---
title: Which of the following most accurately characterises the correct man… — Hair, nails and ears · tree and pragmatics
description: Which of the following most accurately characterises the correct manner of cutting toenails? Exam question 2 of lesson 77 «Hair, nails and ears» 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 right.
---

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# Exam question 2 · Hair, nails and ears

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Which of the following most accurately characterises the correct manner of cutting toenails?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 1 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** correct manner · **What happens:** follow, characteris, cut · **To what, where:** correct manner, toenails

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 2 of lesson 77 «Hair, nails and ears» 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/77-hair-nails-and-ears/#e2).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:77-hair-nails-and-ears:e2:1
# text = Which of the following most accurately characterises the correct manner of cutting toenails?
1	Which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	7	nsubj	_	_
2	of	of	SCONJ	IN	_	7	mark	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
4	following	follow	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	7	csubj	_	_
5	most	most	ADV	RBS	Degree=Sup	6	advmod	_	_
6	accurately	accurately	ADV	RB	_	7	advmod	_	_
7	characterises	characteris	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
9	correct	correct	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	10	amod	_	_
10	manner	manner	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obj	_	_
11	of	of	SCONJ	IN	_	12	mark	_	_
12	cutting	cut	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	10	acl	_	_
13	toenails	toenail	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	12	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	7	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 correct manner |  |  |  | accurately *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **cut** | gerund | the correct manner *not said here* | toenails |  |  |  |  | vn build-26.1-1 «NP.asset V NP»: agent=Asset toenail=Product |

<!-- .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 · ✓ the right answer {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Straight across, so that they do not grow into the skin

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:77-hair-nails-and-ears:e2:o1:1
# text = Straight across, so that they do not grow into the skin
1	Straight	straight	ADV	RB	_	2	advmod	_	_
2	across	across	ADV	RB	_	9	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	9	punct	_	_
4	so	so	SCONJ	IN	ExtPos=SCONJ	9	mark	_	_
5	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	4	fixed	_	_
6	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	9	nsubj	_	_
7	do	do	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	9	aux	_	_
8	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	9	advmod	_	_
9	grow	grow	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
10	into	into	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
11	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
12	skin	skin	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **grow** | present · do-support | they |  |  |  |  | into the skin *result*; across *property* | vn become-109.1-1 «NP V PP.attribute»: agent=Patient into skin=Result |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Filed from beneath until they are thin

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:77-hair-nails-and-ears:e2:o2:1
# text = Filed from beneath until they are thin
1	Filed	file	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
2	from	from	ADP	IN	_	3	case	_	_
3	beneath	beneath	ADV	RB	NumForm=Word|NumType=Mult	1	obl	_	_
4	until	until	SCONJ	IN	_	7	mark	_	_
5	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	7	nsubj	_	_
6	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	7	cop	_	_
7	thin	thin	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	1	advcl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **file** | participle |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V PP.initial\_location»: agent=Theme from beneath=Initial\_Location |
| 2 | **is** | present | they |  |  |  |  | thin *property* | tree rules |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
In a deep curve, cut as short as possible

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:77-hair-nails-and-ears:e2:o3:1
# text = In a deep curve, cut as short as possible
1	In	in	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
2	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
3	deep	deep	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	amod	_	_
4	curve	curve	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	6	punct	_	_
6	cut	cut	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	4	acl	_	_
7	as	as	ADV	RB	_	8	advmod	_	_
8	short	short	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	xcomp	_	_
9	as	as	SCONJ	IN	_	10	mark	_	_
10	possible	possible	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	advcl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **cut** | participle |  | a deep curve *not said here* |  |  |  | short *property* | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V ADV-Middle»: agent=Experiencer |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Torn off by hand when they become long

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:77-hair-nails-and-ears:e2:o4:1
# text = Torn off by hand when they become long
1	Torn	tear	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	7	advcl	_	_
2	off	off	ADP	RP	_	1	compound:prt	_	_
3	by	by	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
4	hand	hand	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obl	_	_
5	when	when	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	7	advmod	_	_
6	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	7	nsubj	_	_
7	become	become	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
8	long	long	ADV	RB	Degree=Pos	7	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **tear off** | participle | they *not said here* |  |  |  |  | by hand | vn run-51.3.2 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme by hand=Trajectory |
| 2 | **become** | present | they |  |  |  |  | long *property* | vn become-109.1-1-1 «NP V PP.attribute»: agent=Patient |

<!-- 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: [Hair, nails and ears, exam 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/everyday/77-hair-nails-and-ears/e1/)
- next →: [Hair, nails and ears, exam 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/everyday/77-hair-nails-and-ears/e3/)
- ↑ back to [Hair, nails and ears](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/everyday/77-hair-nails-and-ears/)