---
title: Select the response that most accurately characterises the line "The… — Poetry: simile, metaphor, personificat… · tree and pragmatics
description: Select the response that most accurately characterises the line "The city is a beast at night." Exam question 2 of lesson 46 «Poetry: simile, metaphor, personification, alliteration» of the English course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each o
---

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# Exam question 2 · Poetry: simile, metaphor, personification, alliteration

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Select the response that most accurately characterises the line "The city is a beast at night."

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 1 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** you, most, city · **What happens:** select, characteris, be · **To what, where:** response, line, beast

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 2 of lesson 46 «Poetry: simile, metaphor, personification, alliteration» 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/46-poetry-simile-metaphor-personification-alliteration/#e2).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:46-poetry-simile-metaphor-personification-alliteration:e2:1
# text = Select the response that most accurately characterises the line "The city is a beast at night."
1	Select	select	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	response	response	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
4	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	7	mark	_	_
5	most	most	ADJ	JJS	Degree=Sup	7	nsubj	_	_
6	accurately	accurately	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
7	characterises	characteris	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	1	advcl	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	line	line	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obj	_	_
10	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	15	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
12	city	city	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	15	nsubj	_	_
13	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	15	cop	_	_
14	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	15	det	_	_
15	beast	beast	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	appos	_	_
16	at	at	ADP	IN	_	17	case	_	_
17	night	night	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	15	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
18	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
19	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **select** | imperative | you *not said here* | the response |  |  |  |  | vn obtain-13.5.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent response=Theme |
| 2 | **characteris** | present | most | the line |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 3 | **is a** *in a quote* | present | the city | a beast |  |  | night |  | tree rules |

<!-- .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 -->
A metaphor, not intended literally

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:46-poetry-simile-metaphor-personification-alliteration:e2:o1:1
# text = A metaphor, not intended literally
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	metaphor	metaphor	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	5	punct	_	_
4	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	5	advmod	_	_
5	intended	intend	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	2	acl	_	_
6	literally	literally	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **intend** | participle |  | a metaphor *not said here* |  |  |  | literally *property* | vn intend-61.2-1-1 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Agent |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
An instance of onomatopoeia

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:46-poetry-simile-metaphor-personification-alliteration:e2:o2:1
# text = An instance of onomatopoeia
1	An	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	instance	instance	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	of	of	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
4	onomatopoeia	onomatopoeia	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **instance** |  |  | onomatopoeia |  |  |  |  | nom instance «event transitive»: of=patient |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A simile, owing to its comparison

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:46-poetry-simile-metaphor-personification-alliteration:e2:o3:1
# text = A simile, owing to its comparison
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	simile	simile	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	4	punct	_	_
4	owing	owe	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	2	acl	_	_
5	to	to	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	7	nmod:poss	_	_
7	comparison	comparison	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **owe** | gerund | a simile *not said here* |  |  |  |  | to simile's comparison *goal* | vn future\_having-13.3 «NP V NP PP.goal»: agent=Agent to comparison=Goal |
| 2 | **compare** |  | simile |  |  |  |  |  | nom comparison «act transitive»: poss=agent |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A literal statement of fact

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:46-poetry-simile-metaphor-personification-alliteration:e2:o4:1
# text = A literal statement of fact
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	literal	literal	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	statement	statement	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
4	of	of	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	fact	fact	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **state** |  |  | fact |  |  |  |  | nom statement «communication transitive»: of=patient |

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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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