---
title: Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the… — Thank you, sorry, excuse me · tree and pragmatics
description: Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the expression bù hǎoyìsi? Exam question 4 of lesson 3 «Thank you, sorry, excuse me» of the Chinese street course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each option; Mova's choice was wr
---

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# Exam question 4 · Thank you, sorry, excuse me

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the expression bù hǎoyìsi?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 3 · wrong ✗ · **What happens:** follow, characteris · **To what, where:** expression

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 4 of lesson 3 «Thank you, sorry, excuse me» 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/3-thank-you-sorry-excuse-me/#e4).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:chinese-street:3-thank-you-sorry-excuse-me:e4:1
# text = Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the expression bù hǎoyìsi?
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	10	det	_	_
10	expression	expression	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obj	_	_
11	bù	bù	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
12	hǎoyìsi	hǎoyìsi	NOUN	FW	Foreign=Yes	10	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	?	?	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 expression |  |  |  | of the following statements; bù hǎoyìsi; 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 a request for passage through a crowd

```conllu
# sent_id = question:chinese-street:3-thank-you-sorry-excuse-me:e4:o1:1
# text = It is a request for passage through a crowd
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	request	request	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
5	for	for	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	passage	passage	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nmod	_	_
7	through	through	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	crowd	crowd	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 request |  | a crowd |  | for passage | tree rules |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It is a formal apology reserved for grave offences

```conllu
# sent_id = question:chinese-street:3-thank-you-sorry-excuse-me:e4:o2:1
# text = It is a formal apology reserved for grave offences
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	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	formal	formal	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	apology	apology	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
6	reserved	reserve	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	5	acl	_	_
7	for	for	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	grave	grave	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	amod	_	_
9	offences	offence	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | It | a formal apology |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **reserve** | participle |  | a formal apology *not said here* |  |  |  | for grave offences | vn get-13.5.1 «NP V NP PP.beneficiary»: agent=Agent for offence=Beneficiary |

### Option 3 · ✓ the right answer {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It is a mild apology or expression of embarrassment employed for minor lapses

```conllu
# sent_id = question:chinese-street:3-thank-you-sorry-excuse-me:e4:o3:1
# text = It is a mild apology or expression of embarrassment employed for minor lapses
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	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	mild	mild	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	apology	apology	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
6	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	7	cc	_	_
7	expression	expression	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	conj	_	_
8	of	of	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
9	embarrassment	embarrassment	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nmod	_	_
10	employed	employ	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	9	acl	_	_
11	for	for	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
12	minor	minor	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	13	amod	_	_
13	lapses	lapse	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	10	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | It | a mild apology or expression |  |  |  | of embarrassment | tree rules |
| 2 | **employ** | participle |  | embarrassment *not said here* |  |  |  | for minor lapses | vn use-105.1 «NP V NP PP.predicate»: agent=Agent for lapse=Eventuality |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It is an expression of condolence upon bereavement

```conllu
# sent_id = question:chinese-street:3-thank-you-sorry-excuse-me:e4:o4:1
# text = It is an expression of condolence upon bereavement
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	expression	expression	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
5	of	of	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	condolence	condolence	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nmod	_	_
7	upon	upon	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
8	bereavement	bereavement	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 expression |  |  |  | of condolence; upon bereavement | tree rules |

<!-- div src -->

**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: [Thank you, sorry, excuse me, exam 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/chinese-street/3-thank-you-sorry-excuse-me/e3/)
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- ↑ back to [Thank you, sorry, excuse me](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/chinese-street/3-thank-you-sorry-excuse-me/)