---
title: It is given that a conversation involves two speakers alternating. S… — Direct speech: inverted commas and new… · tree and pragmatics
description: It is given that a conversation involves two speakers alternating. State the convention in respect of layout. Exam question 3 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 
---

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# Exam question 3 · Direct speech: inverted commas and new speakers

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It is given that a conversation involves two speakers alternating. State the convention in respect of layout.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 4 · **The right answer:** option 4 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** conversation, two speakers, you · **What happens:** give, involve, alternate, state, respect · **To what, where:** It, two speakers, convention, respect, layout

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 3 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/#e3).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* It is given that a conversation involves two speakers alternating.

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:35-direct-speech-inverted-commas-and-new-speakers:e3:1
# text = It is given that a conversation involves two speakers alternating.
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	given	give	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
4	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	7	mark	_	_
5	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	conversation	conversation	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nsubj	_	_
7	involves	involve	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	advcl	_	_
8	two	two	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	9	nummod	_	_
9	speakers	speaker	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	obj	_	_
10	alternating	alternate	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	9	acl	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **give** | present · passive |  | It |  |  |  |  | vn give-13.1-1 «NP V NP»: subject=Theme |
| 2 | **involve** | present | a conversation | two speakers |  |  |  |  | vn involve-107.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent speaker=Theme |
| 3 | **alternate** | gerund | two speakers *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn amalgamate-22.2-2-1 «NP V»: agent=Patient |

<!-- .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:* State the convention in respect of layout.

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:35-direct-speech-inverted-commas-and-new-speakers:e3:2
# text = State the convention in respect of layout.
1	State	state	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	convention	convention	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
4	in	in	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	respect	respect	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obl	_	_
6	of	of	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	layout	layout	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **state** *speech: other* | imperative | you *not said here* | the convention |  | respect of layout |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V NP.topic»: agent=Agent convention=Topic |
| 2 | **respect** |  |  | layout |  |  |  |  | nom respect «cognition transitive»: of=patient |

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
All utterances are placed in a single paragraph

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:35-direct-speech-inverted-commas-and-new-speakers:e3:o1:1
# text = All utterances are placed in a single paragraph
1	All	all	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	2	det	_	_
2	utterances	utterance	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj:pass	_	_
3	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux:pass	_	_
4	placed	place	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
5	in	in	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
6	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
7	single	single	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	amod	_	_
8	paragraph	paragraph	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **place** | present · passive |  | all utterances |  | a single paragraph |  |  | vn put-9.1-2 «NP V NP PP.destination»: subject=Theme in paragraph=Destination |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Each utterance is placed in brackets

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:35-direct-speech-inverted-commas-and-new-speakers:e3:o2:1
# text = Each utterance is placed in brackets
1	Each	each	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	2	det	_	_
2	utterance	utterance	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj:pass	_	_
3	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux:pass	_	_
4	placed	place	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
5	in	in	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	brackets	bracket	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **place** | present · passive |  | each utterance |  | brackets |  |  | vn put-9.1-2 «NP V NP PP.destination»: subject=Theme in bracket=Destination |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A colon precedes every utterance

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:35-direct-speech-inverted-commas-and-new-speakers:e3:o3:1
# text = A colon precedes every utterance
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	colon	colon	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	precedes	precede	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	every	every	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	5	det	_	_
5	utterance	utterance	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **precede** | present | a colon | every utterance |  |  |  |  | vn contiguous\_location-47.8 «NP V NP»: agent=Theme utterance=Co-Theme |

### Option 4 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A new line is commenced for each change of speaker

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:35-direct-speech-inverted-commas-and-new-speakers:e3:o4:1
# text = A new line is commenced for each change of speaker
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	new	new	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	line	line	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj:pass	_	_
4	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	aux:pass	_	_
5	commenced	commence	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
6	for	for	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	each	each	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	8	det	_	_
8	change	change	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	_
9	of	of	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
10	speaker	speaker	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **commence** | present · passive |  | a new line |  |  |  | for each change of speaker | vn begin-55.1-1-1 «NP V NP»: subject=Eventuality |
| 2 | **change** |  | speaker |  |  |  |  |  | nom change «event intransitive»: of=agent |

<!-- 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: [Direct speech: inverted commas and new…, exam 2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/english/35-direct-speech-inverted-commas-and-new-speakers/e2/)
- next →: [Direct speech: inverted commas and new…, exam 4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/english/35-direct-speech-inverted-commas-and-new-speakers/e4/)
- ↑ 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/)