---
title: Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the… — Brackets, dashes, colons, semicolons a… · tree and pragmatics
description: Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the function of the semicolon in "It rained; we stayed in"? Exam question 2 of lesson 36 «Brackets, dashes, colons, semicolons and hyphens» of the English course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the q
---

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# Exam question 2 · Brackets, dashes, colons, semicolons and hyphens

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the function of the semicolon in "It rained; we stayed in"?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 2 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** It, we · **What happens:** follow, characteris, rain, stay in · **To what, where:** function, semicolon · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 2 of lesson 36 «Brackets, dashes, colons, semicolons and hyphens» 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/36-brackets-dashes-colons-semicolons-and-hyphens/#e2).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:36-brackets-dashes-colons-semicolons-and-hyphens:e2:1
# text = Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the function of the semicolon in "It rained; we stayed in"?
1	Which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	8	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	8	obl	_	_
6	most	most	ADV	RBS	Degree=Sup	7	advmod	_	_
7	accurately	accurately	ADV	RB	_	8	advmod	_	_
8	characterises	characteris	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	function	function	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obj	_	_
11	of	of	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
12	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
13	semicolon	semicolon	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	nmod	_	_
14	in	in	SCONJ	IN	_	17	mark	_	_
15	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	17	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	17	nsubj	_	_
17	rained	rain	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	13	acl	_	SpaceAfter=No
18	;	;	PUNCT	:	_	20	punct	_	_
19	we	we	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=1|PronType=Prs	20	nsubj	_	_
20	stayed	stay	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=1|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	8	parataxis	_	_
21	in	in	ADV	RB	_	20	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
22	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	20	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
23	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	8	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 | **characteris** | present |  | the function of the semicolon |  |  |  | of the following statements; accurately *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **rain** *in a quote* | past | It | the semicolon *not said here* |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 4 | **stay in** *in a quote* | past | we |  |  |  |  |  | vn exist-47.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

<!-- .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 -->
It denotes the omission of letters

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:36-brackets-dashes-colons-semicolons-and-hyphens:e2:o1:1
# text = It denotes the omission of letters
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	denotes	denote	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	omission	omission	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
5	of	of	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	letters	letter	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **denote** | present | It | the omission of letters |  |  |  |  | vn indicate-78 «NP V NP»: agent=Pivot omission=Topic |
| 2 | **omit** |  |  | letters |  |  |  |  | nom omission «act transitive»: of=patient |

### Option 2 · ✓ the right answer {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It links two independent clauses closely related in meaning

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:36-brackets-dashes-colons-semicolons-and-hyphens:e2:o2:1
# text = It links two independent clauses closely related in meaning
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	links	link	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	two	two	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	5	nummod	_	_
4	independent	independent	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	clauses	clause	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obj	_	_
6	closely	closely	ADV	RB	_	7	advmod	_	_
7	related	related	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
8	in	in	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
9	meaning	meaning	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **link** | present | It | two independent clauses |  |  |  |  | vn mix-22.1-2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent clause=Patient |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It introduces a list of items subsequently enumerated

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:36-brackets-dashes-colons-semicolons-and-hyphens:e2:o3:1
# text = It introduces a list of items subsequently enumerated
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	introduces	introduce	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	list	list	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
5	of	of	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	items	item	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nmod	_	_
7	subsequently	subsequently	ADV	RB	_	8	advmod	_	_
8	enumerated	enumerate	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	6	acl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **introduce** | present | It | a list of items |  |  |  |  | vn amalgamate-22.2-3-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent list=Patient |
| 2 | **enumerate** | participle |  | items *not said here* |  |  |  | subsequently *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **list** |  |  | items |  |  |  |  | nom list «communication transitive»: of=patient |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It marks the end of a question

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:36-brackets-dashes-colons-semicolons-and-hyphens:e2:o4:1
# text = It marks the end of a question
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	marks	mark	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	end	end	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
5	of	of	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	question	question	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **mark** | present | It | the end of a question |  |  |  |  | vn image\_impression-25.1 «NP V NP.destination»: agent=Agent end=Destination |

<!-- 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: [Brackets, dashes, colons, semicolons a…, exam 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/english/36-brackets-dashes-colons-semicolons-and-hyphens/e1/)
- next →: [Brackets, dashes, colons, semicolons a…, exam 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/english/36-brackets-dashes-colons-semicolons-and-hyphens/e3/)
- ↑ back to [Brackets, dashes, colons, semicolons and hyphens](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/english/36-brackets-dashes-colons-semicolons-and-hyphens/)