---
title: Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the… — «Just hit him back» or «tell a teacher… · tree and pragmatics
description: Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the striking of the first blow in anticipation of an attack? Exam question 3 of lesson 391 ««Just hit him back» or «tell a teacher»? What the grown-ups say» of the everyday course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and p
---

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# Exam question 3 · «Just hit him back» or «tell a teacher»? What the grown-up…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the striking of the first blow in anticipation of an attack?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 4 · wrong ✗ · **What happens:** follow, characteris, strike · **To what, where:** striking, first blow

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 3 of lesson 391 ««Just hit him back» or «tell a teacher»? What the grown-ups say» 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/391-just-hit-him-back-or-tell-a-teacher/#e3).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:391-just-hit-him-back-or-tell-a-teacher:e3:1
# text = Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the striking of the first blow in anticipation of an attack?
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	striking	striking	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obj	_	_
11	of	of	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
12	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	14	det	_	_
13	first	first	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos|NumForm=Word|NumType=Ord	14	amod	_	_
14	blow	blow	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	nmod	_	_
15	in	in	ADP	IN	_	16	case	_	_
16	anticipation	anticipation	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	nmod	_	_
17	of	of	ADP	IN	_	19	case	_	_
18	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	19	det	_	_
19	attack	attack	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	16	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
20	?	?	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 striking of the first blow in anticipation of a attack |  |  |  | of the following statements; accurately *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **strike** |  |  | the first blow in anticipation of a attack |  |  |  |  | nom striking «event transitive»: of=patient |

<!-- .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 -->
It constitutes lawful self-defence in all cases

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:391-just-hit-him-back-or-tell-a-teacher:e3:o1:1
# text = It constitutes lawful self-defence in all cases
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	constitutes	constitute	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	lawful	lawful	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
4	self	self	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	compound	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	4	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	defence	defence	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
7	in	in	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	all	all	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	9	det	_	_
9	cases	case	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **constitute** | present | It | lawful self defence |  | all cases |  |  | vn comprise-107.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Theme defence=Pivot |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It constitutes the avoidance of a fight altogether

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:391-just-hit-him-back-or-tell-a-teacher:e3:o2:1
# text = It constitutes the avoidance of a fight altogether
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	constitutes	constitute	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	avoidance	avoidance	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
5	of	of	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	fight	fight	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nmod	_	_
8	altogether	altogether	ADV	RB	_	2	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **constitute** | present | It | the avoidance of a fight |  |  |  | altogether *property* | vn comprise-107.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Theme avoidance=Pivot |
| 2 | **avoid** |  |  | a fight |  |  |  |  | nom avoidance «act transitive»: of=patient |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It is without consequence where no injury results

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:391-just-hit-him-back-or-tell-a-teacher:e3:o3:1
# text = It is without consequence where no injury results
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
3	without	without	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
4	consequence	consequence	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
5	where	where	ADV	WRB	PronType=Rel	8	advmod	_	_
6	no	no	DET	DT	PronType=Neg	7	det	_	_
7	injury	injury	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	compound	_	_
8	results	result	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | It |  |  |  |  | without consequence; injury results *nmod* | tree rules |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It constitutes the initiation of a fight

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:391-just-hit-him-back-or-tell-a-teacher:e3:o4:1
# text = It constitutes the initiation of a fight
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	constitutes	constitute	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	initiation	initiation	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
5	of	of	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	fight	fight	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **constitute** | present | It | the initiation of a fight |  |  |  |  | vn comprise-107.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Theme initiation=Pivot |
| 2 | **initiate** |  |  | a fight |  |  |  |  | nom initiation «event 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.

<!-- /div -->

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- ← previous: [«Just hit him back» or «tell a teacher…, exam 2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/everyday/391-just-hit-him-back-or-tell-a-teacher/e2/)
- next →: [«Just hit him back» or «tell a teacher…, exam 4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/everyday/391-just-hit-him-back-or-tell-a-teacher/e4/)
- ↑ back to [«Just hit him back» or «tell a teacher»? What the grown-ups say](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/everyday/391-just-hit-him-back-or-tell-a-teacher/)