---
title: Your brother, bit sharp: "Stop starting every sentence with 'then',… — Paragraphs and cohesion: holding a tex… · tree and pragmatics
description: Your brother, bit sharp: "Stop starting every sentence with 'then', it's doing my head in." What could you use instead? Test 7 · ★ of lesson 37 «Paragraphs and cohesion: holding a text together» of the English course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question a
---

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# Test 7 · ★ · Paragraphs and cohesion: holding a text together

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Your brother, bit sharp: "Stop starting every sentence with 'then', it's doing my head in." What could you use instead?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 3 · **The right answer:** option 3 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** brother, sentence, you · **What happens:** stop, start, do in, use · **To what, where:** sentence, head

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 7 · ★ of lesson 37 «Paragraphs and cohesion: holding a text together» 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/37-paragraphs-and-cohesion-holding-a-text-together/#t7).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* Your brother, bit sharp: "Stop starting every sentence with 'then', it's doing my head in."

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:37-paragraphs-and-cohesion-holding-a-text-together:t7:1
# text = Your brother, bit sharp: "Stop starting every sentence with 'then', it's doing my head in."
1	Your	your	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Person=2|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	2	nmod:poss	_	_
2	brother	brother	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	4	punct	_	_
4	bit	bit	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	conj	_	_
5	sharp	sharp	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	amod	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	:	:	PUNCT	:	_	8	punct	_	_
7	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	8	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	Stop	stop	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
9	starting	start	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	8	xcomp	_	_
10	every	every	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	11	det	_	_
11	sentence	sentence	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obj	_	_
12	with	with	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
13	'	'	PUNCT	``	_	14	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	then	then	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	18	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	',	',	PUNCT	''	_	14	punct	_	_
16	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	18	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	's	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	18	aux	_	_
18	doing	do	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	9	conj	_	_
19	my	my	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Sing|Person=1|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	20	nmod:poss	_	_
20	head	head	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	18	obj	_	_
21	in	in	ADP	RP	_	18	compound:prt	_	SpaceAfter=No
22	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	8	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
23	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	8	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **stop** *in a quote* | infinitive | Your brother and bit |  |  |  |  |  | vn stop-55.4-1-1 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Affector clause=Eventuality |
| 2 | **start** *in a quote* | gerund | Your brother and bit *not said here* | every sentence |  |  |  |  | vn begin-55.1-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent sentence=Eventuality |
| 3 | **do in** *in a quote* | present · progressive | sentence | my head |  |  |  |  | vn act-114-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent head=Eventuality |

<!-- .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 could you use instead?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:37-paragraphs-and-cohesion-holding-a-text-together:t7:2
# text = What could you use instead?
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	4	obj	_	_
2	could	could	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
3	you	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Person=2|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
4	use	use	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
5	instead	instead	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

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

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Nothing, "then" is the only option

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:37-paragraphs-and-cohesion-holding-a-text-together:t7:o1:1
# text = Nothing, "then" is the only option
1	Nothing	nothing	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Neg	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	1	punct	_	_
3	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	4	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	then	then	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	9	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	4	punct	_	_
6	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	9	cop	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
8	only	only	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	amod	_	_
9	option	option	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	nmod	_	_
```

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

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
More "then"s, but written in big capital letters

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:37-paragraphs-and-cohesion-holding-a-text-together:t7:o2:1
# text = More "then"s, but written in big capital letters
1	More	more	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	8	nsubj:pass	_	_
2	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	3	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	then	then	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	1	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	1	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	s	's	PART	POS	Typo=Yes	1	case	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	8	punct	_	_
7	but	but	CCONJ	CC	_	8	cc	_	_
8	written	write	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
9	in	in	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
10	big	big	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	12	amod	_	_
11	capital	capital	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	compound	_	_
12	letters	letter	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **write** | participle · passive |  | More |  | big capital letters |  |  | vn scribble-25.2-1 «NP V NP PP.destination»: subject=Theme in letter=Destination |

### Option 3 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Time openers like "After that" or "By noon"

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:37-paragraphs-and-cohesion-holding-a-text-together:t7:o3:1
# text = Time openers like "After that" or "By noon"
1	Time	time	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	compound	_	_
2	openers	opener	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	nsubj	_	_
3	like	like	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
4	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	6	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	After	after	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	that	that	PRON	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	6	punct	_	_
8	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	11	cc	_	_
9	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	11	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	By	by	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
11	noon	noon	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	11	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .note -->
The frames reader finds no event or fact in this sentence.

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Question marks after each "then"

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:37-paragraphs-and-cohesion-holding-a-text-together:t7:o4:1
# text = Question marks after each "then"
1	Question	question	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	compound	_	_
2	marks	mark	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	0	root	_	_
3	after	after	SCONJ	IN	_	6	mark	_	_
4	each	each	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	6	nsubj	_	_
5	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	6	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	then	then	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	2	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	6	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .note -->
The frames reader finds no event or fact in this sentence.

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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.

<!-- /div -->

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