---
title: Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the… — Today, tomorrow, now, later · tree and pragmatics
description: Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the parental utterance "yǐhòu zài shuō"? Exam question 3 of lesson 21 «Today, tomorrow, now, later» of the Chinese street course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each option; Mova'
---

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# Exam question 3 · Today, tomorrow, now, later

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the parental utterance "yǐhòu zài shuō"?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 4 · wrong ✗ · **What happens:** follow, characteris · **To what, where:** parental utterance

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 3 of lesson 21 «Today, tomorrow, now, later» of the Chinese street 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/chinese-street/21-today-tomorrow-now-later/#e3).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:chinese-street:21-today-tomorrow-now-later:e3:1
# text = Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the parental utterance "yǐhòu zài shuō"?
1	Which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	8	nsubj	_	_
2	of	of	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	following	follow	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	5	amod	_	_
5	statements	statement	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	obl	_	_
6	most	most	ADV	RBS	Degree=Sup	7	advmod	_	_
7	accurately	accurately	ADV	RB	_	8	advmod	_	_
8	characterises	characteris	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
10	parental	parental	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	11	amod	_	_
11	utterance	utterance	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obj	_	_
12	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	13	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	yǐhòu	yǐhòu	X	FW	Foreign=Yes	15	discourse	_	_
14	zài	zài	X	FW	Foreign=Yes	13	flat	_	_
15	shuō	shuō	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	15	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	8	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **follow** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn occur-48.3-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 2 | **characteris** | present |  | the parental utterance and shuō |  |  |  | of the following statements; accurately *property* | tree rules |

<!-- .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 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It is an unconditional grant of permission for the request

```conllu
# sent_id = question:chinese-street:21-today-tomorrow-now-later:e3:o1:1
# text = It is an unconditional grant of permission for the request
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	5	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
3	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	unconditional	unconditional	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	grant	grant	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
6	of	of	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	permission	permission	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nmod	_	_
8	for	for	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	request	request	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | It | a unconditional grant |  |  |  | of permission for the request | tree rules |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It is a greeting upon arrival

```conllu
# sent_id = question:chinese-street:21-today-tomorrow-now-later:e3:o2:1
# text = It is a greeting upon arrival
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
3	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	greeting	greeting	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
5	upon	upon	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	arrival	arrival	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | It | a greeting |  |  |  | upon arrival | tree rules |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It is an enquiry as to the hour

```conllu
# sent_id = question:chinese-street:21-today-tomorrow-now-later:e3:o3:1
# text = It is an enquiry as to the hour
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
3	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	enquiry	enquiry	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
5	as	as	ADP	IN	ExtPos=ADP	8	case	_	_
6	to	to	ADP	IN	_	5	fixed	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	hour	hour	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | It | a enquiry |  |  | hour |  | tree rules |

### Option 4 · ✓ the right answer {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It is frequently a courteous deferral amounting to refusal

```conllu
# sent_id = question:chinese-street:21-today-tomorrow-now-later:e3:o4:1
# text = It is frequently a courteous deferral amounting to refusal
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	6	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	cop	_	_
3	frequently	frequently	ADV	RB	_	6	advmod	_	_
4	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
5	courteous	courteous	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	deferral	deferral	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
7	amounting	amount	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	6	acl	_	_
8	to	to	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
9	refusal	refusal	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | It | a courteous deferral |  |  |  | frequently *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **amount** | gerund | a courteous deferral *not said here* |  |  |  |  | to refusal | vn register-54.1-1 «NP V PP.value»: agent=Theme to refusal=Value |

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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: [Today, tomorrow, now, later, exam 2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/chinese-street/21-today-tomorrow-now-later/e2/)
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