---
title: Identify the principal purpose of planning prior to composition. — Planning before writing · tree and pragmatics
description: Identify the principal purpose of planning prior to composition. Exam question 1 of lesson 39 «Planning before writing» 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 wrong.
---

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# Exam question 1 · Planning before writing

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Identify the principal purpose of planning prior to composition.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 2 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** you, planning · **What happens:** identify, purpose · **To what, where:** principal purpose

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 1 of lesson 39 «Planning before writing» 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/39-planning-before-writing/#e1).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:39-planning-before-writing:e1:1
# text = Identify the principal purpose of planning prior to composition.
1	Identify	identify	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
3	principal	principal	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	amod	_	_
4	purpose	purpose	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
5	of	of	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	planning	planning	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nmod	_	_
7	prior	prior	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos|ExtPos=ADP	9	case	_	_
8	to	to	ADP	IN	_	7	fixed	_	_
9	composition	composition	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **identify** | imperative | you *not said here* | the principal purpose of planning |  |  |  | prior composition | vn characterize-29.2-1-1 «NP V NP S\_ING»: agent=Agent purpose=Theme |
| 2 | **purpose** |  | planning |  |  |  |  |  | nom purpose «cognition intransitive»: of=agent |

<!-- .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 -->
To eliminate entirely the need for any subsequent writing

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:39-planning-before-writing:e1:o1:1
# text = To eliminate entirely the need for any subsequent writing
1	To	to	PART	TO	_	2	mark	_	_
2	eliminate	eliminate	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	entirely	entirely	ADV	RB	_	2	advmod	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	need	need	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
6	for	for	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
7	any	any	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	9	det	_	_
8	subsequent	subsequent	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	amod	_	_
9	writing	writing	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **eliminate** | to-infinitive |  | the need |  |  |  | for any subsequent writing; entirely *property* | vn murder-42.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent need=Patient |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
To determine content and order before writing

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:39-planning-before-writing:e1:o2:1
# text = To determine content and order before writing
1	To	to	PART	TO	_	2	mark	_	_
2	determine	determine	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	content	content	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
4	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	5	cc	_	_
5	order	order	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	conj	_	_
6	before	before	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	writing	writing	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **determine** | to-infinitive |  | content and order |  |  | before writing |  | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent content=Topic |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
To lengthen considerably the time expended on a task

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:39-planning-before-writing:e1:o3:1
# text = To lengthen considerably the time expended on a task
1	To	to	PART	TO	_	2	mark	_	_
2	lengthen	lengthen	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	considerably	considerably	ADV	RB	_	2	advmod	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	time	time	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
6	expended	expend	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	5	acl	_	_
7	on	on	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	task	task	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **lengthen** | to-infinitive |  |  |  |  | time | considerably *property* | vn other\_cos-45.4 «NP.patient V»: agent=Patient |
| 2 | **expend** | participle |  | the time *not said here* |  | a task |  |  | tree rules |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
To decorate the page prior to its submission for marking

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:39-planning-before-writing:e1:o4:1
# text = To decorate the page prior to its submission for marking
1	To	to	PART	TO	_	2	mark	_	_
2	decorate	decorate	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	page	page	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
5	prior	prior	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos|ExtPos=ADP	8	case	_	_
6	to	to	ADP	IN	_	5	fixed	_	_
7	its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	8	nmod:poss	_	_
8	submission	submission	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
9	for	for	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
10	marking	marking	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **decorate** | to-infinitive |  | the page |  |  |  | prior page's submission; for marking | vn illustrate-25.3 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent page=Destination |
| 2 | **submit** |  | page |  |  |  |  |  | nom submission «communication transitive»: poss=agent |

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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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