---
title: Which of the following statements most accurately characterises indi… — Direct speech: inverted commas and new… · tree and pragmatics
description: Which of the following statements most accurately characterises indirect speech? Exam question 2 of lesson 35 «Direct speech: inverted commas and new speakers» 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 wa
---

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# Exam question 2 · Direct speech: inverted commas and new speakers

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Which of the following statements most accurately characterises indirect speech?

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

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 2 of lesson 35 «Direct speech: inverted commas and new speakers» 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/35-direct-speech-inverted-commas-and-new-speakers/#e2).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:35-direct-speech-inverted-commas-and-new-speakers:e2:1
# text = Which of the following statements most accurately characterises indirect speech?
1	Which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	9	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	9	obl	_	_
6	most	most	ADV	RBS	Degree=Sup	7	advmod	_	_
7	accurately	accurately	ADV	RB	_	9	advmod	_	_
8	characterises	characteris	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	9	nsubj	_	_
9	indirect	indirect	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
10	speech	speech	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	9	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 | **indirect** | present |  | speech |  |  |  | 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 -->
It requires a new paragraph for each word

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:35-direct-speech-inverted-commas-and-new-speakers:e2:o1:1
# text = It requires a new paragraph for each word
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	requires	require	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	new	new	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	paragraph	paragraph	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
6	for	for	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	each	each	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	8	det	_	_
8	word	word	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **require** | present | It | a new paragraph |  |  |  | for each word | vn require-103-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Theme paragraph=Precondition |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It is employed solely for questions

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:35-direct-speech-inverted-commas-and-new-speakers:e2:o2:1
# text = It is employed solely for questions
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj:pass	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux:pass	_	_
3	employed	employ	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
4	solely	solely	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	_
5	for	for	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	questions	question	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **employ** | present · passive |  | It |  |  |  | for questions; solely *property* | vn use-105.1 «NP V NP PP.predicate»: subject=Theme for question=Eventuality |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It reports the substance of what was said without inverted commas

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:35-direct-speech-inverted-commas-and-new-speakers:e2:o3:1
# text = It reports the substance of what was said without inverted commas
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	reports	report	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	substance	substance	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
5	of	of	SCONJ	IN	_	8	mark	_	_
6	what	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	8	nsubj:pass	_	_
7	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	8	aux:pass	_	_
8	said	say	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	4	acl:relcl	_	_
9	without	without	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
10	inverted	invert	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	11	amod	_	_
11	commas	comma	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **report** | present | It | the substance |  |  |  |  | vn prosecute-33.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent substance=Patient |
| 2 | **say** *speech: assert* | past · passive |  | the substance |  |  |  | without inverted commas | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V NP.topic»: subject=Topic |
| 3 | **invert** | participle |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn remedy-45.7 «NP V NP.patient»: agent=Agent |

### Option 4 · ← Mova's choice {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It reproduces the speaker's exact words within inverted commas

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:35-direct-speech-inverted-commas-and-new-speakers:e2:o4:1
# text = It reproduces the speaker's exact words within inverted commas
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	reproduces	reproduce	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	speaker	speaker	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	's	's	PART	POS	_	4	case	_	_
6	exact	exact	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
7	words	word	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obj	_	_
8	within	within	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	inverted	invert	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	10	amod	_	_
10	commas	comma	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **reproduce** | present | It | the speaker's exact words |  |  |  | within inverted commas | vn other\_cos-45.4 «NP V NP.patient»: agent=Agent word=Patient |
| 2 | **invert** | participle |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn remedy-45.7 «NP V NP.patient»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **word** |  | the speaker |  |  |  |  |  | nom word «communication transitive»: poss=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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- ← previous: [Direct speech: inverted commas and new…, exam 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/english/35-direct-speech-inverted-commas-and-new-speakers/e1/)
- next →: [Direct speech: inverted commas and new…, exam 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/english/35-direct-speech-inverted-commas-and-new-speakers/e3/)
- ↑ back to [Direct speech: inverted commas and new speakers](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/english/35-direct-speech-inverted-commas-and-new-speakers/)