---
title: Ascertain the principal reason for which the numeral sì is regarded… — Counting 1 to 10, on one hand · tree and pragmatics
description: Ascertain the principal reason for which the numeral sì is regarded by many families as inauspicious. Exam question 2 of lesson 6 «Counting 1 to 10, on one hand» 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 
---

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# Exam question 2 · Counting 1 to 10, on one hand

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Ascertain the principal reason for which the numeral sì is regarded by many families as inauspicious.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 4 · **The right answer:** option 3 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** you, many families · **What happens:** ascertain, regard · **To what, where:** principal reason, numeral sì

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 2 of lesson 6 «Counting 1 to 10, on one hand» 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/6-counting-one-to-ten/#e2).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:chinese-street:6-counting-one-to-ten:e2:1
# text = Ascertain the principal reason for which the numeral sì is regarded by many families as inauspicious.
1	Ascertain	ascertain	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
3	principal	principal	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	amod	_	_
4	reason	reason	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
5	for	for	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	11	obl	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
8	numeral	numeral	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	compound	_	_
9	sì	sì	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	nsubj:pass	_	_
10	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	11	aux:pass	_	_
11	regarded	regard	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	4	acl:relcl	_	_
12	by	by	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
13	many	many	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	14	amod	_	_
14	families	family	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	11	obl	_	_
15	as	as	ADP	IN	_	16	case	_	_
16	inauspicious	inauspicious	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	11	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	.	.	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 principal reason |  |  |  |  | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent reason=Topic |
| 2 | **regard** | present · passive | many families | the numeral sì |  |  |  | for the principal reason; as inauspicious | vn assessment-34.1 «NP V NP PP.attribute»: agent=Agent subject=Theme for which=Attribute |

<!-- .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 -->
It resembles the word for excrement

```conllu
# sent_id = question:chinese-street:6-counting-one-to-ten:e2:o1:1
# text = It resembles the word for excrement
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	resembles	resemble	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	word	word	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
5	for	for	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	excrement	excrement	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **resemble** | present | It | the word |  |  |  | for excrement | tree rules |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It was the number reserved for the emperor

```conllu
# sent_id = question:chinese-street:6-counting-one-to-ten:e2:o2:1
# text = It was the number reserved for the emperor
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
2	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	number	number	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
5	reserved	reserve	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	4	acl	_	_
6	for	for	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	emperor	emperor	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl:agent	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | past | It | the number |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **reserve** | participle |  | the number *not said here* |  |  |  |  | vn get-13.5.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Its pronunciation resembles the verb signifying «to die»

```conllu
# sent_id = question:chinese-street:6-counting-one-to-ten:e2:o3:1
# text = Its pronunciation resembles the verb signifying «to die»
1	Its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	2	nmod:poss	_	_
2	pronunciation	pronunciation	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	resembles	resemble	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	verb	verb	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
6	signifying	signify	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	5	acl	_	_
7	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	9	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	to	to	PART	TO	_	9	mark	_	_
9	die	die	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	6	ccomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	9	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **resemble** | present | Its pronunciation | the verb |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **signify** | gerund | the verb *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 3 | **die** *in a quote* | to-infinitive | the verb *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn calibratable\_cos-45.6.1 «NP.attribute V»: agent=Attribute |
| 4 | **pronounce** |  | Its *= it* |  |  |  |  |  | nom pronunciation «communication transitive»: poss=agent |

### Option 4 · ← Mova's choice {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It is regarded as an odd number and therefore unfortunate

```conllu
# sent_id = question:chinese-street:6-counting-one-to-ten:e2:o4:1
# text = It is regarded as an odd number and therefore unfortunate
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj:pass	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux:pass	_	_
3	regarded	regard	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
4	as	as	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
5	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
6	odd	odd	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
7	number	number	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
8	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	10	cc	_	_
9	therefore	therefore	ADV	RB	_	10	advmod	_	_
10	unfortunate	unfortunate	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **regard** | present · passive |  | It |  |  |  | as a odd number | vn assessment-34.1 «NP V NP PP.value»: subject=Theme as number=Value |

<!-- 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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