---
title: ★★★ In a story, a character always speaks in long, fancy words, like… — Author's choices: why this word, why t… · tree and pragmatics
description: ★★★ In a story, a character always speaks in long, fancy words, like «I shall partake of my luncheon.» What is the author most likely showing? Test 5 · ★★ of lesson 21 «Author's choices: why this word, why this way» of the English course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmat
---

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# Test 5 · ★★ · Author's choices: why this word, why this way

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
★★★ In a story, a character always speaks in long, fancy words, like «I shall partake of my luncheon.» What is the author most likely showing?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 3 · **The right answer:** option 1 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** character, author · **What happens:** speak, partake, be · **To what, where:** long fancy words · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 5 · ★★ of lesson 21 «Author's choices: why this word, why this way» of the English 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/english/21-authors-choices-why-this-word-why-this-way/#t5).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* ★★★ In a story, a character always speaks in long, fancy words, like «I shall partake of my luncheon.»

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:21-authors-choices-why-this-word-why-this-way:t5:1
# text = ★★★ In a story, a character always speaks in long, fancy words, like «I shall partake of my luncheon.»
1	★	★	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	3	compound	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	★	★	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	compound	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	★	★	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
4	In	in	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	story	story	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	11	punct	_	_
8	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	character	character	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	nsubj	_	_
10	always	always	ADV	RB	PronType=Tot	11	advmod	_	_
11	speaks	speak	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	parataxis	_	_
12	in	in	ADP	IN	_	16	case	_	_
13	long	long	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	16	amod	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	13	punct	_	_
15	fancy	fancy	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	16	amod	_	_
16	words	word	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	11	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	22	punct	_	_
18	like	like	SCONJ	IN	_	22	mark	_	_
19	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	22	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
20	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	22	nsubj	_	_
21	shall	shall	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	22	aux	_	_
22	partake	partake	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	11	conj	_	_
23	of	of	ADP	IN	_	25	case	_	_
24	my	my	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Sing|Person=1|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	25	nmod:poss	_	_
25	luncheon	luncheon	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	22	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
26	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
27	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **speak** *speech: other* | present | a character |  |  | long fancy words |  | always *property* | vn talk-37.5 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **partake** *in a quote* | shall | a character *= character* |  |  |  |  | of my luncheon | 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.

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 2:* What is the author most likely showing?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:21-authors-choices-why-this-word-why-this-way:t5:2
# text = What is the author most likely showing?
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	7	obj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	7	cop	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	author	author	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nsubj	_	_
5	most	most	ADV	RBS	Degree=Sup	6	advmod	_	_
6	likely	likely	ADV	RB	_	7	advmod	_	_
7	showing	show	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	7	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | the author |  |  |  |  | likely, show *property* | tree rules |

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 · ✓ the right answer {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The character is posh or old-fashioned

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:21-authors-choices-why-this-word-why-this-way:t5:o1:1
# text = The character is posh or old-fashioned
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	character	character	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
3	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
4	posh	posh	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
5	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	8	cc	_	_
6	old	old	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	amod	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	6	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	fashioned	fashioned	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | the character |  |  |  |  | posh *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **be** |  | the character *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The author swallowed a dictionary

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:21-authors-choices-why-this-word-why-this-way:t5:o2:1
# text = The author swallowed a dictionary
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	author	author	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	swallowed	swallow	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	dictionary	dictionary	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **swallow** | past | the author | a dictionary |  |  |  |  | vn gobble-39.3 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent dictionary=Patient |

### Option 3 · ← Mova's choice {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The character can't speak English

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:21-authors-choices-why-this-word-why-this-way:t5:o3:1
# text = The character can't speak English
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	character	character	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
3	ca	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	5	aux	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	n't	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	5	advmod	_	_
5	speak	speak	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
6	English	English	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	5	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **speak** *speech: other* | can | the character | English |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The character is a baby

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:21-authors-choices-why-this-word-why-this-way:t5:o4:1
# text = The character is a baby
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	character	character	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
3	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
4	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	baby	baby	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
```

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

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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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