--- title: Ascertain the activity undertaken by the writer of the postcard on t… — Olympiad: decoding a short French text… · tree and pragmatics description: Ascertain the activity undertaken by the writer of the postcard on the preceding day, as stated in the phrase "Hier, on a nagé dans la mer". Exam question 1 of lesson 39 «Olympiad: decoding a short French text ★★★» of the French course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatic --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/french/39-olympiad-decoding-a-short-french-text/e1/) [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/) / [French](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/french/) / [Olympiad: decoding a short French text…](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/french/39-olympiad-decoding-a-short-french-text/) / e1 # Exam question 1 · Olympiad: decoding a short French text ★★★ Ascertain the activity undertaken by the writer of the postcard on the preceding day, as stated in the phrase "Hier, on a nagé dans la mer". **Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 2 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** you · **What happens:** ascertain, undertake, precede, state · **To what, where:** activity, phrase This is exam question 1 of lesson 39 «Olympiad: decoding a short French text ★★★» of the French 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/french/39-olympiad-decoding-a-short-french-text/#e1). ## The question {#question} ```conllu # sent_id = question:french:39-olympiad-decoding-a-short-french-text:e1:1 # text = Ascertain the activity undertaken by the writer of the postcard on the preceding day, as stated in the phrase "Hier, on a nagé dans la mer". 1 Ascertain ascertain VERB VB Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin 0 root _ _ 2 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 3 det _ _ 3 activity activity NOUN NN Number=Sing 1 obj _ _ 4 undertaken undertake VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass 3 acl _ _ 5 by by ADP IN _ 7 case _ _ 6 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 7 det _ _ 7 writer writer NOUN NN Number=Sing 4 obl:agent _ _ 8 of of ADP IN _ 10 case _ _ 9 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 10 det _ _ 10 postcard postcard NOUN NN Number=Sing 7 nmod _ _ 11 on on ADP IN _ 14 case _ _ 12 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 14 det _ _ 13 preceding precede VERB VBG VerbForm=Ger 14 amod _ _ 14 day day NOUN NN Number=Sing 4 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 15 , , PUNCT , _ 17 punct _ _ 16 as as SCONJ IN _ 17 mark _ _ 17 stated state VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass 1 parataxis _ _ 18 in in ADP IN _ 20 case _ _ 19 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 20 det _ _ 20 phrase phrase NOUN NN Number=Sing 17 obl _ _ 21 " " PUNCT `` _ 22 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 22 Hier hi ADJ JJR Degree=Cmp 20 amod _ SpaceAfter=No 23 , , PUNCT , _ 28 punct _ _ 24 on on SCONJ IN _ 28 mark _ _ 25 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 27 det _ _ 26 nagé nagé ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 27 amod _ _ 27 dans dan NOUN NNS Number=Plur 28 nsubj _ _ 28 la la X FW Foreign=Yes 17 parataxis _ _ 29 mer mer X FW _ 28 flat:foreign _ SpaceAfter=No 30 " " PUNCT '' _ 28 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 31 . . PUNCT . _ 1 punct _ _ ``` | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **ascertain** | imperative | you *not said here* | the activity | | | | | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent activity=Topic | | 2 | **undertake** | participle | | the activity *not said here* | | | day | | vn begin-55.1-1-1 «NP.eventuality V»: agent=Eventuality | | 3 | **precede** | gerund | | | | | | | vn contiguous\_location-47.8 «NP V NP»: agent=Theme | | 4 | **state** *speech: other* | participle | | | | the phrase | | | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic | 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} Walking along the shore ```conllu # sent_id = question:french:39-olympiad-decoding-a-short-french-text:e1:o1:1 # text = Walking along the shore 1 Walking walk VERB VBG Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part 0 root _ _ 2 along along ADP IN _ 4 case _ _ 3 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 4 det _ _ 4 shore shore NOUN NN Number=Sing 1 obl _ _ ``` | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **walk** | gerund | | | | the shore | | | vn run-51.3.2-2-1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme along shore=Trajectory | ### Option 2 · ✓ the right answer {#o2} Swimming in the sea ```conllu # sent_id = question:french:39-olympiad-decoding-a-short-french-text:e1:o2:1 # text = Swimming in the sea 1 Swimming swim VERB VBG Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part 0 root _ _ 2 in in ADP IN _ 4 case _ _ 3 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 4 det _ _ 4 sea sea NOUN NN Number=Sing 1 obl _ _ ``` | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **swim** | gerund | | | | the sea | | | vn run-51.3.2-1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme in sea=Trajectory | ### Option 3 {#o3} Sailing upon the sea ```conllu # sent_id = question:french:39-olympiad-decoding-a-short-french-text:e1:o3:1 # text = Sailing upon the sea 1 Sailing sail VERB VBG Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part 0 root _ _ 2 upon upon ADP IN _ 4 case _ _ 3 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 4 det _ _ 4 sea sea NOUN NN Number=Sing 1 obl _ _ ``` | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **sail** | gerund | | | | | | upon the sea | vn nonvehicle-51.4.2-1 «NP.agent V»: agent=Agent | ### Option 4 {#o4} Swimming with her mother ```conllu # sent_id = question:french:39-olympiad-decoding-a-short-french-text:e1:o4:1 # text = Swimming with her mother 1 Swimming swim VERB VBG Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part 0 root _ _ 2 with with ADP IN _ 4 case _ _ 3 her her PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 4 nmod:poss _ _ 4 mother mother NOUN NN Number=Sing 1 obl _ _ ``` | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **swim** | gerund | | | | | | with her mother | vn swarm-47.5.1-1 «PP.location V PP.theme»: agent=Location with mother=Theme | **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. - ← previous: [Olympiad: decoding a short French text…, test 11](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/french/39-olympiad-decoding-a-short-french-text/t11/) - next →: [Olympiad: decoding a short French text…, exam 2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/french/39-olympiad-decoding-a-short-french-text/e2/) - ↑ back to [Olympiad: decoding a short French text ★★★](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/french/39-olympiad-decoding-a-short-french-text/)