---
title: Ascertain the appropriate conduct towards persons who habitually dim… — What a real friend is · tree and pragmatics
description: Ascertain the appropriate conduct towards persons who habitually diminish one's self-regard. Exam question 2 of lesson 485 «What a real friend is» 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 2 · What a real friend is

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Ascertain the appropriate conduct towards persons who habitually diminish one's self-regard.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 2 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** you, persons, one · **What happens:** ascertain, diminish, regard · **To what, where:** appropriate conduct, self regard

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This is exam question 2 of lesson 485 «What a real friend is» 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/485-what-a-real-friend-is/#e2).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:485-what-a-real-friend-is:e2:1
# text = Ascertain the appropriate conduct towards persons who habitually diminish one's self-regard.
1	Ascertain	ascertain	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
3	appropriate	appropriate	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	amod	_	_
4	conduct	conduct	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
5	towards	towards	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	persons	person	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	1	obl	_	_
7	who	who	PRON	WP	PronType=Rel	9	nsubj	_	_
8	habitually	habitually	ADV	RB	_	9	advmod	_	_
9	diminish	diminish	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	acl:relcl	_	_
10	one	one	PRON	PRP	Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	14	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	's	's	PART	POS	_	10	case	_	_
12	self	self	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	compound	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	12	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	regard	regard	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **ascertain** | imperative | you *not said here* | the appropriate conduct |  |  |  | towards persons | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent conduct=Topic |
| 2 | **diminish** | present | persons | one's self regard |  |  |  | habitually *property* | vn caused\_calibratable\_cos-45.6.2-1 «NP V NP.patient»: agent=Causer regard=Patient |
| 3 | **regard** |  | one |  |  |  |  |  | nom regard «cognition 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 · ← Mova's choice {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
To adopt their conduct as one's own

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:485-what-a-real-friend-is:e2:o1:1
# text = To adopt their conduct as one's own
1	To	to	PART	TO	_	2	mark	_	_
2	adopt	adopt	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	4	nmod:poss	_	_
4	conduct	conduct	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
5	as	as	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
6	one	one	PRON	PRP	Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	8	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	's	's	PART	POS	_	6	case	_	_
8	own	own	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **adopt** | to-infinitive |  | their conduct |  |  |  | as one's own | vn appoint-29.1 «NP V NP PP.attribute»: agent=Agent conduct=Theme as own=Attribute |
| 2 | **conduct** |  | their *= they* |  |  |  |  |  | nom conduct «act transitive»: poss=agent |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
To remain courteous whilst ceasing to seek their approval

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:485-what-a-real-friend-is:e2:o2:1
# text = To remain courteous whilst ceasing to seek their approval
1	To	to	PART	TO	_	3	mark	_	_
2	remain	remain	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	cop	_	_
3	courteous	courteous	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
4	whilst	whilst	SCONJ	IN	_	5	mark	_	_
5	ceasing	cease	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	3	advcl	_	_
6	to	to	PART	TO	_	7	mark	_	_
7	seek	seek	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	xcomp	_	_
8	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	9	nmod:poss	_	_
9	approval	approval	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | to-infinitive |  |  |  |  |  | courteous *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **cease** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn stop-55.4-1-1 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Affector clause=Eventuality |
| 3 | **seek** | to-infinitive |  | their approval |  |  |  |  | vn hunt-35.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent approval=Theme |
| 4 | **approve** |  | their *= they* |  |  |  |  |  | nom approval «act transitive»: poss=agent |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
To retaliate by diminishing them in turn

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:485-what-a-real-friend-is:e2:o3:1
# text = To retaliate by diminishing them in turn
1	To	to	PART	TO	_	2	mark	_	_
2	retaliate	retaliate	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	by	by	SCONJ	IN	_	4	mark	_	_
4	diminishing	diminish	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	2	advcl	_	_
5	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	obj	_	_
6	in	in	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	turn	turn	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **retaliate** | to-infinitive |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn rebel-71.2-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **diminish** | gerund |  | them *= they* |  | turn |  |  | vn caused\_calibratable\_cos-45.6.2-1 «NP V NP.patient»: agent=Causer they=Patient |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
To redouble one's efforts to secure their approval

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:485-what-a-real-friend-is:e2:o4:1
# text = To redouble one's efforts to secure their approval
1	To	to	PART	TO	_	2	mark	_	_
2	redouble	redouble	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	one	one	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	's	's	PART	POS	_	3	case	_	_
5	efforts	effort	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obj	_	_
6	to	to	PART	TO	_	7	mark	_	_
7	secure	secure	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	2	advcl	_	_
8	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	9	nmod:poss	_	_
9	approval	approval	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **redouble** | to-infinitive |  | one's efforts |  |  |  |  | vn other\_cos-45.4 «NP V NP.patient»: agent=Agent effort=Patient |
| 2 | **secure** | to-infinitive |  | efforts's approval |  |  |  |  | vn ensure-99 «NP V NP»: agent=Precondition approval=Theme |
| 3 | **approve** |  | efforts *= effort* |  |  |  |  |  | nom approval «act transitive»: poss=agent |

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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.

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