--- title: Select the modal verb expressing the lowest degree of certainty. — Active and passive voice, modal verbs · tree and pragmatics description: Select the modal verb expressing the lowest degree of certainty. Exam question 4 of lesson 32 «Active and passive voice, modal verbs» of the English course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each option; Mova's choice was wrong. --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/english/32-active-and-passive-voice-modal-verbs/e4/) [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/) / [Active and passive voice, modal verbs](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/english/32-active-and-passive-voice-modal-verbs/) / e4 # Exam question 4 · Active and passive voice, modal verbs Select the modal verb expressing the lowest degree of certainty. **Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 2 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** you, modal verb · **What happens:** select, express · **To what, where:** modal verb, lowest degree This is exam question 4 of lesson 32 «Active and passive voice, modal verbs» 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/32-active-and-passive-voice-modal-verbs/#e4). ## The question {#question} ```conllu # sent_id = question:english:32-active-and-passive-voice-modal-verbs:e4:1 # text = Select the modal verb expressing the lowest degree of certainty. 1 Select select VERB VB Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin 0 root _ _ 2 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 4 det _ _ 3 modal modal ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 4 amod _ _ 4 verb verb NOUN NN Number=Sing 1 obj _ _ 5 expressing express VERB VBG VerbForm=Ger 4 acl _ _ 6 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 8 det _ _ 7 lowest low ADJ JJS Degree=Sup 8 amod _ _ 8 degree degree NOUN NN Number=Sing 5 obj _ _ 9 of of ADP IN _ 10 case _ _ 10 certainty certainty NOUN NN Number=Sing 8 nmod _ SpaceAfter=No 11 . . PUNCT . _ 1 punct _ _ ``` | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **select** | imperative | you *not said here* | the modal verb | | | | | vn obtain-13.5.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent verb=Theme | | 2 | **express** | gerund | the modal verb *not said here* | the lowest degree of certainty | | | | | vn reflexive\_appearance-48.1.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent degree=Theme | 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} shall ```conllu # sent_id = question:english:32-active-and-passive-voice-modal-verbs:e4:o1:1 # text = shall 1 shall shall AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 0 root _ _ ``` The frames reader finds no event or fact in this sentence. ### Option 2 · ✓ the right answer {#o2} might ```conllu # sent_id = question:english:32-active-and-passive-voice-modal-verbs:e4:o2:1 # text = might 1 might might AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 0 root _ _ ``` The frames reader finds no event or fact in this sentence. ### Option 3 {#o3} will ```conllu # sent_id = question:english:32-active-and-passive-voice-modal-verbs:e4:o3:1 # text = will 1 will will AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 0 root _ _ ``` The frames reader finds no event or fact in this sentence. ### Option 4 {#o4} must ```conllu # sent_id = question:english:32-active-and-passive-voice-modal-verbs:e4:o4:1 # text = must 1 must must AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 0 root _ _ ``` The frames reader finds no event or fact in this sentence. **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. - ← previous: [Active and passive voice, modal verbs, exam 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/english/32-active-and-passive-voice-modal-verbs/e3/) - next →: [Commas: lists, clauses and clarity, test 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/english/33-commas-lists-clauses-and-clarity/t1/) - ↑ back to [Active and passive voice, modal verbs](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/english/32-active-and-passive-voice-modal-verbs/)