---
title: Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the… — Tense consistency and verb forms · tree and pragmatics
description: Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the words "might", "could" and "should"? Exam question 3 of lesson 31 «Tense consistency and verb forms» of the English 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 3 · Tense consistency and verb forms

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the words "might", "could" and "should"?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 2 · wrong ✗ · **What happens:** follow, characteris · **To what, where:** words

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 3 of lesson 31 «Tense consistency and verb forms» 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/31-tense-consistency-and-verb-forms/#e3).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:31-tense-consistency-and-verb-forms:e3:1
# text = Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the words "might", "could" and "should"?
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	words	word	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	obj	_	_
11	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	12	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	might	might	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	10	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	12	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	16	punct	_	_
15	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	16	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	could	could	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	10	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	16	punct	_	_
18	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	20	cc	_	_
19	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	20	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
20	should	should	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	16	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
21	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	16	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
22	?	?	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 words |  |  |  | of the following statements; 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 -->
They are adverbs modifying nouns

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:31-tense-consistency-and-verb-forms:e3:o1:1
# text = They are adverbs modifying nouns
1	They	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	cop	_	_
3	adverbs	adverb	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	0	root	_	_
4	modifying	modify	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	3	acl	_	_
5	nouns	noun	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | They | adverbs |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **modify** | gerund | adverbs *not said here* | nouns |  |  |  |  | vn other\_cos-45.4 «NP V NP.patient»: agent=Agent noun=Patient |

### Option 2 · ✓ the right answer {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
They are modal verbs expressing degrees of certainty or obligation

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:31-tense-consistency-and-verb-forms:e3:o2:1
# text = They are modal verbs expressing degrees of certainty or obligation
1	They	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
2	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
3	modal	modal	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	amod	_	_
4	verbs	verb	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	0	root	_	_
5	expressing	express	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	4	acl	_	_
6	degrees	degree	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	obj	_	_
7	of	of	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
8	certainty	certainty	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nmod	_	_
9	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	10	cc	_	_
10	obligation	obligation	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | They | modal verbs |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **express** | gerund | modal verbs *not said here* | degrees of certainty or obligation |  |  |  |  | vn reflexive\_appearance-48.1.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent degree=Theme |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
They are tense markers denoting the future in English

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:31-tense-consistency-and-verb-forms:e3:o3:1
# text = They are tense markers denoting the future in English
1	They	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
2	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
3	tense	tense	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	amod	_	_
4	markers	marker	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	0	root	_	_
5	denoting	denote	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	4	acl	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	future	future	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obj	_	_
8	in	in	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
9	English	English	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | They | tense markers |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **denote** | gerund | tense markers *not said here* | the future |  |  |  | in English | vn representation-110.1 «NP V NP PP.attribute»: agent=Pivot future=Theme in english=Attribute |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
They are conjunctions joining two clauses

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:31-tense-consistency-and-verb-forms:e3:o4:1
# text = They are conjunctions joining two clauses
1	They	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	cop	_	_
3	conjunctions	conjunction	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	0	root	_	_
4	joining	join	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	3	acl	_	_
5	two	two	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	6	nummod	_	_
6	clauses	clause	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | They | conjunctions |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **join** | gerund | conjunctions *not said here* | two clauses |  |  |  |  | vn mix-22.1-2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent clause=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 -->

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- ← previous: [Tense consistency and verb forms, exam 2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/english/31-tense-consistency-and-verb-forms/e2/)
- next →: [Tense consistency and verb forms, exam 4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/english/31-tense-consistency-and-verb-forms/e4/)
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