---
title: Ascertain the number of instances of the letter "c" in the correctly… — Olympiad: the Spelling Bee · tree and pragmatics
description: Ascertain the number of instances of the letter "c" in the correctly spelled word "necessary". Exam question 2 of lesson 55 «Olympiad: the Spelling Bee» 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 2 · Olympiad: the Spelling Bee

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Ascertain the number of instances of the letter "c" in the correctly spelled word "necessary".

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 4 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** you · **What happens:** ascertain, spell, instance · **To what, where:** number, letter

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This is exam question 2 of lesson 55 «Olympiad: the Spelling Bee» 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/55-olympiad-the-spelling-bee/#e2).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:55-olympiad-the-spelling-bee:e2:1
# text = Ascertain the number of instances of the letter "c" in the correctly spelled word "necessary".
1	Ascertain	ascertain	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	number	number	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
4	of	of	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	instances	instance	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nmod	_	_
6	of	of	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	letter	letter	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nmod	_	_
9	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	10	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	c	c	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	appos	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	10	punct	_	_
12	in	in	ADP	IN	_	16	case	_	_
13	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	16	det	_	_
14	correctly	correctly	ADV	RB	_	15	advmod	_	_
15	spelled	spell	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	16	amod	_	_
16	word	word	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nmod	_	_
17	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	18	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
18	necessary	necessary	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	16	appos	_	SpaceAfter=No
19	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	18	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
20	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **ascertain** | imperative | you *not said here* | the number of instances of the letter in the spelled word |  |  |  |  | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent number=Topic |
| 2 | **spell** | participle |  |  |  |  |  | correctly *property* | vn pronounce-29.3.1 «NP V NP ADVP»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **instance** |  |  | the letter in the spelled word |  |  |  |  | nom instance «event transitive»: of=patient |

<!-- .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 -->
Two

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:55-olympiad-the-spelling-bee:e2:o1:1
# text = Two
1	Two	two	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .note -->
The frames reader finds no event or fact in this sentence.

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Three

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:55-olympiad-the-spelling-bee:e2:o2:1
# text = Three
1	Three	three	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .note -->
The frames reader finds no event or fact in this sentence.

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
None

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:55-olympiad-the-spelling-bee:e2:o3:1
# text = None
1	None	none	PRON	NN	PronType=Neg	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .note -->
The frames reader finds no event or fact in this sentence.

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
One

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:55-olympiad-the-spelling-bee:e2:o4:1
# text = One
1	One	one	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .note -->
The frames reader finds no event or fact in this sentence.

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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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