---
title: Which of the following most accurately characterises a remark by a p… — Soft words for hard things: relations… · tree and pragmatics
description: Which of the following most accurately characterises a remark by a parent that she and her sibling are "not close"? Exam question 4 of lesson 13 «Soft words for hard things: relations and family» of the euphemisms course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the questi
---

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# Exam question 4 · Soft words for hard things: relations and family

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Which of the following most accurately characterises a remark by a parent that she and her sibling are "not close"?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 3 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** parent · **What happens:** follow, characteris, not be · **To what, where:** remark, parent

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 4 of lesson 13 «Soft words for hard things: relations and family» 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/13-relations-and-family/#e4).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:13-relations-and-family:e4:1
# text = Which of the following most accurately characterises a remark by a parent that she and her sibling are "not close"?
1	Which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	7	nsubj	_	_
2	of	of	SCONJ	IN	_	7	mark	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
4	following	follow	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	7	csubj	_	_
5	most	most	ADV	RBS	Degree=Sup	6	advmod	_	_
6	accurately	accurately	ADV	RB	_	7	advmod	_	_
7	characterises	characteris	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
8	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	remark	remark	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obj	_	_
10	by	by	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
11	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
12	parent	parent	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obl	_	_
13	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	21	mark	_	_
14	she	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	21	nsubj	_	_
15	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	17	cc	_	_
16	her	her	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	17	nmod:poss	_	_
17	sibling	sibling	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	conj	_	_
18	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	21	cop	_	_
19	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	21	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
20	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	21	advmod	_	_
21	close	close	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	12	acl:relcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
22	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	21	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
23	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	7	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 |  | a remark |  |  |  | by a parent; accurately *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **not** **is** *in a quote* | present | parent | a parent *not said here* |  |  |  | close *property* | 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 · ← Mova's choice {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The siblings were not born as twins

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:13-relations-and-family:e4:o1:1
# text = The siblings were not born as twins
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	siblings	sibling	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	nsubj:pass	_	_
3	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	aux:pass	_	_
4	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	5	advmod	_	_
5	born	bear	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
6	as	as	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	twins	twin	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **bear** | past · passive |  | the siblings |  |  |  | as twins | vn birth-28.2-1-1 «NP V NP»: subject=Patient |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The siblings are not related by blood

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:13-relations-and-family:e4:o2:1
# text = The siblings are not related by blood
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	siblings	sibling	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	nsubj:pass	_	_
3	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	aux:pass	_	_
4	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	5	advmod	_	_
5	related	relate	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
6	by	by	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	blood	blood	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **relate** | present · passive |  | the siblings |  |  |  | by blood | vn involve-107.1 «NP V NP»: subject=Theme |

### Option 3 · ✓ the right answer {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The siblings have a poor or distant relationship

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:13-relations-and-family:e4:o3:1
# text = The siblings have a poor or distant relationship
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	siblings	sibling	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj	_	_
3	have	have	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
5	poor	poor	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	amod	_	_
6	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	7	cc	_	_
7	distant	distant	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	conj	_	_
8	relationship	relationship	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **have** | present | the siblings | a poor relationship |  |  |  |  | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent relationship=Patient |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The siblings reside at a considerable distance

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:13-relations-and-family:e4:o4:1
# text = The siblings reside at a considerable distance
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	siblings	sibling	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj	_	_
3	reside	reside	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	at	at	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
5	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
6	considerable	considerable	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
7	distance	distance	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **reside** | present | the siblings |  |  |  |  | at a considerable distance | vn exist-47.1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme at distance=Location |

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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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- ← previous: [Soft words for hard things: relations…, exam 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/euphemisms/13-relations-and-family/e3/)
- next →: [Soft words for hard things: relations…, test 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/euphemisms/14-family-and-behaviour/t1/)
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