---
title: Identify the principal reason, as established in the lesson, for whi… — Three's a crowd, and the friend who pi… · tree and pragmatics
description: Identify the principal reason, as established in the lesson, for which friendships of three persons are prone to difficulty. Exam question 1 of lesson 478 «Three's a crowd, and the friend who picks someone else» of the everyday course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics
---

<!-- md -->
[Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/everyday/478-threes-a-crowd-and-the-friend-who-picks-someone-else/e1/)

<!-- crumbs -->
[home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/) / [questions](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/) / [Everyday](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/everyday/) / [Three's a crowd, and the friend who pi…](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/everyday/478-threes-a-crowd-and-the-friend-who-picks-someone-else/) / e1

# Exam question 1 · Three's a crowd, and the friend who picks someone else

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Identify the principal reason, as established in the lesson, for which friendships of three persons are prone to difficulty.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 4 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** you · **What happens:** identify, establish, be · **To what, where:** principal reason, lesson, prone

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 1 of lesson 478 «Three's a crowd, and the friend who picks someone else» 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/478-threes-a-crowd-and-the-friend-who-picks-someone-else/#e1).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:478-threes-a-crowd-and-the-friend-who-picks-someone-else:e1:1
# text = Identify the principal reason, as established in the lesson, for which friendships of three persons are prone to difficulty.
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	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	7	punct	_	_
6	as	as	SCONJ	IN	_	7	mark	_	_
7	established	establish	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	4	acl	_	_
8	in	in	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	lesson	lesson	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	19	punct	_	_
12	for	for	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
13	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	19	nsubj	_	_
14	friendships	friendship	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	19	nsubj	_	_
15	of	of	ADP	IN	_	17	case	_	_
16	three	three	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	17	nummod	_	_
17	persons	person	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	14	nmod	_	_
18	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	19	cop	_	_
19	prone	prone	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obl	_	_
20	to	to	ADP	IN	_	21	case	_	_
21	difficulty	difficulty	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	19	nmod	_	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 | **establish** | participle |  | the principal reason *not said here* |  | the lesson |  |  | vn indicate-78-1-1 «NP V NP to be NP»: agent=Pivot |
| 3 | **is a** | present |  | prone |  |  |  | to difficulty | 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 -->
Such friendships are prohibited by schools

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:478-threes-a-crowd-and-the-friend-who-picks-someone-else:e1:o1:1
# text = Such friendships are prohibited by schools
1	Such	such	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	amod	_	_
2	friendships	friendship	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj	_	_
3	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux:pass	_	_
4	prohibited	prohibit	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
5	by	by	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	schools	school	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **prohibit** | present · passive | schools | Such friendships |  |  |  |  | vn forbid-64.4-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Causer subject=Theme |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Three persons cannot converse simultaneously

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:478-threes-a-crowd-and-the-friend-who-picks-someone-else:e1:o2:1
# text = Three persons cannot converse simultaneously
1	Three	three	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	2	nummod	_	_
2	persons	person	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	nsubj	_	_
3	can	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	5	aux	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	5	advmod	_	_
5	converse	converse	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
6	simultaneously	simultaneously	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **converse** *speech: other* | can | Three persons |  |  |  |  | simultaneously *property* | vn chit\_chat-37.6 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The third member is invariably disliked

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:478-threes-a-crowd-and-the-friend-who-picks-someone-else:e1:o3:1
# text = The third member is invariably disliked
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	third	third	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos|NumForm=Word|NumType=Ord	3	amod	_	_
3	member	member	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nsubj:pass	_	_
4	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	aux:pass	_	_
5	invariably	invariably	ADV	RB	_	6	advmod	_	_
6	disliked	dislike	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **dislike** | present · passive |  | the third member |  |  |  | invariably *property* | vn admire-31.2-1 «NP V NP»: subject=Stimulus |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Two members may readily pair off, excluding the third

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:478-threes-a-crowd-and-the-friend-who-picks-someone-else:e1:o4:1
# text = Two members may readily pair off, excluding the third
1	Two	two	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	2	nummod	_	_
2	members	member	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	nsubj	_	_
3	may	may	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	5	aux	_	_
4	readily	readily	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
5	pair	pair	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
6	off	off	ADP	RP	_	5	compound:prt	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	8	punct	_	_
8	excluding	exclude	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	5	advcl	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	third	third	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos|NumForm=Word|NumType=Ord	8	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **pair off** | may | Two members |  |  |  |  | readily *property* | vn amalgamate-22.2-2 «NP V ADVP-Middle»: agent=Patient |
| 2 | **exclude** | gerund | Two members *not said here* | the third |  |  |  |  | vn forbid-64.4-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Causer third=Theme |

<!-- 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 -->

<!-- pn -->
- ← previous: [Three's a crowd, and the friend who pi…, test 11](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/everyday/478-threes-a-crowd-and-the-friend-who-picks-someone-else/t11/)
- next →: [Three's a crowd, and the friend who pi…, exam 2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/everyday/478-threes-a-crowd-and-the-friend-who-picks-someone-else/e2/)
- ↑ back to [Three's a crowd, and the friend who picks someone else](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/everyday/478-threes-a-crowd-and-the-friend-who-picks-someone-else/)