Fronted adverbials
Tests: 4 of 10 right · Exam: 1 of 4 right · Kind: ★ · Understood: 7 of 14 · Run: 2026-10-18, commit f3c23ea72
Lesson 29 of the english course of Mova's primary school, as Mova's small model took its tests: it had read this lesson and the ones before it and learned from their exercises. Each test shows the options in the order the student saw them, its choice, the right answer, the score of every option and why it chose. The lesson itself, sentence by sentence with trees and pragmatics: the lesson in the corpora.
Every question of this lesson and each of its options parsed by Mova, with trees and pragmatics: the lesson's questions in the corpora.
Test 1 · ★ · right ✓
«'after lunch we played' is fine, commas are optional innit». What should the pupil do?
- 1. Add a comma: «After lunch, we played.» — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 12
- 2. Leave it, commas never go after adverbials — score 7
- 3. Put the comma after «we» — score 4
- 4. Change it to a question — no support
Why: It took the question to ask what is done. It chose option 1 with score 12, against 7 for the next best. Its support: lesson 29, line 3: «Two traps. First, the comma: «After lunch we played» should be «After lunch, we played.» Second, the rest must still be a full sentence. Ali writes «Carefully,…», reached through the remembered sentence the question matched. What matched: it fills the role the question asks for (+5); the same circumstance (+4); the same action «play» (+3). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics
Test 2 · ★ · right ✓
★★ Which sentence uses a fronted adverbial correctly?
- 1. Without a sound, the cat crept upstairs. — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · no support
- 2. Without a sound the cat, crept upstairs. — no support
- 3. The cat crept, without a sound upstairs. — no support
- 4. Without a sound, crept upstairs. — no support
Why: No option found support in what it remembers, so it guessed: it took the first option shown. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics
Test 3 · ★ · wrong ✗
★★ «Carefully Ali carried the eggs.» What is the only thing missing?
- 1. A comma after «Carefully» — ✓ the right answer · no support
- 2. The subject — ← Mova's choice · score 2
- 3. A verb — no support
- 4. A full stop after «Ali» — no support
Why: It took the question to ask what it is done to. It chose option 2 with score 2, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 29, line 3: «Two traps. First, the comma: «After lunch we played» should be «After lunch, we played.» Second, the rest must still be a full sentence. Ali writes «Carefully,…», reached through the same lesson line as the sentence the question matched. What matched: it fills the role the question asks for (+2); the same thing acted on «subject» (+1). Against it: a different doer (counts against) (-1). The right option, 1, found no support in what it remembers. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics
Test 4 · ★ · wrong ✗
★★★ «As soon as the bell rang, Max grabbed his bag and ran out of the door.» How long is the fronted adverbial?
- 1. Three words — ← Mova's choice · no support
- 2. Six words — no support
- 3. Five words — ✓ the right answer · no support
- 4. One word — no support
Why: No option found support in what it remembers, so it guessed: it took the first option shown. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics
Test 5 · ★ · wrong ✗
★★★ Which sentence does NOT have a fronted adverbial?
- 1. In the night, the dog barked loudly. — ← Mova's choice · no support
- 2. Loudly, the dog barked in the night. — no support
- 3. Suddenly, the dog barked. — no support
- 4. The dog barked loudly in the night. — ✓ the right answer · no support
Why: No option found support in what it remembers, so it guessed: it took the first option shown. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics
Test 6 · ★ · wrong ✗
★★★ Move the adverbial to the front: «The fox crept through the dark wood without making a sound.»
- 1. Without making a sound, the fox crept through the dark wood. — ✓ the right answer · score 8
- 2. Without making a sound the fox, crept through the dark wood. — ← Mova's choice · score 9
- 3. The fox, without making a sound crept through the dark wood. — score 8
- 4. Without, making a sound, the fox crept through the dark wood. — score 8
Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 2 with score 9, against 8 for the next best. Its support: lesson 4, line 3: «It works the other way too: one spelling can make more than one sound. «ea» says /ee/ in «eat» but /e/ in «head»; «ow» says /ow/ in «cow» but /oa/ in «snow»; «…», reached through the same lesson line as the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same action «make» (+5); the same thing acted on «one sound» (+4). The right option, 1, scored 8. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics
Test 7 · ★ · wrong ✗
In a cartoon, the Grammar Gremlin says, «Fronted adverbials must be ONE word, like Suddenly.» What is true?
- 1. They can only tell you about time — ← Mova's choice · score 4
- 2. They must always end in -ly — score 2
- 3. Only one-word adverbials count — no support
- 4. They can be words, phrases or whole clauses — ✓ the right answer · score 4
Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 1 with score 4, tied with another option at 4 (the first shown, or the one claiming less beyond what it knows, wins). Its support: lesson 29, line 13: «Fronted adverbials of manner, telling how, include Carefully, Slowly and Without a sound.», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same action «tell» (+2); the same doer «fronted adverbials» (+2). The right option, 4, scored 4. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics
Test 8 · ★ · wrong ✗
What would happen if every sentence in a story started «Then,»?
- 1. The story would sound repetitive and clunky — ✓ the right answer · no support
- 2. It would turn into a poem — ← Mova's choice · score 2
- 3. Readers would learn lots of new words from every page — no support
- 4. The story would sound exciting and varied — no support
Why: It took the question to ask what happens next. It chose option 2 with score 2, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 26, line 1: «A sentence is a group of words that makes complete sense on its own. It starts with a capital letter and ends with a full stop, a question mark or an exclamati…», reached through what followed the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same doer «sentence» (+4). Against it: a different action (counts against) (-2). The right option, 1, found no support in what it remembers. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics
Test 9 · ★ · right ✓
«my lover, what's an adverbial when it's at home?» What would be a good example to give?
- 1. The troll waited. — score 6
- 2. Under the old bridge, the troll waited. — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 10
- 3. The troll waited under the old bridge. — score 10
- 4. The troll. — no support
Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 2 with score 10, tied with another option at 10 (the first shown, or the one claiming less beyond what it knows, wins). Its support: lesson 29, line 2: «Fronted adverbials come in all sizes. One word: «Suddenly, the lights went out.» A phrase: «Under the bridge, the troll waited.» «All of a sudden, the dog sat…», reached through the same lesson line as the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same action «wait» (+5); the same place «bridge» (+4); the same doer «troll» (+1). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics
Test 10 · ★ · right ✓
«y'all, 'once upon a time' is a fronted adverbial?» Is it?
- 1. Yes, it tells when, and it comes first — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · no support
- 2. Yes, but only because it tells you where the story happens — no support
- 3. No, it's a noun — no support
- 4. No, it's only a title — no support
Why: No option found support in what it remembers, so it guessed: it took the first option shown. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics
Exam question 1 · formal language · wrong ✗
Identify the fronted adverbial in the sentence «At noon, the omnibus departed».
- 1. the omnibus — ← Mova's choice · no support
- 2. At noon — ✓ the right answer · no support
- 3. the omnibus departed — no support
- 4. departed — no support
Why: No option found support in what it remembers, so it guessed: it took the first option shown. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics
Exam question 2 · formal language · right ✓
Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the punctuation conventionally required after a fronted adverbial?
- 1. A comma is placed after it — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · no support
- 2. A question mark is placed after it — no support
- 3. A full stop is placed after it — no support
- 4. A semicolon is placed before it and a colon after it — no support
Why: No option found support in what it remembers, so it guessed: it took the first option shown. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics
Exam question 3 · formal language · wrong ✗
Select the response consistent with the established facts concerning the sentence «Carefully, carried the eggs».
- 1. It lacks a subject and is therefore incomplete — ✓ the right answer · no support
- 2. It contains no adverbial of any kind — no support
- 3. It is complete and correctly punctuated — no support
- 4. It contains no verb — ← Mova's choice · score 1
Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 4 with score 1, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 26, line 9: «A sentence needs a verb; a group of words without one, like «The dog», is a phrase.», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same doer «sentence» (+2). Against it: a different action (counts against) (-1). The right option, 1, found no support in what it remembers. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics
Exam question 4 · formal language · wrong ✗
Ascertain which of the following may serve as a fronted adverbial.
- 1. A proper noun only — ← Mova's choice · no support
- 2. A complete main clause, provided that it is followed by a full stop — no support
- 3. A single word only — no support
- 4. A single word, a phrase or a subordinate clause — ✓ the right answer · no support
Why: No option found support in what it remembers, so it guessed: it took the first option shown. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics
This page in Markdown → https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/school-run/english/29-fronted-adverbials/