---
title: Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the… — Birthday parties · tree and pragmatics
description: Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the significance of a present? Exam question 3 of lesson 130 «Birthday parties» of the everyday course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each option; Mova's choice was wrong.
---

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# Exam question 3 · Birthday parties

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the significance of a present?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 2 · wrong ✗ · **What happens:** follow, characteris · **To what, where:** significance

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 3 of lesson 130 «Birthday parties» 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/130-birthday-parties/#e3).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:130-birthday-parties:e3:1
# text = Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the significance of a present?
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	significance	significance	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obj	_	_
11	of	of	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
12	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
13	present	present	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	?	?	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 significance of a present |  |  |  | of the following statements; accurately *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 -->
A present is worthless if it is homemade

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:130-birthday-parties:e3:o1:1
# text = A present is worthless if it is homemade
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	present	present	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
3	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
4	worthless	worthless	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
5	if	if	SCONJ	IN	_	8	mark	_	_
6	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	8	nsubj	_	_
7	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	8	cop	_	_
8	homemade	homemade	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	ccomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | a present |  |  |  |  | worthless *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **is** *a condition, not said to happen* | present | present |  |  |  |  | homemade *property* | tree rules |

### Option 2 · ✓ the right answer {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The thought matters, not the price

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:130-birthday-parties:e3:o2:1
# text = The thought matters, not the price
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	thought	thought	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	matters	matter	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	7	punct	_	_
5	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	7	advmod	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	price	price	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **matter** | present | the thought |  |  |  |  |  | vn matter-91 «NP V»: agent=Stimulus |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A present's price should be told to all

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:130-birthday-parties:e3:o3:1
# text = A present's price should be told to all
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	present	present	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	's	's	PART	POS	_	2	case	_	_
4	price	price	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nsubj:pass	_	_
5	should	should	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	7	aux	_	_
6	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	7	aux:pass	_	_
7	told	tell	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
8	to	to	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
9	all	all	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	7	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **tell** *speech: assert* | should · passive |  | a present's price | all |  |  |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP PP.recipient»: subject=Topic to all=Recipient |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The most expensive gift is the best gift

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:130-birthday-parties:e3:o4:1
# text = The most expensive gift is the best gift
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
2	most	most	ADV	RBS	Degree=Sup	3	advmod	_	_
3	expensive	expensive	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	amod	_	_
4	gift	gift	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nsubj	_	_
5	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	8	cop	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
7	best	good	ADJ	JJS	Degree=Sup	8	amod	_	_
8	gift	gift	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | the expensive gift | the best gift |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

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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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