---
title: Ascertain the feature by which a diary may most readily be distingui… — Persuasive letters, newspaper articles… · tree and pragmatics
description: Ascertain the feature by which a diary may most readily be distinguished from a newspaper report. Exam question 4 of lesson 24 «Persuasive letters, newspaper articles and diaries» of the English course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each opti
---

<!-- md -->
[Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/english/24-persuasive-letters-newspaper-articles-and-diaries/e4/)

<!-- crumbs -->
[home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/) / [questions](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/) / [English](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/english/) / [Persuasive letters, newspaper articles…](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/english/24-persuasive-letters-newspaper-articles-and-diaries/) / e4

# Exam question 4 · Persuasive letters, newspaper articles and diaries

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Ascertain the feature by which a diary may most readily be distinguished from a newspaper report.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 1 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** you, feature · **What happens:** ascertain, distinguish · **To what, where:** feature, diary

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 4 of lesson 24 «Persuasive letters, newspaper articles and diaries» of the English 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/english/24-persuasive-letters-newspaper-articles-and-diaries/#e4).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:24-persuasive-letters-newspaper-articles-and-diaries:e4:1
# text = Ascertain the feature by which a diary may most readily be distinguished from a newspaper report.
1	Ascertain	ascertain	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	feature	feature	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
4	by	by	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	12	obl	_	_
6	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	diary	diary	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	nsubj:pass	_	_
8	may	may	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	12	aux	_	_
9	most	most	ADV	RBS	Degree=Sup	10	advmod	_	_
10	readily	readily	ADV	RB	_	12	advmod	_	_
11	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	12	aux:pass	_	_
12	distinguished	distinguish	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	3	acl:relcl	_	_
13	from	from	ADP	IN	_	16	case	_	_
14	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	16	det	_	_
15	newspaper	newspaper	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	16	compound	_	_
16	report	report	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	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 feature |  |  |  |  | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent feature=Topic |
| 2 | **distinguish** | may · passive | the feature | a diary |  |  |  | from a newspaper report; readily *property* | vn distinguish-23.5-1 «NP V NP.theme PP.co-theme»: agent=Agent subject=Theme from report=Co-Theme |

<!-- .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 · ✓ the right answer {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Its personal, first-person account of feelings

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:24-persuasive-letters-newspaper-articles-and-diaries:e4:o1:1
# text = Its personal, first-person account of feelings
1	Its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	7	nmod:poss	_	_
2	personal	personal	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	2	punct	_	_
4	first	first	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos|NumForm=Word|NumType=Ord	6	amod	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	4	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	person	person	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	compound	_	_
7	account	account	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
8	of	of	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
9	feelings	feeling	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **account** |  | Its *= it* | feelings |  |  |  |  | nom account «communication transitive»: poss=agent of=patient |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Its columns

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:24-persuasive-letters-newspaper-articles-and-diaries:e4:o2:1
# text = Its columns
1	Its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	2	nmod:poss	_	_
2	columns	column	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .note -->
The frames reader finds no event or fact in this sentence.

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Its quotations from witnesses who were present at the scene

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:24-persuasive-letters-newspaper-articles-and-diaries:e4:o3:1
# text = Its quotations from witnesses who were present at the scene
1	Its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	2	nmod:poss	_	_
2	quotations	quotation	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	nsubj	_	_
3	from	from	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
4	witnesses	witness	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nmod	_	_
5	who	who	PRON	WP	PronType=Rel	7	nsubj	_	_
6	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	7	cop	_	_
7	present	present	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
8	at	at	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	scene	scene	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | past | Its quotations from witnesses |  |  | the scene |  | present *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **quote** |  | Its *= it* |  |  | witnesses |  |  | nom quotation «communication transitive»: poss=agent from=place |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Its use of a headline

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:24-persuasive-letters-newspaper-articles-and-diaries:e4:o4:1
# text = Its use of a headline
1	Its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	2	nmod:poss	_	_
2	use	use	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	of	of	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
4	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	headline	headline	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **use** |  | Its *= it* | a headline |  |  |  |  | nom use «act transitive»: poss=agent of=patient |

<!-- 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 -->

<!-- pn -->
- ← previous: [Persuasive letters, newspaper articles…, exam 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/english/24-persuasive-letters-newspaper-articles-and-diaries/e3/)
- next →: [Reading poems: meaning, sound and pict…, test 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/english/25-reading-poems-meaning-sound-and-pictures/t1/)
- ↑ back to [Persuasive letters, newspaper articles and diaries](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/english/24-persuasive-letters-newspaper-articles-and-diaries/)