Exam question 4 · Mandarin compared with English

Ascertain the function of the particle "吗" (ma) at the end of a Mandarin sentence.

Mova's choice: option 1 · The right answer: option 4 · wrong ✗ · Who acts: you · What happens: ascertain · To what, where: function, end

This is exam question 4 of lesson 34 «Mandarin compared with English» 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	Ascertain	ascertain	VERB	Mood=Imp VerbForm=Fin	root	root
2	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	3 function	det
3	function	function	NOUN	Number=Sing	1 Ascertain	obj
4	of	of	ADP	_	6 particle	case
5	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	6 particle	det
6	particle	particle	NOUN	Number=Sing	3 function	nmod
7	"	"	PUNCT	_	8 吗	punct
8	吗	吗	NOUN	Number=Sing	6 particle	conj
9	"	"	PUNCT	_	8 吗	punct
10	(	(	PUNCT	_	11 ma	punct
11	ma	ma	NOUN	Number=Sing	8 吗	appos
12	)	)	PUNCT	_	11 ma	punct
13	at	at	ADP	_	15 end	case
14	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	15 end	det
15	end	end	NOUN	Number=Sing	1 Ascertain	obl
16	of	of	ADP	_	19 sentence	case
17	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	19 sentence	det
18	Mandarin	mandarin	ADJ	Degree=Pos	19 sentence	amod
19	sentence	sentence	NOUN	Number=Sing	15 end	nmod
20	.	.	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 function of the particle and 吗			at the end of a Mandarin sentence		vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent function=Topic

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

It marks the plural of nouns denoting persons and animals

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	4 plural	det
4	plural	plural	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 marks	obj
5	of	of	ADP	_	6 nouns	case
6	nouns	noun	NOUN	Number=Plur	4 plural	nmod
7	denoting	denote	VERB	VerbForm=Ger	6 nouns	acl
8	persons	person	NOUN	Number=Plur	7 denoting	obj
9	and	and	CCONJ	_	10 animals	cc
10	animals	animal	NOUN	Number=Plur	8 persons	conj

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	mark	present	It	the plural of nouns					vn image_impression-25.1 «NP V NP.destination»: agent=Agent plural=Destination
2	denote	gerund	nouns not said here	persons and animals					vn indicate-78 «NP V NP»: agent=Pivot person=Topic

Option 2

It denotes the past tense

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 denotes	nsubj
2	denotes	denote	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	5 tense	det
4	past	past	ADJ	Degree=Pos	5 tense	amod
5	tense	tense	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 denotes	obj

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	denote	present	It	the past tense					vn indicate-78 «NP V NP»: agent=Pivot tense=Topic

Option 3

It denotes the feminine gender

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 denotes	nsubj
2	denotes	denote	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	5 gender	det
4	feminine	feminine	ADJ	Degree=Pos	5 gender	amod
5	gender	gender	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 denotes	obj

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	denote	present	It	the feminine gender					vn indicate-78 «NP V NP»: agent=Pivot gender=Topic

Option 4 · ✓ the right answer

It converts a statement into a yes/no question

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 converts	nsubj
2	converts	convert	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	4 statement	det
4	statement	statement	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 converts	obj
5	into	into	ADP	_	8 question	case
6	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	8 question	det
7	yes/no	yes/no	NOUN	Number=Sing	8 question	compound
8	question	question	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 converts	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	convert	present	It	a statement				into a yes/no question result	vn turn-26.6.1-1 «NP V NP.patient PP.result»: agent=Agent statement=Patient into question=Result

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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