---
title: Identify the principal reason for which the final e is retained in t… — Suffixes -ous, -ly, -ful, -less, -ness… · tree and pragmatics
description: Identify the principal reason for which the final e is retained in the word «changeable». Exam question 2 of lesson 9 «Suffixes -ous, -ly, -ful, -less, -ness, -ment» of the English course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each option; Mova's cho
---

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# Exam question 2 · Suffixes -ous, -ly, -ful, -less, -ness, -ment

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Identify the principal reason for which the final e is retained in the word «changeable».

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 2 · **The right answer:** option 4 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** you · **What happens:** identify, retain · **To what, where:** principal reason, final e, word

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 2 of lesson 9 «Suffixes -ous, -ly, -ful, -less, -ness, -ment» 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/9-suffixes-ous-ly-ful-less-ness-ment/#e2).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:9-suffixes-ous-ly-ful-less-ness-ment:e2:1
# text = Identify the principal reason for which the final e is retained in the word «changeable».
1	Identify	identify	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
3	principal	principal	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	amod	_	_
4	reason	reason	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
5	for	for	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	11	obl	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
8	final	final	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	amod	_	_
9	e	e	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	retained	retain	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	4	acl:relcl	_	_
12	in	in	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
13	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	14	det	_	_
14	word	word	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	obl	_	_
15	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	16	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	changeable	changeable	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	14	appos	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	16	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
18	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **identify** | imperative | you *not said here* | the principal reason |  |  |  |  | vn characterize-29.2-1-1 «NP V NP S\_ING»: agent=Agent reason=Theme |
| 2 | **retain** | present · passive |  | the final e |  | the word |  | for the principal reason | 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 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It distinguishes the adjective from a verb of the same form

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:9-suffixes-ous-ly-ful-less-ness-ment:e2:o1:1
# text = It distinguishes the adjective from a verb of the same form
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	distinguishes	distinguish	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	adjective	adjective	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
5	from	from	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	verb	verb	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
8	of	of	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
10	same	same	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	11	amod	_	_
11	form	form	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **distinguish** | present | It | the adjective |  |  |  | from a verb of the same form | vn distinguish-23.5-1 «NP V NP.theme PP.co-theme»: agent=Agent adjective=Theme from verb=Co-Theme |

### Option 2 · ← Mova's choice {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It is retained in every word ending in -able

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:9-suffixes-ous-ly-ful-less-ness-ment:e2:o2:1
# text = It is retained in every word ending in -able
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj:pass	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux:pass	_	_
3	retained	retain	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
4	in	in	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	every	every	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	6	det	_	_
6	word	word	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
7	ending	end	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	6	acl	_	_
8	in	in	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	8	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	able	able	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **retain** | present · passive |  | It |  | every word |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **end** | gerund | every word *not said here* |  |  | able |  |  | vn stop-55.4-1-1 «NP.eventuality V»: agent=Eventuality |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It indicates that the word is of French origin

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:9-suffixes-ous-ly-ful-less-ness-ment:e2:o3:1
# text = It indicates that the word is of French origin
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	indicates	indicate	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	9	mark	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	word	word	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	nsubj	_	_
6	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	9	cop	_	_
7	of	of	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	French	French	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	amod	_	_
9	origin	origin	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	ccomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **indicate** | present | It |  |  |  |  |  | vn indicate-78-1 «NP V how S»: agent=Pivot |
| 2 | **is** | present | the word |  |  |  |  | of French origin | tree rules |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It preserves the soft pronunciation of the letter g

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:9-suffixes-ous-ly-ful-less-ness-ment:e2:o4:1
# text = It preserves the soft pronunciation of the letter g
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	preserves	preserve	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	soft	soft	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	pronunciation	pronunciation	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
6	of	of	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
8	letter	letter	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	compound	_	_
9	g	G	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **preserve** | present | It | the soft pronunciation of the letter g |  |  |  |  | vn defend-72.3 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent pronunciation=Beneficiary |
| 2 | **pronounce** |  |  | the letter g |  |  |  |  | nom pronunciation «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.

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- ← previous: [Suffixes -ous, -ly, -ful, -less, -ness…, exam 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/english/9-suffixes-ous-ly-ful-less-ness-ment/e1/)
- next →: [Suffixes -ous, -ly, -ful, -less, -ness…, exam 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/english/9-suffixes-ous-ly-ful-less-ness-ment/e3/)
- ↑ back to [Suffixes -ous, -ly, -ful, -less, -ness, -ment](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/english/9-suffixes-ous-ly-ful-less-ness-ment/)