--- title: ★★★ "The cake was eaten." How many people could have eaten it, from… — Active and passive voice, modal verbs · tree and pragmatics description: ★★★ "The cake was eaten." How many people could have eaten it, from the sentence alone? Test 2 · ★★ 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/t2/) [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/) / t2 # Test 2 · ★★ · Active and passive voice, modal verbs ★★★ "The cake was eaten." How many people could have eaten it, from the sentence alone? **Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 3 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** many people · **What happens:** eat · **To what, where:** ★ ★ ★, ★ This is test 2 · ★★ of lesson 32 «Active and passive voice, modal verbs» 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/32-active-and-passive-voice-modal-verbs/#t2). ## The question {#question} *Sentence 1:* ★★★ "The cake was eaten." ```conllu # sent_id = question:english:32-active-and-passive-voice-modal-verbs:t2:1 # text = ★★★ "The cake was eaten." 1 ★ ★ PROPN NNP Number=Sing 3 compound _ SpaceAfter=No 2 ★ ★ NOUN NN Number=Sing 3 compound _ SpaceAfter=No 3 ★ ★ NOUN NN Number=Sing 8 nsubj:pass _ _ 4 " " PUNCT `` _ 8 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 5 The the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 6 det _ _ 6 cake cake NOUN NN Number=Sing 8 nsubj _ _ 7 was be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 8 aux:pass _ _ 8 eaten eat VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass 0 root _ SpaceAfter=No 9 . . PUNCT . _ 8 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 10 " " PUNCT '' _ 8 punct _ _ ``` | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **eat** *in a quote* | past · passive | | ★ ★ ★ | | | | | vn eat-39.1-1 «NP V NP»: subject=Patient | 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. *Sentence 2:* How many people could have eaten it, from the sentence alone? ```conllu # sent_id = question:english:32-active-and-passive-voice-modal-verbs:t2:2 # text = How many people could have eaten it, from the sentence alone? 1 How how ADV WRB PronType=Int 2 advmod _ _ 2 many many ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 3 amod _ _ 3 people people NOUN NNS Number=Plur 6 nsubj _ _ 4 could could AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 6 aux _ _ 5 have have AUX VB VerbForm=Inf 6 aux _ _ 6 eaten eat VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part 0 root _ _ 7 it it PRON PRP Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 6 obj _ SpaceAfter=No 8 , , PUNCT , _ 11 punct _ _ 9 from from ADP IN _ 11 case _ _ 10 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 11 det _ _ 11 sentence sentence NOUN NN Number=Sing 6 conj _ _ 12 alone alone ADV RB _ 11 advmod _ SpaceAfter=No 13 ? ? PUNCT . _ 6 punct _ _ ``` | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **eat** | could · perfect | many people | ★ | | | | | vn eat-39.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent it=Patient | ## The options {#options} ### Option 1 · ← Mova's choice {#o1} Nobody ```conllu # sent_id = question:english:32-active-and-passive-voice-modal-verbs:t2:o1:1 # text = Nobody 1 Nobody nobody PRON NN Number=Sing|PronType=Neg 0 root _ _ ``` The frames reader finds no event or fact in this sentence. ### Option 2 {#o2} Exactly two ```conllu # sent_id = question:english:32-active-and-passive-voice-modal-verbs:t2:o2:1 # text = Exactly two 1 Exactly exactly ADV RB _ 2 advmod _ _ 2 two two NUM CD NumForm=Word|NumType=Card 0 root _ _ ``` The frames reader finds no event or fact in this sentence. ### Option 3 · ✓ the right answer {#o3} We cannot tell ```conllu # sent_id = question:english:32-active-and-passive-voice-modal-verbs:t2:o3:1 # text = We cannot tell 1 We we PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=1|PronType=Prs 4 nsubj _ _ 2 can can AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 4 aux _ SpaceAfter=No 3 not not PART RB Polarity=Neg 4 advmod _ _ 4 tell tell VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 0 root _ _ ``` | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **not** **tell** *speech: assert* | can | We | | | | | | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent | ### Option 4 {#o4} Exactly one ```conllu # sent_id = question:english:32-active-and-passive-voice-modal-verbs:t2:o4:1 # text = Exactly one 1 Exactly exactly ADV RB _ 2 advmod _ _ 2 one one NUM CD NumForm=Word|NumType=Card 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, test 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/english/32-active-and-passive-voice-modal-verbs/t1/) - next →: [Active and passive voice, modal verbs, test 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/english/32-active-and-passive-voice-modal-verbs/t3/) - ↑ 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/)