---
title: Ascertain the principal distinction drawn in Mandarin terms for sibl… — Family: mum, dad, brothers and sisters · tree and pragmatics
description: Ascertain the principal distinction drawn in Mandarin terms for siblings. Exam question 2 of lesson 9 «Family: mum, dad, brothers and sisters» 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 wrong.
---

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# Exam question 2 · Family: mum, dad, brothers and sisters

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Ascertain the principal distinction drawn in Mandarin terms for siblings.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 4 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** you · **What happens:** ascertain, draw · **To what, where:** principal distinction, Mandarin terms

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 2 of lesson 9 «Family: mum, dad, brothers and sisters» 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/9-family-mum-dad-brothers-sisters/#e2).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:chinese-street:9-family-mum-dad-brothers-sisters:e2:1
# text = Ascertain the principal distinction drawn in Mandarin terms for siblings.
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	distinction	distinction	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
5	drawn	draw	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	4	acl	_	_
6	in	in	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	Mandarin	Mandarin	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	8	compound	_	_
8	terms	term	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	obl	_	_
9	for	for	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
10	siblings	sibling	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	.	.	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 distinction |  |  |  |  | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent distinction=Topic |
| 2 | **draw** | participle |  | the principal distinction *not said here* |  | Mandarin terms |  | for siblings | vn scribble-25.2-1 «NP V NP PP.destination»: agent=Agent in term=Destination |

<!-- .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 -->
Siblings are designated according to height

```conllu
# sent_id = question:chinese-street:9-family-mum-dad-brothers-sisters:e2:o1:1
# text = Siblings are designated according to height
1	Siblings	sibling	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj:pass	_	_
2	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux:pass	_	_
3	designated	designate	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
4	according	accord	VERB	VBG	ExtPos=ADP|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	6	case	_	_
5	to	to	ADP	IN	_	4	fixed	_	_
6	height	height	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **designate** | present · passive |  | Siblings |  |  |  | accord height | vn appoint-29.1 «NP V NP»: subject=Theme |
| 2 | **accord** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn future\_having-13.3 «NP V NP.theme (PP)»: agent=Agent |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
No distinction of sex is drawn in any sibling term

```conllu
# sent_id = question:chinese-street:9-family-mum-dad-brothers-sisters:e2:o2:1
# text = No distinction of sex is drawn in any sibling term
1	No	no	DET	DT	PronType=Neg	2	det	_	_
2	distinction	distinction	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nsubj:pass	_	_
3	of	of	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
4	sex	sex	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	_
5	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	aux:pass	_	_
6	drawn	draw	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
7	in	in	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
8	any	any	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	10	det	_	_
9	sibling	sibling	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	compound	_	_
10	term	term	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **draw** | present · passive |  | no distinction of sex |  | any sibling term |  |  | vn scribble-25.2-1 «NP V NP PP.destination»: subject=Theme in term=Destination |
| 2 | **distinguish** |  |  | sex |  |  |  |  | nom distinction «cognition transitive»: of=patient |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Siblings are designated solely by their given names, as in English

```conllu
# sent_id = question:chinese-street:9-family-mum-dad-brothers-sisters:e2:o3:1
# text = Siblings are designated solely by their given names, as in English
1	Siblings	sibling	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj:pass	_	_
2	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux:pass	_	_
3	designated	designate	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
4	solely	solely	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	_
5	by	by	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
6	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	8	nmod:poss	_	_
7	given	give	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	8	amod	_	_
8	names	name	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	12	punct	_	_
10	as	as	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
11	in	in	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
12	English	English	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **designate** | present · passive | Siblings's given names | Siblings |  |  |  | as English; solely *property* | vn appoint-29.1 «NP V NP PP.attribute»: agent=Agent subject=Theme as english=Attribute |
| 2 | **give** | participle |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn break\_down-45.8 «NP V»: agent=Patient |
| 3 | **name** |  | Siblings *= sibling* |  |  |  |  |  | nom name «communication transitive»: poss=agent |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Siblings are designated by whether they are older or younger

```conllu
# sent_id = question:chinese-street:9-family-mum-dad-brothers-sisters:e2:o4:1
# text = Siblings are designated by whether they are older or younger
1	Siblings	sibling	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj:pass	_	_
2	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux:pass	_	_
3	designated	designate	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
4	by	by	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
5	whether	whether	SCONJ	IN	_	8	mark	_	_
6	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	8	nsubj	_	_
7	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	8	cop	_	_
8	older	old	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	3	parataxis	_	_
9	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	10	cc	_	_
10	younger	young	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	8	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **designate** | present · passive |  | Siblings |  |  |  |  | vn appoint-29.1 «NP V NP»: subject=Theme |
| 2 | **is** | present | Siblings *= sibling* |  |  |  |  | old *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **be** |  | Siblings *= sibling* *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | 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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- ↑ back to [Family: mum, dad, brothers and sisters](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/chinese-street/9-family-mum-dad-brothers-sisters/)