---
title: Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the… — Soft words for hard things: pregnancy… · tree and pragmatics
description: Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the expression "the patter of tiny feet"? Exam question 4 of lesson 11 «Soft words for hard things: pregnancy and birth» of the euphemisms course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of e
---

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# Exam question 4 · Soft words for hard things: pregnancy and birth

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the expression "the patter of tiny feet"?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 4 · **The right answer:** option 4 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** tiny feet · **What happens:** follow, characteris, patter · **To what, where:** expression

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 4 of lesson 11 «Soft words for hard things: pregnancy and birth» of the euphemisms 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/euphemisms/11-pregnancy-and-birth/#e4).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:11-pregnancy-and-birth:e4:1
# text = Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the expression "the patter of tiny feet"?
1	Which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	8	nsubj	_	_
2	of	of	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	following	follow	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	5	amod	_	_
5	statements	statement	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	obl	_	_
6	most	most	ADV	RBS	Degree=Sup	7	advmod	_	_
7	accurately	accurately	ADV	RB	_	8	advmod	_	_
8	characterises	characteris	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	expression	expression	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obj	_	_
11	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	13	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
13	patter	patter	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	appos	_	_
14	of	of	ADP	IN	_	16	case	_	_
15	tiny	tiny	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	16	amod	_	_
16	feet	foot	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	13	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	13	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
18	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	8	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **follow** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn occur-48.3-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 2 | **characteris** | present |  | the expression |  |  |  | of the following statements; accurately *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **patter** *in a quote* |  | tiny feet |  |  |  |  |  | nom patter «communication intransitive»: of=agent |

<!-- .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 denotes the sound of rainfall

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:11-pregnancy-and-birth:e4:o1:1
# text = It denotes the sound of rainfall
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	denotes	denote	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	sound	sound	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
5	of	of	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	rainfall	rainfall	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **denote** | present | It | the sound of rainfall |  |  |  |  | vn indicate-78 «NP V NP»: agent=Pivot sound=Topic |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It signifies a dance performed by children

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:11-pregnancy-and-birth:e4:o2:1
# text = It signifies a dance performed by children
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	signifies	signify	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	dance	dance	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
5	performed	perform	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	4	acl	_	_
6	by	by	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	children	child	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **signify** | present | It | a dance |  |  |  |  | vn representation-110.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Pivot dance=Theme |
| 2 | **perform** | participle |  | a dance *not said here* |  |  |  | by children | vn performance-26.7 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It describes rodents within a dwelling

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:11-pregnancy-and-birth:e4:o3:1
# text = It describes rodents within a dwelling
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	describes	describe	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	rodents	rodent	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obj	_	_
4	within	within	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	dwelling	dwelling	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **describe** | present | It | rodents |  |  |  | within a dwelling | vn characterize-29.2-1-1 «NP V NP S\_ING»: agent=Agent rodent=Theme |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It refers to a baby that is expected or wished for

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:11-pregnancy-and-birth:e4:o4:1
# text = It refers to a baby that is expected or wished for
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	refers	refer	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	to	to	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
4	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	baby	baby	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
6	that	that	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	8	nsubj:pass	_	_
7	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	8	aux:pass	_	_
8	expected	expect	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	5	acl:relcl	_	_
9	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	10	cc	_	_
10	wished	wish	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	8	conj	_	_
11	for	for	ADP	IN	_	10	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **refer** | present | It |  |  |  |  | to a baby | vn relate-86.2-2 «NP V PP.co-theme»: agent=Theme to baby=Co-Theme |
| 2 | **expect** | present · passive |  | a baby |  |  |  |  | vn conjecture-29.5-1 «NP V NP»: subject=Theme |
| 3 | **wish** | participle |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn wish-62 «NP V for NP S\_INF»: agent=Pivot |

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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: [Soft words for hard things: pregnancy…, exam 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/euphemisms/11-pregnancy-and-birth/e3/)
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