---
title: A cartoon pencil shows «a» starting at the bottom and going up. What… — Handwriting: holding the pencil and jo… · tree and pragmatics
description: A cartoon pencil shows «a» starting at the bottom and going up. What should it show? Test 6 of lesson 5 «Handwriting: holding the pencil and joining up» 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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# Test 6 · Handwriting: holding the pencil and joining up

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A cartoon pencil shows «a» starting at the bottom and going up. What should it show?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 2 · **The right answer:** option 4 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** cartoon pencil, pencil · **What happens:** show, start, go up · **To what, where:** bottom · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 6 of lesson 5 «Handwriting: holding the pencil and joining up» 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/5-handwriting-holding-the-pencil-and-joining-up/#t6).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* A cartoon pencil shows «a» starting at the bottom and going up.

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:5-handwriting-holding-the-pencil-and-joining-up:t6:1
# text = A cartoon pencil shows «a» starting at the bottom and going up.
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	cartoon	cartoon	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	compound	_	_
3	pencil	pencil	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
4	shows	show	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	6	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	8	det	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	6	punct	_	_
8	starting	start	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	4	ccomp	_	_
9	at	at	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
10	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	bottom	bottom	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obl	_	_
12	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	13	cc	_	_
13	going	go	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	8	conj	_	_
14	up	up	ADV	RB	_	13	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **show** | present | a cartoon pencil |  |  |  |  |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V how S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 2 | **start** | gerund |  |  |  | the bottom |  |  | vn begin-55.1-1-1 «NP.eventuality V»: agent=Eventuality |
| 3 | **go up** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn calibratable\_cos-45.6.1-1 «NP.attribute V»: agent=Attribute |

<!-- .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 should it show?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:5-handwriting-holding-the-pencil-and-joining-up:t6:2
# text = What should it show?
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	4	obj	_	_
2	should	should	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
3	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
4	show	show	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **show** | should | pencil |  |  |  |  |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP.recipient»: agent=Agent what=Recipient |

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Start with a dot in the middle

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:5-handwriting-holding-the-pencil-and-joining-up:t6:o1:1
# text = Start with a dot in the middle
1	Start	start	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	with	with	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
3	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	dot	dot	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obl	_	_
5	in	in	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	middle	middle	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **start** | imperative | you *not said here* |  |  | the middle |  | with a dot | vn begin-55.1-1-1 «NP V PP.subeventuality»: agent=Eventuality with dot=Subeventuality |

### Option 2 · ← Mova's choice {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Start at the bottom on the line, then go up and round the other way, like a backwards c

<!-- fold The tree, 19 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:5-handwriting-holding-the-pencil-and-joining-up:t6:o2:1
# text = Start at the bottom on the line, then go up and round the other way, like a backwards c
1	Start	start	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	at	at	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	bottom	bottom	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obl	_	_
5	on	on	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	line	line	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	10	punct	_	_
9	then	then	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	10	advmod	_	_
10	go	go	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	1	conj	_	_
11	up	up	ADP	RP	_	10	compound:prt	_	_
12	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	13	cc	_	_
13	round	round	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	1	conj	_	_
14	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	16	det	_	_
15	other	other	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	16	amod	_	_
16	way	way	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	21	punct	_	_
18	like	like	ADP	IN	_	21	case	_	_
19	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	21	det	_	_
20	backwards	backwards	ADV	RB	_	21	advmod	_	_
21	c	c	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **start** | imperative | you *not said here* |  |  | the bottom |  | on the line | vn begin-55.1-1-1 «NP.eventuality V»: agent=Eventuality |
| 2 | **go up** | infinitive | you *not said here* |  |  |  | then |  | vn calibratable\_cos-45.6.1-1 «NP.attribute V»: agent=Attribute |
| 3 | **round** | infinitive | you *not said here* | the other way |  |  |  | like a c | vn bend-45.2 «NP V NP.patient»: agent=Agent way=Patient |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Start from the right and go left

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:5-handwriting-holding-the-pencil-and-joining-up:t6:o3:1
# text = Start from the right and go left
1	Start	start	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	from	from	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	right	right	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obl	_	_
5	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	6	cc	_	_
6	go	go	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	1	conj	_	_
7	left	left	ADV	RB	_	6	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **start** | imperative | you *not said here* |  |  | the right |  |  | vn begin-55.1-1-1 «NP.eventuality V»: agent=Eventuality |
| 2 | **go** | infinitive | you *not said here* |  |  |  |  | left *property* | vn disappearance-48.2-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Start like a c at the top, then the down stroke

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:5-handwriting-holding-the-pencil-and-joining-up:t6:o4:1
# text = Start like a c at the top, then the down stroke
1	Start	start	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	like	like	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
3	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	c	c	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obl	_	_
5	at	at	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	top	top	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	12	punct	_	_
9	then	then	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	12	advmod	_	_
10	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
11	down	down	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	12	amod	_	_
12	stroke	stroke	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **start** | imperative | you *not said here* | the down stroke |  | the top |  | like a c | vn begin-55.1-1-1 «NP.eventuality V»: agent=Eventuality |

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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.

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