---
title: Ascertain the correct form signifying that a bone is in the possessi… — Apostrophes: missing letters and belon… · tree and pragmatics
description: Ascertain the correct form signifying that a bone is in the possession of a single dog. Exam question 4 of lesson 34 «Apostrophes: missing letters and belonging» 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 
---

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# Exam question 4 · Apostrophes: missing letters and belonging

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Ascertain the correct form signifying that a bone is in the possession of a single dog.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 4 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** you, correct form, bone · **What happens:** ascertain, signify, be · **To what, where:** correct form, possession

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 4 of lesson 34 «Apostrophes: missing letters and belonging» 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/34-apostrophes-missing-letters-and-belonging/#e4).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:34-apostrophes-missing-letters-and-belonging:e4:1
# text = Ascertain the correct form signifying that a bone is in the possession of a single dog.
1	Ascertain	ascertain	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
3	correct	correct	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	amod	_	_
4	form	form	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
5	signifying	signify	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	4	acl	_	_
6	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	12	mark	_	_
7	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	bone	bone	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	nsubj	_	_
9	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	12	cop	_	_
10	in	in	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
11	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
12	possession	possession	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	ccomp	_	_
13	of	of	ADP	IN	_	16	case	_	_
14	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	16	det	_	_
15	single	single	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	16	amod	_	_
16	dog	dog	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **ascertain** | imperative | you *not said here* | the correct form |  |  |  |  | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent form=Topic |
| 2 | **signify** | gerund | the correct form *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn representation-110.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Pivot |
| 3 | **is** | present | a bone |  |  | the possession |  | of a single dog | 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 -->
the dogs' bone

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:34-apostrophes-missing-letters-and-belonging:e4:o1:1
# text = the dogs' bone
1	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	dogs	dog	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	'	's	PART	POS	_	2	case	_	_
4	bone	bone	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .note -->
The frames reader finds no event or fact in this sentence.

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
the dogs bone

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:34-apostrophes-missing-letters-and-belonging:e4:o2:1
# text = the dogs bone
1	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	dogs	dog	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	compound	_	_
3	bone	bone	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .note -->
The frames reader finds no event or fact in this sentence.

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
the dog bone's

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:34-apostrophes-missing-letters-and-belonging:e4:o3:1
# text = the dog bone's
1	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	dog	dog	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	compound	_	_
3	bone	bone	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	's	's	PART	POS	_	3	case	_	_
```

<!-- .note -->
The frames reader finds no event or fact in this sentence.

### Option 4 · ✓ the right answer {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
the dog's bone

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:34-apostrophes-missing-letters-and-belonging:e4:o4:1
# text = the dog's bone
1	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	dog	dog	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	's	's	PART	POS	_	2	case	_	_
4	bone	bone	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .note -->
The frames reader finds no event or fact in this sentence.

<!-- 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: [Apostrophes: missing letters and belon…, exam 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/english/34-apostrophes-missing-letters-and-belonging/e3/)
- next →: [Direct speech: inverted commas and new…, test 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/english/35-direct-speech-inverted-commas-and-new-speakers/t1/)
- ↑ back to [Apostrophes: missing letters and belonging](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/english/34-apostrophes-missing-letters-and-belonging/)