---
title: Which of the following statements most accurately characterises a co… — Commas: lists, clauses and clarity · tree and pragmatics
description: Which of the following statements most accurately characterises a comma splice? Exam question 2 of lesson 33 «Commas: lists, clauses and clarity» 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.
---

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# Exam question 2 · Commas: lists, clauses and clarity

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Which of the following statements most accurately characterises a comma splice?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 4 · **The right answer:** option 3 · wrong ✗ · **What happens:** follow, characteris · **To what, where:** comma splice

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This is exam question 2 of lesson 33 «Commas: lists, clauses and clarity» 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/33-commas-lists-clauses-and-clarity/#e2).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:33-commas-lists-clauses-and-clarity:e2:1
# text = Which of the following statements most accurately characterises a comma splice?
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	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
10	comma	comma	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	compound	_	_
11	splice	splice	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	?	?	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 |  | a comma splice |  |  |  | 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 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A list of items separated by commas

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:33-commas-lists-clauses-and-clarity:e2:o1:1
# text = A list of items separated by commas
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	list	list	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	of	of	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
4	items	item	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nmod	_	_
5	separated	separate	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	4	acl	_	_
6	by	by	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	commas	comma	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **separate** | participle |  | items *not said here* |  |  |  | by commas | vn separate-23.1-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Patient |
| 2 | **list** |  |  | items |  |  |  |  | nom list «communication transitive»: of=patient |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A comma placed after an opening phrase

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:33-commas-lists-clauses-and-clarity:e2:o2:1
# text = A comma placed after an opening phrase
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	comma	comma	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	placed	place	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	2	acl	_	_
4	after	after	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
5	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
6	opening	opening	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	compound	_	_
7	phrase	phrase	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **place** | participle |  | a comma *not said here* |  |  | after a opening phrase |  | vn put-9.1-2 «NP V PP.destination NP»: agent=Agent |

### Option 3 · ✓ the right answer {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Two complete sentences joined solely by a comma

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:33-commas-lists-clauses-and-clarity:e2:o3:1
# text = Two complete sentences joined solely by a comma
1	Two	two	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	3	nummod	_	_
2	complete	complete	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	sentences	sentence	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	0	root	_	_
4	joined	join	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	3	acl	_	_
5	solely	solely	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
6	by	by	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	comma	comma	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **join** | participle |  | Two complete sentences *not said here* |  |  |  | by a comma; solely *property* | vn mix-22.1-2-1 «NP V»: agent=Patient |

### Option 4 · ← Mova's choice {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A pair of commas enclosing extra information

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:33-commas-lists-clauses-and-clarity:e2:o4:1
# text = A pair of commas enclosing extra information
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	pair	pair	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	of	of	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
4	commas	comma	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nmod	_	_
5	enclosing	enclose	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	4	acl	_	_
6	extra	extra	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
7	information	information	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **enclose** | gerund | commas *not said here* | extra information |  |  |  |  | vn contiguous\_location-47.8 «NP V NP»: agent=Theme information=Co-Theme |

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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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