---
title: ★★★ Which sentence uses a semicolon wrongly? — Brackets, dashes, colons, semicolons a… · tree and pragmatics
description: ★★★ Which sentence uses a semicolon wrongly? Test 5 · ★★★ 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 question and of each option; Mova's choice was right.
---

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# Test 5 · ★★★ · Brackets, dashes, colons, semicolons and hyphens

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
★★★ Which sentence uses a semicolon wrongly?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 1 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** ★ ★ ★ · **What happens:** use · **To what, where:** semicolon

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 5 · ★★★ of lesson 36 «Brackets, dashes, colons, semicolons and hyphens» 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/36-brackets-dashes-colons-semicolons-and-hyphens/#t5).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:36-brackets-dashes-colons-semicolons-and-hyphens:t5:1
# text = ★★★ Which sentence uses a semicolon wrongly?
1	★	★	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	3	compound	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	★	★	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	compound	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	★	★	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	_
4	Which	which	DET	WDT	PronType=Int	5	det	_	_
5	sentence	sentence	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	appos	_	_
6	uses	use	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
7	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	semicolon	semicolon	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obj	_	_
9	wrongly	wrongly	ADV	RB	_	6	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	6	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **use** | present | ★ ★ ★ | a semicolon |  |  |  | wrongly *property* | vn eat-39.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent semicolon=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.

## The options {#options}

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
We went to the beach; because it was hot.

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:36-brackets-dashes-colons-semicolons-and-hyphens:t5:o1:1
# text = We went to the beach; because it was hot.
1	We	we	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=1|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	went	go	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=1|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	to	to	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	beach	beach	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	;	;	PUNCT	:	_	2	punct	_	_
7	because	because	SCONJ	IN	_	10	mark	_	_
8	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	10	nsubj	_	_
9	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	10	cop	_	_
10	hot	hot	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	advcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **go** | past | We |  |  | the beach |  |  | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V PP.initial\_location»: agent=Theme to beach=Initial\_Location |
| 2 | **is** | past | beach |  |  |  |  | hot *property* | tree rules |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Mum laughed; Dad didn't.

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:36-brackets-dashes-colons-semicolons-and-hyphens:t5:o2:1
# text = Mum laughed; Dad didn't.
1	Mum	mum	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nsubj	_	_
2	laughed	laugh	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	;	;	PUNCT	:	_	2	punct	_	_
4	Dad	dad	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
5	did	do	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	2	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	n't	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	5	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **laugh** | past | Mum |  |  |  |  |  | vn nonverbal\_expression-40.2 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **not** **do** | past | Dad |  |  |  |  |  | vn act-114-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It was late; the shops had shut.

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:36-brackets-dashes-colons-semicolons-and-hyphens:t5:o3:1
# text = It was late; the shops had shut.
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	cop	_	_
3	late	late	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	;	;	PUNCT	:	_	8	punct	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	shops	shop	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	nsubj:pass	_	_
7	had	have	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	8	aux	_	_
8	shut	shut	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	3	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | past | It |  |  |  |  | late *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **shut** | past · perfect · passive |  | the shops |  |  |  |  | vn other\_cos-45.4 «NP V NP.patient»: subject=Patient |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
We went to the beach; it was hot.

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:36-brackets-dashes-colons-semicolons-and-hyphens:t5:o4:1
# text = We went to the beach; it was hot.
1	We	we	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=1|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	went	go	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=1|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	to	to	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	beach	beach	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	;	;	PUNCT	:	_	9	punct	_	_
7	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	9	nsubj	_	_
8	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	9	cop	_	_
9	hot	hot	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **go** | past | We |  |  | the beach |  |  | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V PP.initial\_location»: agent=Theme to beach=Initial\_Location |
| 2 | **is** | past | beach |  |  |  |  | hot *property* | tree rules |

<!-- 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…, test 4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/english/36-brackets-dashes-colons-semicolons-and-hyphens/t4/)
- next →: [Brackets, dashes, colons, semicolons a…, test 6](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/english/36-brackets-dashes-colons-semicolons-and-hyphens/t6/)
- ↑ 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/)