16 | . | . | PUNCT | _ | 5 texts | punct |
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | text | present | a Z sister | k. | tree rules | ||||
| 2 | ask speech: ask | present | you | vn inquire-37.1.2 «NP V how S_INF»: agent=Agent clause=Topic | |||||
| 3 | borrow not said to happen | to-infinitive | you not said here | sister's charger | vn obtain-13.5.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent charger=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.
Sentence 2: What's probably going on?
The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)
| # | word | lemma | UPOS | features | head | relation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | What | what | PRON | PronType=Int | 4 going | nsubj |
| 2 | 's | be | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | 4 going | aux |
| 3 | probably | probably | ADV | _ | 4 going | advmod |
| 4 | going | go | VERB | Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part | root | root |
| 5 | on | on | ADP | _ | 4 going | compound:prt |
| 6 | ? | ? | PUNCT | _ | 4 going | punct |
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | go on | present · progressive | probably property | vn function-105.2.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
The options
Option 1 · ← Mova's choice
She is really happy to lend it to you straight away, no problem
The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)
| # | word | lemma | UPOS | features | head | relation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | She | she | PRON | Case=Nom Gender=Fem Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 4 happy | nsubj |
| 2 | is | be | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | 4 happy | cop |
| 3 | really | really | ADV | _ | 4 happy | advmod |
| 4 | happy | happy | ADJ | Degree=Pos | root | root |
| 5 | to | to | PART | _ | 6 lend | mark |
| 6 | lend | lend | VERB | VerbForm=Inf | 4 happy | xcomp |
| 7 | it | it | PRON | Case=Acc Gender=Neut Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 6 lend | obj |
| 8 | to | to | ADP | _ | 9 you | case |
| 9 | you | you | PRON | Case=Acc Person=2 PronType=Prs | 6 lend | obl |
| 10 | straight | straight | ADV | _ | 11 away | advmod |
| 11 | away | away | ADV | _ | 6 lend | advmod |
| 12 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 14 problem | punct |
| 13 | no | no | DET | PronType=Neg | 14 problem | det |
| 14 | problem | problem | NOUN | Number=Sing | 4 happy | conj |
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | is | present | She | happy property | tree rules | ||||
| 2 | lend | to-infinitive | She not said here | it | you | away property | vn give-13.1 «NP V NP PP.recipient»: agent=Agent it=Theme to you=Recipient |
Option 2
It means "kindly come"
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 means | nsubj |
| 2 | means | mean | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | root | root |
| 3 | " | " | PUNCT | _ | 5 come | punct |
| 4 | kindly | kindly | ADV | _ | 5 come | advmod |
| 5 | come | come | VERB | VerbForm=Inf | 2 means | ccomp |
| 6 | " | " | PUNCT | _ | 5 come | punct |
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | mean | present | It | vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic | |||||
| 2 | come in a quote | infinitive | kindly property | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
Option 3
She has typed the letter k by accident and is fine
The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)
| # | word | lemma | UPOS | features | head | relation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | She | she | PRON | Case=Nom Gender=Fem Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 3 typed | nsubj |
| 2 | has | have | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | 3 typed | aux |
| 3 | typed | type | VERB | Tense=Past VerbForm=Part | root | root |
| 4 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 5 letter | det |
| 5 | letter | letter | NOUN | Number=Sing | 3 typed | obj |
| 6 | k | k | ADP | _ | 3 typed | compound:prt |
| 7 | by | by | ADP | _ | 8 accident | case |
| 8 | accident | accident | NOUN | Number=Sing | 3 typed | obl |
| 9 | and | and | CCONJ | _ | 11 fine | cc |
| 10 | is | be | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | 11 fine | cop |
| 11 | fine | fine | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 3 typed | conj |
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | type k | present · perfect | She | the letter | by accident | vn transcribe-25.4 «NP V NP PP.destination»: agent=Agent letter=Theme by accident=Destination | |||
| 2 | is | present | She not said here | fine property | tree rules |
Option 4 · ✓ the right answer
The full stop makes it look cold, so she may be annoyed
The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)
| # | word | lemma | UPOS | features | head | relation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 3 stop | det |
| 2 | full | full | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 3 stop | amod |
| 3 | stop | stop | NOUN | Number=Sing | 4 makes | nsubj |
| 4 | makes | make | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | root | root |
| 5 | it | it | PRON | Case=Acc Gender=Neut Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 4 makes | obj |
| 6 | look | look | VERB | VerbForm=Inf | 4 makes | xcomp |
| 7 | cold | cold | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 6 look | xcomp |
| 8 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 13 annoyed | punct |
| 9 | so | so | ADV | _ | 13 annoyed | advmod |
| 10 | she | she | PRON | Case=Nom Gender=Fem Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 13 annoyed | nsubj |
| 11 | may | may | AUX | VerbForm=Fin | 13 annoyed | aux |
| 12 | be | be | AUX | VerbForm=Inf | 13 annoyed | cop |
| 13 | annoyed | annoyed | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 4 makes | parataxis |
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | make | present | the full stop | it | tree rules | ||||
| 2 | look | infinitive | cold property | vn stimulus_subject-30.4 «NP V ADJ»: agent=Stimulus | |||||
| 3 | is | may | stop | annoyed property | tree rules |
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/t2/