---
title: Your mate goes "commas are just where you take a breath, innit." Wha… — Commas: lists, clauses and clarity · tree and pragmatics
description: Your mate goes "commas are just where you take a breath, innit." What is truer? Test 1 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 right.
---

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# Test 1 · Commas: lists, clauses and clarity

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Your mate goes "commas are just where you take a breath, innit." What is truer?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 2 · **The right answer:** option 2 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** mate, commas · **What happens:** go, be

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 1 of lesson 33 «Commas: lists, clauses and clarity» 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/33-commas-lists-clauses-and-clarity/#t1).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* Your mate goes "commas are just where you take a breath, innit."

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:33-commas-lists-clauses-and-clarity:t1:1
# text = Your mate goes "commas are just where you take a breath, innit."
1	Your	your	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Person=2|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	2	nmod:poss	_	_
2	mate	mate	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	goes	go	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	10	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	commas	comma	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	10	nsubj	_	_
6	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	10	cop	_	_
7	just	just	ADV	RB	_	10	advmod	_	_
8	where	where	ADV	WRB	PronType=Rel	10	advmod	_	_
9	you	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Person=2|PronType=Prs	10	nsubj	_	_
10	take	take	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	advcl	_	_
11	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
12	breath	breath	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	14	punct	_	_
14	innit	innit	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **go** | present | Your mate |  |  |  |  |  | vn disappearance-48.2-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 2 | **is** *in a quote* | present | commas |  |  |  |  | take *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.

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 2:* What is truer?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:33-commas-lists-clauses-and-clarity:t1:2
# text = What is truer?
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	3	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	cop	_	_
3	truer	true	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present |  |  |  |  |  | true *property* | tree rules |

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
They are only there for breathing when you read aloud

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:33-commas-lists-clauses-and-clarity:t1:o1:1
# text = They are only there for breathing when you read aloud
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	only	only	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
4	there	there	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	0	root	_	_
5	for	for	SCONJ	IN	_	6	mark	_	_
6	breathing	breathe	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	4	advcl	_	_
7	when	when	SCONJ	WRB	_	9	mark	_	_
8	you	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Person=2|PronType=Prs	9	nsubj	_	_
9	read	read	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=2|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	advcl	_	_
10	aloud	aloud	ADV	RB	_	9	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | They |  |  |  |  | there *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **breathe** | gerund | They *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn breathe-40.1.2-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **read** | present | you |  |  |  |  | aloud *property* | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

### Option 2 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
They group words to show meaning, not just breaths

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:33-commas-lists-clauses-and-clarity:t1:o2:1
# text = They group words to show meaning, not just breaths
1	They	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	group	group	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	compound	_	_
3	words	word	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	0	root	_	_
4	to	to	PART	TO	_	5	mark	_	_
5	show	show	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	acl	_	_
6	meaning	meaning	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	10	punct	_	_
8	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	10	advmod	_	_
9	just	just	ADV	RB	_	10	advmod	_	_
10	breaths	breath	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **show** | to-infinitive |  | meaning |  |  |  |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP.recipient»: agent=Agent meaning=Recipient |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
They are decoration and change nothing

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:33-commas-lists-clauses-and-clarity:t1:o3:1
# text = They are decoration and change nothing
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	decoration	decoration	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
4	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	5	cc	_	_
5	change	change	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	conj	_	_
6	nothing	nothing	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Neg	5	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | They | decoration |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **change** | present | They *not said here* | nothing |  |  |  |  | vn dress-41.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent nothing=Patient |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
They mean you should stop reading for a second

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:33-commas-lists-clauses-and-clarity:t1:o4:1
# text = They mean you should stop reading for a second
1	They	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	mean	mean	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	you	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Person=2|PronType=Prs	5	nsubj	_	_
4	should	should	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	5	aux	_	_
5	stop	stop	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	2	ccomp	_	_
6	reading	read	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	5	xcomp	_	_
7	for	for	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	second	second	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **mean** | present | They |  |  |  |  |  | vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 2 | **stop** | should | you |  |  |  |  |  | vn stop-55.4-1-1 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Affector clause=Eventuality |
| 3 | **read** | gerund | you *not said here* |  |  |  | second |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

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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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