---
title: Ascertain the nature of the object commonly designated a «mermaid's… — Sharks by kind, small and strange: wal… · tree and pragmatics
description: Ascertain the nature of the object commonly designated a «mermaid's purse». Exam question 4 of lesson 311 «Sharks by kind, small and strange: walking sharks, wobbegongs, cookiecutters and goblin sharks» of the biology course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the qu
---

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# Exam question 4 · Sharks by kind, small and strange: walking sharks, wobbego…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Ascertain the nature of the object commonly designated a «mermaid's purse».

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 4 · **The right answer:** option 4 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** you, nature · **What happens:** ascertain, designate · **To what, where:** purse

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 4 of lesson 311 «Sharks by kind, small and strange: walking sharks, wobbegongs, cookiecutters and goblin sharks» of the biology 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/biology/311-sharks-by-kind-small-and-strange-walking-sharks-wobbegongs-cookiecutters-and-goblin-sharks/#e4).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:311-sharks-by-kind-small-and-strange-walking-sharks-wobbegongs-cookiecutters-and-goblin-sharks:e4:1
# text = Ascertain the nature of the object commonly designated a «mermaid's purse».
1	Ascertain	ascertain	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	nature	nature	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nsubj	_	_
4	of	of	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	object	object	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nmod	_	_
7	commonly	commonly	ADV	RB	_	8	advmod	_	_
8	designated	designate	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	1	parataxis	_	_
9	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
10	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	13	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	mermaid	mermaid	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	's	's	PART	POS	_	11	case	_	_
13	purse	purse	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	8	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **ascertain** | imperative | you *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn discover-84 «NP V how S»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **designate** | past | the nature of the object | mermaid's purse |  |  |  | commonly *property* | vn appoint-29.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent purse=Theme |

<!-- .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 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The shell of a deep-sea crab

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:311-sharks-by-kind-small-and-strange-walking-sharks-wobbegongs-cookiecutters-and-goblin-sharks:e4:o1:1
# text = The shell of a deep-sea crab
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	shell	shell	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	of	of	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
4	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
5	deep	deep	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	5	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	sea	sea	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	compound	_	_
8	crab	crab	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .note -->
The frames reader finds no event or fact in this sentence.

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The discarded skin of an adult shark

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:311-sharks-by-kind-small-and-strange-walking-sharks-wobbegongs-cookiecutters-and-goblin-sharks:e4:o2:1
# text = The discarded skin of an adult shark
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	discarded	discard	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	3	amod	_	_
3	skin	skin	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
4	of	of	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
5	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
6	adult	adult	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	compound	_	_
7	shark	shark	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **discard** | participle |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn throw-17.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A form of seaweed resembling a pouch, in which small fish shelter from storms

<!-- fold The tree, 14 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:311-sharks-by-kind-small-and-strange-walking-sharks-wobbegongs-cookiecutters-and-goblin-sharks:e4:o3:1
# text = A form of seaweed resembling a pouch, in which small fish shelter from storms
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	form	form	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	nsubj	_	_
3	of	of	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
4	seaweed	seaweed	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	_
5	resembling	resemble	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	2	acl	_	_
6	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	pouch	pouch	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	13	punct	_	_
9	in	in	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
10	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	13	obl	_	_
11	small	small	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	12	amod	_	_
12	fish	fish	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	13	nsubj	_	_
13	shelter	shelter	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
14	from	from	ADP	IN	_	15	case	_	_
15	storms	storm	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	13	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **resemble** | gerund | a form of seaweed *not said here* | a pouch |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **shelter** | present | a form of seaweed |  |  | storms |  |  | vn exist-47.1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme in which=Location |
| 3 | **form** |  |  | seaweed |  |  |  |  | nom form «communication transitive»: of=patient |

### Option 4 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The egg case of a catshark, skate or ray, anchored to seaweed by tendrils

<!-- fold The tree, 14 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:311-sharks-by-kind-small-and-strange-walking-sharks-wobbegongs-cookiecutters-and-goblin-sharks:e4:o4:1
# text = The egg case of a catshark, skate or ray, anchored to seaweed by tendrils
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	egg	egg	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	compound	_	_
3	case	case	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
4	of	of	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	catshark	catshark	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	8	punct	_	_
8	skate	skate	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	conj	_	_
9	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	10	cc	_	_
10	ray	ray	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	12	punct	_	_
12	anchored	anchor	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	3	acl	_	_
13	to	to	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
14	seaweed	seaweed	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	obl	_	_
15	by	by	ADP	IN	_	16	case	_	_
16	tendrils	tendril	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	12	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **anchor** | participle |  | the egg case of a catshark and skate or ray *not said here* |  |  |  | to seaweed; by tendrils | vn tape-22.4 «NP V ADV-Middle PP»: agent=Patient to seaweed=Co-Patient |

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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.

<!-- /div -->

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