---
title: A cartoon says, "A semicolon's just a fancy comma, stick it anywhere… — SATs: grammar, punctuation and spellin… · tree and pragmatics
description: A cartoon says, "A semicolon's just a fancy comma, stick it anywhere." Fix it. Test 4 · ★ of lesson 52 «SATs: grammar, punctuation and spelling paper» 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 4 · ★ · SATs: grammar, punctuation and spelling paper

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A cartoon says, "A semicolon's just a fancy comma, stick it anywhere." Fix it.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 2 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** cartoon, you · **What happens:** say, stick, fix · **To what, where:** cartoon, comma · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 4 · ★ of lesson 52 «SATs: grammar, punctuation and spelling paper» 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/52-sats-grammar-punctuation-and-spelling-paper/#t4).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* A cartoon says, "A semicolon's just a fancy comma, stick it anywhere."

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:52-sats-grammar-punctuation-and-spelling-paper:t4:1
# text = A cartoon says, "A semicolon's just a fancy comma, stick it anywhere."
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	cartoon	cartoon	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	says	say	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	3	punct	_	_
5	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	12	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	semicolon	semicolon	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	's	's	PART	POS	_	7	case	_	_
9	just	just	ADV	RB	_	12	advmod	_	_
10	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
11	fancy	fancy	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	12	amod	_	_
12	comma	comma	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	ccomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	14	punct	_	_
14	stick	stick	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	12	parataxis	_	_
15	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	14	obj	_	_
16	anywhere	anywhere	ADV	RB	PronType=Ind	14	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	12	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
18	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	12	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **say** *speech: assert* | present | a cartoon |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **stick** *in a quote* | infinitive |  | cartoon |  |  |  | anywhere *property* | vn spray-9.7-1 «NP V NP.theme»: agent=Agent it=Theme |

<!-- .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:* Fix it.

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:52-sats-grammar-punctuation-and-spelling-paper:t4:2
# text = Fix it.
1	Fix	fix	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	1	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **fix** | imperative | you *not said here* | comma |  |  |  |  | vn shake-22.3-2 «NP V NP together»: agent=Agent it=Patient |

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 · ← Mova's choice {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The cartoon is right; anywhere works

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:52-sats-grammar-punctuation-and-spelling-paper:t4:o1:1
# text = The cartoon is right; anywhere works
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	cartoon	cartoon	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
3	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
4	right	right	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	;	;	PUNCT	,	_	7	punct	_	_
6	anywhere	anywhere	ADV	RB	PronType=Ind	7	advmod	_	_
7	works	work	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	csubj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | the cartoon |  |  |  |  | right *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **work** | present |  |  |  |  |  | anywhere *property* | vn employment-95.3 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It joins two linked full sentences

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:52-sats-grammar-punctuation-and-spelling-paper:t4:o2:1
# text = It joins two linked full sentences
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	joins	join	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	two	two	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	6	nummod	_	_
4	linked	link	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	6	amod	_	_
5	full	full	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	sentences	sentence	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **join** | present | It | two linked full sentences |  |  |  |  | vn mix-22.1-2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent sentence=Patient |
| 2 | **link** | participle |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn mix-22.1-2-1 «NP V»: agent=Patient |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It replaces every single full stop

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:52-sats-grammar-punctuation-and-spelling-paper:t4:o3:1
# text = It replaces every single full stop
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	replaces	replace	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	every	every	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	6	det	_	_
4	single	single	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
5	full	full	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	stop	stop	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **replace** | present | It | every single full stop |  |  |  |  | vn substitute-13.6.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Theme stop=Co-Theme |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It goes after every third word

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:52-sats-grammar-punctuation-and-spelling-paper:t4:o4:1
# text = It goes after every third word
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	goes	go	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	after	after	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
4	every	every	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	6	det	_	_
5	third	third	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos|NumForm=Word|NumType=Ord	6	amod	_	_
6	word	word	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **go** | present | It |  |  |  | after every third word |  | vn disappearance-48.2-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

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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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