---
title: Which of the following most accurately characterises the principle "… — Describing: senses, showing and precis… · tree and pragmatics
description: Which of the following most accurately characterises the principle "show, don't tell"? Exam question 2 of lesson 41 «Describing: senses, showing and precise words» of the English course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each option; Mova's choic
---

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# Exam question 2 · Describing: senses, showing and precise words

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Which of the following most accurately characterises the principle "show, don't tell"?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 4 · wrong ✗ · **What happens:** follow, characteris, not tell · **To what, where:** principle · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 2 of lesson 41 «Describing: senses, showing and precise words» 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/41-describing-senses-showing-and-precise-words/#e2).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:41-describing-senses-showing-and-precise-words:e2:1
# text = Which of the following most accurately characterises the principle "show, don't tell"?
1	Which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	7	nsubj	_	_
2	of	of	SCONJ	IN	_	7	mark	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
4	following	follow	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	7	csubj	_	_
5	most	most	ADV	RBS	Degree=Sup	6	advmod	_	_
6	accurately	accurately	ADV	RB	_	7	advmod	_	_
7	characterises	characteris	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	principle	principle	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obj	_	_
10	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	11	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	show	show	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	15	punct	_	_
13	do	do	AUX	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	15	aux	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	n't	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	15	advmod	_	_
15	tell	tell	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	7	parataxis	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	15	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	7	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 principle and show |  |  |  | accurately *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **not** **tell** *speech: assert* *in a quote* | infinitive · do-support |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V»: agent=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 -->
Description is to be avoided in favour of dialogue

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:41-describing-senses-showing-and-precise-words:e2:o1:1
# text = Description is to be avoided in favour of dialogue
1	Description	description	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj:pass	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	aux:pass	_	_
3	to	to	PART	TO	_	5	mark	_	_
4	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	aux:pass	_	_
5	avoided	avoid	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
6	in	in	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	favour	favour	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	_
8	of	of	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
9	dialogue	dialogue	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **avoid** | present · passive |  | Description |  | favour of dialogue |  |  | vn avoid-52 «NP V NP.location»: subject=Location |
| 2 | **favour** |  |  | dialogue |  |  |  |  | nom favour «feeling transitive»: of=patient |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Pictures are to be inserted in place of words

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:41-describing-senses-showing-and-precise-words:e2:o2:1
# text = Pictures are to be inserted in place of words
1	Pictures	picture	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	nsubj:pass	_	_
2	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	aux:pass	_	_
3	to	to	PART	TO	_	5	mark	_	_
4	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	aux:pass	_	_
5	inserted	insert	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
6	in	in	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	place	place	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	_
8	of	of	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
9	words	word	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **insert** | present · passive |  | Pictures |  | place of words |  |  | vn put-9.1-1 «NP V NP PP.destination»: subject=Theme in place=Destination |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Every emotion must be named explicitly in each sentence

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:41-describing-senses-showing-and-precise-words:e2:o3:1
# text = Every emotion must be named explicitly in each sentence
1	Every	every	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	2	det	_	_
2	emotion	emotion	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj:pass	_	_
3	must	must	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	5	aux	_	_
4	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	aux:pass	_	_
5	named	name	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
6	explicitly	explicitly	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
7	in	in	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	each	each	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	9	det	_	_
9	sentence	sentence	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **name** | must · passive |  | every emotion |  | each sentence |  | explicitly *property* | vn appoint-29.1 «NP V NP»: subject=Theme |

### Option 4 · ✓ the right answer {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Emotions are conveyed through actions and details rather than named

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:41-describing-senses-showing-and-precise-words:e2:o4:1
# text = Emotions are conveyed through actions and details rather than named
1	Emotions	emotion	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj	_	_
2	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux:pass	_	_
3	conveyed	convey	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
4	through	through	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	actions	action	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obl	_	_
6	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	7	cc	_	_
7	details	detail	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	conj	_	_
8	rather	rather	ADV	RB	ExtPos=CCONJ	10	cc	_	_
9	than	than	ADP	IN	_	8	fixed	_	_
10	named	name	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	5	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **convey** | present · passive |  | Emotions |  | actions and details |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V NP.topic»: subject=Topic |
| 2 | **name** | participle |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn appoint-29.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent |

<!-- 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: [Describing: senses, showing and precis…, exam 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/english/41-describing-senses-showing-and-precise-words/e1/)
- next →: [Describing: senses, showing and precis…, exam 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/english/41-describing-senses-showing-and-precise-words/e3/)
- ↑ back to [Describing: senses, showing and precise words](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/english/41-describing-senses-showing-and-precise-words/)