---
title: A UK book uses 'single marks' all through; then on page 40 it uses "… — Direct speech: inverted commas and new… · tree and pragmatics
description: A UK book uses 'single marks' all through; then on page 40 it uses "double". What is the problem? Test 11 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 
---

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# Test 11 · Direct speech: inverted commas and new speakers

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A UK book uses 'single marks' all through; then on page 40 it uses "double". What is the problem?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 1 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** UK book, book, problem · **What happens:** use, be · **To what, where:** single marks, double, page

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 11 of lesson 35 «Direct speech: inverted commas and new speakers» 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/35-direct-speech-inverted-commas-and-new-speakers/#t11).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* A UK book uses 'single marks' all through; then on page 40 it uses "double".

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:35-direct-speech-inverted-commas-and-new-speakers:t11:1
# text = A UK book uses 'single marks' all through; then on page 40 it uses "double".
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	UK	UK	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	3	compound	_	_
3	book	book	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
4	uses	use	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	'	'	PUNCT	``	_	7	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	single	single	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
7	marks	mark	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	'	's	PART	POS	_	7	case	_	_
9	all	all	ADV	RB	_	10	advmod	_	_
10	through	through	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	;	;	PUNCT	:	_	17	punct	_	_
12	then	then	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	17	advmod	_	_
13	on	on	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
14	page	page	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	17	obl	_	_
15	40	40	NUM	CD	NumForm=Digit|NumType=Card	14	flat	_	_
16	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	17	nsubj	_	_
17	uses	use	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	conj	_	_
18	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	19	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
19	double	double	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	17	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
20	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	19	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
21	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **use** | present | a UK book | single marks |  |  |  | through *property* | vn eat-39.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent mark=Patient |
| 2 | **use** | present | book | double |  | page | then |  | vn eat-39.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent double=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:* What is the problem?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:35-direct-speech-inverted-commas-and-new-speakers:t11:2
# text = What is the problem?
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	0	root	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	1	cop	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	problem	problem	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

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

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It is not consistent

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:35-direct-speech-inverted-commas-and-new-speakers:t11:o1:1
# text = It is not consistent
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
3	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	4	advmod	_	_
4	consistent	consistent	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **is** | present | It |  |  |  |  | consistent *property* | tree rules |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Single marks are always wrong

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:35-direct-speech-inverted-commas-and-new-speakers:t11:o2:1
# text = Single marks are always wrong
1	Single	single	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	amod	_	_
2	marks	mark	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	nsubj	_	_
3	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
4	always	always	ADV	RB	PronType=Tot	5	advmod	_	_
5	wrong	wrong	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
```

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

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Double marks are against the law

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:35-direct-speech-inverted-commas-and-new-speakers:t11:o3:1
# text = Double marks are against the law
1	Double	double	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	amod	_	_
2	marks	mark	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	nsubj	_	_
3	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	cop	_	_
4	against	against	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	law	law	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | Double marks |  |  |  |  | against the law | tree rules |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Nothing, it is better to mix

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:35-direct-speech-inverted-commas-and-new-speakers:t11:o4:1
# text = Nothing, it is better to mix
1	Nothing	nothing	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Neg	5	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	1	punct	_	_
3	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	5	expl	_	_
4	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
5	better	good	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	0	root	_	_
6	to	to	PART	TO	_	7	mark	_	_
7	mix	mix	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	advcl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | Nothing |  |  |  |  | good *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **mix** | to-infinitive | Nothing *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn mix-22.1-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Patient |

<!-- 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…, test 10](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/english/35-direct-speech-inverted-commas-and-new-speakers/t10/)
- next →: [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/)
- ↑ 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/)