---
title: Identify the principal reason for which a houseplant ought to be wat… — Chores and broken things · tree and pragmatics
description: Identify the principal reason for which a houseplant ought to be watered solely when its soil is dry to the touch. Exam question 2 of lesson 111 «Chores and broken things» of the everyday course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each option; Mov
---

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# Exam question 2 · Chores and broken things

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Identify the principal reason for which a houseplant ought to be watered solely when its soil is dry to the touch.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 2 · **The right answer:** option 1 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** you, soil, houseplant · **What happens:** identify, water, be, soil · **To what, where:** principal reason, houseplant

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 2 of lesson 111 «Chores and broken things» of the everyday 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/everyday/111-chores-and-broken-things/#e2).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:111-chores-and-broken-things:e2:1
# text = Identify the principal reason for which a houseplant ought to be watered solely when its soil is dry to the touch.
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	12	obl	_	_
7	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	houseplant	houseplant	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	nsubj:pass	_	_
9	ought	ought	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	12	aux	_	_
10	to	to	PART	TO	_	12	mark	_	_
11	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	12	aux:pass	_	_
12	watered	water	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	4	acl:relcl	_	_
13	solely	solely	ADV	RB	_	12	advmod	_	_
14	when	when	SCONJ	WRB	_	18	mark	_	_
15	its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	16	nmod:poss	_	_
16	soil	soil	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	18	nsubj	_	_
17	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	18	cop	_	_
18	dry	dry	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	12	advcl	_	_
19	to	to	ADP	IN	_	21	case	_	_
20	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	21	det	_	_
21	touch	touch	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	18	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
22	.	.	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 | **water** | ought · passive | you *not said here* | a houseplant |  |  |  | for the principal reason; solely *property* | vn butter-9.9 «NP V NP.destination»: subject=Destination |
| 3 | **is** | present | houseplant's soil |  |  |  |  | to the touch; dry *property* | tree rules |
| 4 | **soil** |  | houseplant |  |  |  |  |  | nom soil «state transitive»: poss=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 · ✓ the right answer {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Excessive watering causes the roots to rot

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:111-chores-and-broken-things:e2:o1:1
# text = Excessive watering causes the roots to rot
1	Excessive	excessive	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	amod	_	_
2	watering	watering	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	causes	cause	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	roots	root	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obj	_	_
6	to	to	PART	TO	_	7	mark	_	_
7	rot	rot	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	xcomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **cause** | present | Excessive watering | the roots |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **rot** | to-infinitive | the roots *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn entity\_specific\_cos-45.5 «NP.patient V»: agent=Patient |

### Option 2 · ← Mova's choice {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Water given on a dry day evaporates at once

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:111-chores-and-broken-things:e2:o2:1
# text = Water given on a dry day evaporates at once
1	Water	water	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nsubj	_	_
2	given	give	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	1	acl	_	_
3	on	on	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
4	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
5	dry	dry	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	day	day	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
7	evaporates	evaporate	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
8	at	at	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
9	once	once	ADV	RB	NumForm=Word|NumType=Mult	7	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **give** | participle |  | Water *not said here* |  |  | day |  | vn break\_down-45.8 «NP V»: agent=Patient |
| 2 | **evaporate** | present | Water |  |  |  |  |  | vn other\_cos-45.4 «NP.patient V»: agent=Patient |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Daily watering makes the plant grow too tall

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:111-chores-and-broken-things:e2:o3:1
# text = Daily watering makes the plant grow too tall
1	Daily	daily	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	amod	_	_
2	watering	watering	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	makes	make	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	plant	plant	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
6	grow	grow	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	xcomp	_	_
7	too	too	ADV	RB	_	8	advmod	_	_
8	tall	tall	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	xcomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **make** | present | Daily watering | the plant |  |  |  | tall *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **grow** | present | the plant *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn appear-48.1.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Dry soil is the plant's sole source of nourishment

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:111-chores-and-broken-things:e2:o4:1
# text = Dry soil is the plant's sole source of nourishment
1	Dry	dry	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	amod	_	_
2	soil	soil	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nsubj	_	_
3	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	8	cop	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	plant	plant	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	's	's	PART	POS	_	5	case	_	_
7	sole	sole	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	amod	_	_
8	source	source	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
9	of	of	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
10	nourishment	nourishment	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | Dry soil | the plant's sole source |  |  |  | of nourishment | tree rules |

<!-- 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: [Chores and broken things, exam 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/everyday/111-chores-and-broken-things/e1/)
- next →: [Chores and broken things, exam 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/everyday/111-chores-and-broken-things/e3/)
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