---
title: Identify the principal means by which the correct spelling of the en… — Endings that sound like «shun»: -tion,… · tree and pragmatics
description: Identify the principal means by which the correct spelling of the ending pronounced /shun/ may be determined. Exam question 1 of lesson 8 «Endings that sound like «shun»: -tion, -sion, -ssion, -cian» of the English course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the quest
---

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# Exam question 1 · Endings that sound like «shun»: -tion, -sion, -ssion, -cian

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Identify the principal means by which the correct spelling of the ending pronounced /shun/ may be determined.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 4 · **The right answer:** option 4 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** you, principal, correct spelling · **What happens:** identify, mean, pronounce, determine, spell · **To what, where:** shun, ending · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 1 of lesson 8 «Endings that sound like «shun»: -tion, -sion, -ssion, -cian» 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/8-endings-that-sound-like-shun/#e1).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:8-endings-that-sound-like-shun:e1:1
# text = Identify the principal means by which the correct spelling of the ending pronounced /shun/ may be determined.
1	Identify	identify	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	principal	principal	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
4	means	mean	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	1	ccomp	_	_
5	by	by	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	19	obj	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
8	correct	correct	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	amod	_	_
9	spelling	spelling	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	nsubj	_	_
10	of	of	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
11	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
12	ending	ending	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	nmod	_	_
13	pronounced	pronounce	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	6	acl:relcl	_	_
14	/	/	PUNCT	,	_	15	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	shun	shun	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	/	/	PUNCT	,	_	15	punct	_	_
17	may	may	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	19	aux	_	_
18	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	19	aux:pass	_	_
19	determined	determine	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	4	ccomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
20	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **identify** | imperative | you *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn characterize-29.2-1-1 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Agent clause=Theme |
| 2 | **mean** | present | the principal |  |  |  |  |  | vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 3 | **pronounce** | past | the correct spelling of the ending | shun |  |  |  |  | vn dub-29.3.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent shun=Theme |
| 4 | **determine** | may · passive |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: which=Topic |
| 5 | **spell** |  |  | the ending |  |  |  |  | nom spelling «communication 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 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
By reference to the first letter of the word

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:8-endings-that-sound-like-shun:e1:o1:1
# text = By reference to the first letter of the word
1	By	by	ADP	IN	_	2	case	_	_
2	reference	reference	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	to	to	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
5	first	first	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos|NumForm=Word|NumType=Ord	6	amod	_	_
6	letter	letter	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	_
7	of	of	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	word	word	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nmod	_	_
```

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

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
By reference to the country in which the word is written

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:8-endings-that-sound-like-shun:e1:o2:1
# text = By reference to the country in which the word is written
1	By	by	ADP	IN	_	2	case	_	_
2	reference	reference	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	to	to	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	country	country	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	_
6	in	in	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	11	obl	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	word	word	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	nsubj:pass	_	_
10	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	11	aux:pass	_	_
11	written	write	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	5	acl:relcl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **write** | present · passive |  | the word |  | the country |  |  | vn scribble-25.2-1 «NP V NP PP.destination»: subject=Theme in which=Destination |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
By reference to the length of the word in letters and the number of its syllables

<!-- fold The tree, 16 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:8-endings-that-sound-like-shun:e1:o3:1
# text = By reference to the length of the word in letters and the number of its syllables
1	By	by	ADP	IN	_	2	case	_	_
2	reference	reference	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	to	to	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	length	length	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	_
6	of	of	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	word	word	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nmod	_	_
9	in	in	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
10	letters	letter	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	nmod	_	_
11	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	13	cc	_	_
12	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
13	number	number	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	conj	_	_
14	of	of	ADP	IN	_	16	case	_	_
15	its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	16	nmod:poss	_	_
16	syllables	syllable	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	13	nmod	_	_
```

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

### Option 4 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
By reference to the ending of the root word from which the word is formed

<!-- fold The tree, 15 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:8-endings-that-sound-like-shun:e1:o4:1
# text = By reference to the ending of the root word from which the word is formed
1	By	by	ADP	IN	_	2	case	_	_
2	reference	reference	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	to	to	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	ending	ending	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	_
6	of	of	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
8	root	root	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	compound	_	_
9	word	word	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nmod	_	_
10	from	from	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
11	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	15	obl	_	_
12	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
13	word	word	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	15	nsubj:pass	_	_
14	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	15	aux:pass	_	_
15	formed	form	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	9	acl:relcl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **form** | present · passive |  | the word |  | the root word |  |  | vn create-26.4 «NP V NP PP.material»: subject=Result from which=Material |
| 2 | **end** |  |  | the root word |  |  |  |  | nom ending «communication transitive»: of=patient |

<!-- 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: [Endings that sound like «shun»: -tion,…, test 12](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/english/8-endings-that-sound-like-shun/t12/)
- next →: [Endings that sound like «shun»: -tion,…, exam 2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/english/8-endings-that-sound-like-shun/e2/)
- ↑ back to [Endings that sound like «shun»: -tion, -sion, -ssion, -cian](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/english/8-endings-that-sound-like-shun/)