---
title: Ascertain the reason for which a separate sign was adopted for the s… — Just So Stories, How the Alphabet Was… · tree and pragmatics
description: Ascertain the reason for which a separate sign was adopted for the sound sh. Exam question 2 of lesson 88 «Just So Stories, How the Alphabet Was Made, part 2: yo, so, sho, shi, and shu-ya, the sky-water» of the books course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the que
---

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# Exam question 2 · Just So Stories, How the Alphabet Was Made, part 2: yo, so…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Ascertain the reason for which a separate sign was adopted for the sound sh.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 1 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** you · **What happens:** ascertain, adopt · **To what, where:** reason, separate sign

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 2 of lesson 88 «Just So Stories, How the Alphabet Was Made, part 2: yo, so, sho, shi, and shu-ya, the sky-water» of the books 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/books/88-justso-alphabet-2-shu-ya-sky-water/#e2).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:88-justso-alphabet-2-shu-ya-sky-water:e2:1
# text = Ascertain the reason for which a separate sign was adopted for the sound sh.
1	Ascertain	ascertain	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	reason	reason	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
4	for	for	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	10	obl	_	_
6	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
7	separate	separate	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	amod	_	_
8	sign	sign	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	nsubj:pass	_	_
9	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	10	aux:pass	_	_
10	adopted	adopt	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	3	acl:relcl	_	_
11	for	for	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
12	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	14	det	_	_
13	sound	sound	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	compound	_	_
14	sh	sh	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	obl	_	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* | the reason |  |  |  |  | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent reason=Topic |
| 2 | **adopt** | past · passive |  | a separate sign |  |  |  | for the reason; for the sound sh | vn appoint-29.1 «NP V NP»: subject=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 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Lest «so» be confounded with «sho»

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:88-justso-alphabet-2-shu-ya-sky-water:e2:o1:1
# text = Lest «so» be confounded with «sho»
1	Lest	lest	SCONJ	IN	_	3	mark	_	_
2	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	3	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	so	so	ADV	RB	_	6	advcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	3	punct	_	_
5	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	6	aux:pass	_	_
6	confounded	confound	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
7	with	with	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	9	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	sho	sho	NOUN	NN	_	6	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	6	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **confound** | infinitive · passive |  |  |  |  |  | with sho | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V ADV-Middle» |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Lest «shi» be mixed with «so»

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:88-justso-alphabet-2-shu-ya-sky-water:e2:o2:1
# text = Lest «shi» be mixed with «so»
1	Lest	lest	SCONJ	IN	_	3	case	_	_
2	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	3	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	shi	shi	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	3	punct	_	_
5	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	6	aux:pass	_	_
6	mixed	mix	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
7	with	with	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	9	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	so	so	ADV	RB	_	6	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	6	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **mix** | infinitive · passive |  |  |  |  |  | lest shi | vn mix-22.1-1-1 «NP V PP.co-patient»: with so=Co-Patient |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
For clarity

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:88-justso-alphabet-2-shu-ya-sky-water:e2:o3:1
# text = For clarity
1	For	for	ADP	IN	_	2	case	_	_
2	clarity	clarity	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
```

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

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
To be quick

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:88-justso-alphabet-2-shu-ya-sky-water:e2:o4:1
# text = To be quick
1	To	to	PART	TO	_	3	mark	_	_
2	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	cop	_	_
3	quick	quick	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | to-infinitive |  |  |  |  |  | quick *property* | tree rules |

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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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- ← previous: [Just So Stories, How the Alphabet Was…, exam 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/88-justso-alphabet-2-shu-ya-sky-water/e1/)
- next →: [Just So Stories, How the Alphabet Was…, exam 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/88-justso-alphabet-2-shu-ya-sky-water/e3/)
- ↑ back to [Just So Stories, How the Alphabet Was Made, part 2: yo, so, sho, shi, and shu-ya, the sky-water](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/88-justso-alphabet-2-shu-ya-sky-water/)