---
title: Why do microwave instructions say "stir halfway"? — Cooking is chemistry · tree and pragmatics
description: Why do microwave instructions say "stir halfway"? Test 6 · ★★ of lesson 10 «Cooking is chemistry» of the chemistry course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each option; Mova's choice was right.
---

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# Test 6 · ★★ · Cooking is chemistry

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Why do microwave instructions say "stir halfway"?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 1 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** microwave instructions · **What happens:** do, say, stir · **Speech:** someone speaks here

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This is test 6 · ★★ of lesson 10 «Cooking is chemistry» of the chemistry course of Mova's primary school. 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/chemistry/10-cooking-is-chemistry/#t6).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:chemistry:10-cooking-is-chemistry:t6:1
# text = Why do microwave instructions say "stir halfway"?
1	Why	why	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	2	advmod	_	_
2	do	do	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=2|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	advcl	_	_
3	microwave	microwave	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	compound	_	_
4	instructions	instruction	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	nsubj	_	_
5	say	say	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
6	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	7	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	stir	stir	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	ccomp	_	_
8	halfway	halfway	ADV	RB	_	7	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	7	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **do** | present | microwave instructions *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn act-114-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **say** *speech: assert* | present | microwave instructions |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 3 | **stir** *in a quote* | infinitive |  |  |  |  |  | halfway *property* | 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 -->
So the hot and cooler parts mix and heat evenly

```conllu
# sent_id = question:chemistry:10-cooking-is-chemistry:t6:o1:1
# text = So the hot and cooler parts mix and heat evenly
1	So	so	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	hot	hot	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
4	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	5	cc	_	_
5	cooler	cool	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	6	amod	_	_
6	parts	part	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	nsubj	_	_
7	mix	mix	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
8	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	9	cc	_	_
9	heat	heat	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	7	conj	_	_
10	evenly	evenly	ADV	RB	_	9	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **mix** | present | hot cooler parts |  |  |  |  |  | vn mix-22.1-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Patient |
| 2 | **heat** | present | hot cooler parts *not said here* |  |  |  |  | evenly *property* | vn cooking-45.3 «NP.patient V»: agent=Patient |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
So the microwave has a chance to cool down

```conllu
# sent_id = question:chemistry:10-cooking-is-chemistry:t6:o2:1
# text = So the microwave has a chance to cool down
1	So	so	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	microwave	microwave	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
4	has	have	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	chance	chance	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obj	_	_
7	to	to	PART	TO	_	8	mark	_	_
8	cool	cool	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	6	acl	_	_
9	down	down	ADP	RP	_	8	compound:prt	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **have** | present | the microwave | a chance |  |  |  |  | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent chance=Patient |
| 2 | **cool down** | to-infinitive | the microwave *not said here* | a chance *not said here* |  |  |  |  | vn other\_cos-45.4 «NP.patient V»: agent=Patient |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
So the bowl stays clean

```conllu
# sent_id = question:chemistry:10-cooking-is-chemistry:t6:o3:1
# text = So the bowl stays clean
1	So	so	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	bowl	bowl	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
4	stays	stay	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	clean	clean	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	xcomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **stay** | present | the bowl |  |  |  |  | clean *property* | vn exist-47.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
So the soup does not go bad

```conllu
# sent_id = question:chemistry:10-cooking-is-chemistry:t6:o4:1
# text = So the soup does not go bad
1	So	so	ADV	RB	_	6	advmod	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	soup	soup	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	_
4	does	do	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	aux	_	_
5	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	6	advmod	_	_
6	go	go	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
7	bad	bad	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	xcomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **go** | present · do-support | the soup |  |  |  |  | bad *property* | vn disappearance-48.2-1 «NP V»: agent=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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