---
title: Identify the principal reason for which a beginner's fingertips ceas… — Being bad at something and keeping going · tree and pragmatics
description: Identify the principal reason for which a beginner's fingertips cease to hurt after several weeks of guitar practice. Exam question 1 of lesson 37 «Being bad at something and keeping going» of the arts course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of ea
---

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# Exam question 1 · Being bad at something and keeping going

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Identify the principal reason for which a beginner's fingertips cease to hurt after several weeks of guitar practice.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 1 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** you, fingertips · **What happens:** identify, cease, hurt · **To what, where:** principal reason

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 1 of lesson 37 «Being bad at something and keeping going» of the arts 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](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/school-run/arts/37-being-bad-at-something-and-keeping-going/#e1).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:arts:37-being-bad-at-something-and-keeping-going:e1:1
# text = Identify the principal reason for which a beginner's fingertips cease to hurt after several weeks of guitar practice.
1	Identify	identify	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
3	principal	principal	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	amod	_	_
4	reason	reason	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
5	for	for	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	11	obl	_	_
7	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	beginner	beginner	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	's	's	PART	POS	_	8	case	_	_
10	fingertips	fingertip	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	11	nsubj	_	_
11	cease	cease	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	acl:relcl	_	_
12	to	to	PART	TO	_	13	mark	_	_
13	hurt	hurt	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	11	xcomp	_	_
14	after	after	ADP	IN	_	16	case	_	_
15	several	several	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	16	amod	_	_
16	weeks	week	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	13	obl	_	_
17	of	of	ADP	IN	_	19	case	_	_
18	guitar	guitar	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	19	compound	_	_
19	practice	practice	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	16	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
20	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **identify** | imperative | you *not said here* | the principal reason |  |  |  |  | vn characterize-29.2-1-1 «NP V NP S\_ING»: agent=Agent reason=Theme |
| 2 | **cease** | present | a beginner's fingertips |  |  |  |  | for the principal reason | vn stop-55.4-1-1 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Affector clause=Eventuality |
| 3 | **hurt** | to-infinitive | a beginner's fingertips *not said here* |  |  |  | week |  | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V ADV-Middle»: agent=Experiencer |

<!-- .note -->
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 {#options}

### Option 1 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The skin toughens into calluses

```conllu
# sent_id = question:arts:37-being-bad-at-something-and-keeping-going:e1:o1:1
# text = The skin toughens into calluses
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	skin	skin	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	toughens	toughen	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	into	into	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	calluses	callus	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **toughen** | present | the skin |  |  | calluses |  |  | vn other\_cos-45.4 «NP.patient V»: agent=Patient |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The strings are replaced with softer strings by the teacher

```conllu
# sent_id = question:arts:37-being-bad-at-something-and-keeping-going:e1:o2:1
# text = The strings are replaced with softer strings by the teacher
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	strings	string	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj:pass	_	_
3	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux:pass	_	_
4	replaced	replace	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
5	with	with	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	softer	soft	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	7	amod	_	_
7	strings	string	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obl	_	_
8	by	by	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	teacher	teacher	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **replace** | present · passive | the teacher | the strings |  |  |  | with softer strings | vn substitute-13.6.2-1 «NP V NP PP.co-theme»: agent=Theme subject=Location with string=Co-Theme |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The fingers lose all feeling permanently after practice

```conllu
# sent_id = question:arts:37-being-bad-at-something-and-keeping-going:e1:o3:1
# text = The fingers lose all feeling permanently after practice
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	fingers	finger	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj	_	_
3	lose	lose	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	all	all	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
5	feeling	feel	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	3	advcl	_	_
6	permanently	permanently	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
7	after	after	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
8	practice	practice	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **lose** | present | the fingers |  |  |  |  |  | vn succeed-74-3-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **feel** | gerund | the fingers *not said here* |  |  |  | after practice | all, permanently *property* | vn stimulus\_subject-30.4 «NP V PP.attribute»: agent=Stimulus |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The guitar becomes smaller as it is played more often

```conllu
# sent_id = question:arts:37-being-bad-at-something-and-keeping-going:e1:o4:1
# text = The guitar becomes smaller as it is played more often
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	guitar	guitar	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	becomes	become	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	smaller	small	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	3	xcomp	_	_
5	as	as	SCONJ	IN	_	8	mark	_	_
6	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	8	nsubj:pass	_	_
7	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	8	aux:pass	_	_
8	played	play	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	4	advcl	_	_
9	more	more	ADV	RBR	Degree=Cmp	10	advmod	_	_
10	often	often	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **become** | present | the guitar |  |  |  |  | often, small *property* | vn become-109.1-1-1 «NP V PP.attribute»: agent=Patient |
| 2 | **play** | present · passive |  | guitar |  |  |  |  | vn use-105.1 «NP V NP»: subject=Theme |

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**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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