---
title: Why is Australia called a continent and not just the biggest island? — Continents and oceans · tree and pragmatics
description: Why is Australia called a continent and not just the biggest island? Test 5 of lesson 5 «Continents and oceans» of the geography 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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# Test 5 · Continents and oceans

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Why is Australia called a continent and not just the biggest island?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 1 · right ✓ · **What happens:** call · **To what, where:** continent · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 5 of lesson 5 «Continents and oceans» of the geography course of Mova's primary school. 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/geography/5-continents-and-oceans/#t5).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:geography:5-continents-and-oceans:t5:1
# text = Why is Australia called a continent and not just the biggest island?
1	Why	why	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	4	advmod	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux:pass	_	_
3	Australia	Australia	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	4	compound	_	_
4	called	call	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
5	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	continent	continent	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	xcomp	_	_
7	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	12	cc	_	_
8	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	12	advmod	_	_
9	just	just	ADV	RB	_	12	advmod	_	_
10	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
11	biggest	big	ADJ	JJS	Degree=Sup	12	amod	_	_
12	island	island	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **call** | present · passive |  | a continent and the biggest island |  |  |  |  | vn initiate\_communication-37.4.2-1 «NP V» |

<!-- .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 -->
It is a very big landmass on its own, so it is counted as a continent

<!-- fold The tree, 16 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:geography:5-continents-and-oceans:t5:o1:1
# text = It is a very big landmass on its own, so it is counted as a continent
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	6	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	cop	_	_
3	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
4	very	very	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
5	big	big	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	landmass	landmass	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
7	on	on	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	9	nmod:poss	_	_
9	own	own	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	14	punct	_	_
11	so	so	ADV	RB	_	14	advmod	_	_
12	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	14	nsubj:pass	_	_
13	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	14	aux:pass	_	_
14	counted	count	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	6	acl	_	_
15	as	as	ADP	IN	_	17	case	_	_
16	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	17	det	_	_
17	continent	continent	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | It | a big landmass |  | landmass's own |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **count** | present · passive | a big landmass *not said here* | landmass |  |  |  | as a continent | vn characterize-29.2 «NP V NP S\_ING»: subject=Theme as continent=Attribute |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It is bigger than Asia

```conllu
# sent_id = question:geography:5-continents-and-oceans:t5:o2:1
# text = It is bigger than Asia
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	cop	_	_
3	bigger	big	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	0	root	_	_
4	than	than	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	Asia	Asia	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | It |  |  |  |  | than Asia; big *property* | tree rules |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Islands must be in the Pacific

```conllu
# sent_id = question:geography:5-continents-and-oceans:t5:o3:1
# text = Islands must be in the Pacific
1	Islands	island	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	0	root	_	_
2	must	must	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	6	aux	_	_
3	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	6	cop	_	_
4	in	in	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	Pacific	Pacific	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	1	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | must |  |  |  | the Pacific |  |  | tree rules |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Its name was chosen by Captain Cook, who wanted it called a continent and not an island

<!-- fold The tree, 17 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:geography:5-continents-and-oceans:t5:o4:1
# text = Its name was chosen by Captain Cook, who wanted it called a continent and not an island
1	Its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	2	nmod:poss	_	_
2	name	name	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj:pass	_	_
3	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux:pass	_	_
4	chosen	choose	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
5	by	by	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	Captain	Captain	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
7	Cook	Cook	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	6	flat	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	10	punct	_	_
9	who	who	PRON	WP	PronType=Rel	10	nsubj	_	_
10	wanted	want	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	6	acl:relcl	_	_
11	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	10	obj	_	_
12	called	call	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	10	xcomp	_	_
13	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	14	det	_	_
14	continent	continent	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	obj	_	_
15	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	18	cc	_	_
16	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	18	advmod	_	_
17	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	18	det	_	_
18	island	island	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **choose** | past · passive | Captain | Its name |  |  |  |  | vn get-13.5.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent subject=Theme |
| 2 | **want** | past | Captain | name |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 3 | **call** *not said to happen* | participle | name *not said here* | a continent and a island |  |  |  |  | vn initiate\_communication-37.4.2-1 «NP V NP.recipient»: agent=Agent continent=Recipient |
| 4 | **name** |  | Its *= it* |  |  |  |  |  | nom name «communication 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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- ← previous: [Continents and oceans, test 4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/geography/5-continents-and-oceans/t4/)
- next →: [Continents and oceans, test 6](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/geography/5-continents-and-oceans/t6/)
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