---
title: Identify the principal distinction between weathering and erosion. — Weathering and erosion · tree and pragmatics
description: Identify the principal distinction between weathering and erosion. Exam question 1 of lesson 52 «Weathering and erosion» 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 wrong.
---

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# Exam question 1 · Weathering and erosion

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Identify the principal distinction between weathering and erosion.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 2 · **The right answer:** option 4 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** you · **What happens:** identify · **To what, where:** principal distinction

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 1 of lesson 52 «Weathering and erosion» of the geography 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/geography/52-weathering-and-erosion/#e1).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:geography:52-weathering-and-erosion:e1:1
# text = Identify the principal distinction between weathering and erosion.
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	distinction	distinction	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
5	between	between	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	weathering	weathering	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nmod	_	_
7	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	8	cc	_	_
8	erosion	erosion	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	.	.	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 distinction |  |  |  | between weathering and erosion | vn characterize-29.2-1-1 «NP V NP S\_ING»: agent=Agent distinction=Theme |

<!-- .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 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Weathering is caused by animals, whereas erosion is caused by volcanoes

```conllu
# sent_id = question:geography:52-weathering-and-erosion:e1:o1:1
# text = Weathering is caused by animals, whereas erosion is caused by volcanoes
1	Weathering	weathering	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj:pass	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux:pass	_	_
3	caused	cause	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
4	by	by	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	animals	animal	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	10	punct	_	_
7	whereas	whereas	SCONJ	IN	_	10	mark	_	_
8	erosion	erosion	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	nsubj:pass	_	_
9	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	10	aux:pass	_	_
10	caused	cause	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	3	parataxis	_	_
11	by	by	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
12	volcanoes	volcano	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	10	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **cause** | present · passive | animals | Weathering |  |  |  |  | vn engender-27.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Precondition subject=Patient |
| 2 | **cause** | present · passive | volcanoes | erosion |  |  |  |  | vn engender-27.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Precondition subject=Patient |

### Option 2 · ← Mova's choice {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Weathering creates rock, whereas erosion destroys it

```conllu
# sent_id = question:geography:52-weathering-and-erosion:e1:o2:1
# text = Weathering creates rock, whereas erosion destroys it
1	Weathering	weathering	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nsubj	_	_
2	creates	create	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	rock	rock	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	7	punct	_	_
5	whereas	whereas	SCONJ	IN	_	7	mark	_	_
6	erosion	erosion	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nsubj	_	_
7	destroys	destroy	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	2	conj	_	_
8	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	7	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **create** | present | Weathering | rock |  |  |  |  | vn create-26.4 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent rock=Result |
| 2 | **destroy** | present | erosion | rock |  |  |  |  | vn destroy-44 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent it=Patient |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Weathering occurs solely in winter, whereas erosion occurs in summer

```conllu
# sent_id = question:geography:52-weathering-and-erosion:e1:o3:1
# text = Weathering occurs solely in winter, whereas erosion occurs in summer
1	Weathering	weathering	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nsubj	_	_
2	occurs	occur	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	solely	solely	ADV	RB	_	2	advmod	_	_
4	in	in	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	winter	winter	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	9	punct	_	_
7	whereas	whereas	SCONJ	IN	_	9	mark	_	_
8	erosion	erosion	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	nsubj	_	_
9	occurs	occur	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	2	conj	_	_
10	in	in	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
11	summer	summer	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **occur** | present | Weathering |  |  |  | winter | solely *property* | vn occur-48.3-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 2 | **occur** | present | erosion |  |  |  | summer |  | vn occur-48.3-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Weathering disintegrates rock in situ, whereas erosion removes the fragments

```conllu
# sent_id = question:geography:52-weathering-and-erosion:e1:o4:1
# text = Weathering disintegrates rock in situ, whereas erosion removes the fragments
1	Weathering	weathering	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nsubj	_	_
2	disintegrates	disintegrate	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	rock	rock	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
4	in	in	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	situ	situ	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	9	punct	_	_
7	whereas	whereas	SCONJ	IN	_	9	mark	_	_
8	erosion	erosion	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	nsubj	_	_
9	removes	remove	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	2	conj	_	_
10	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	fragments	fragment	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	9	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **disintegrate** | present | Weathering | rock |  | situ |  |  | vn other\_cos-45.4 «NP V NP.patient»: agent=Agent rock=Patient |
| 2 | **remove** | present | erosion | the fragments |  |  |  |  | vn fire-10.10 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent fragment=Theme |

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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.

<!-- /div -->

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- ← previous: [Weathering and erosion, test 11](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/geography/52-weathering-and-erosion/t11/)
- next →: [Weathering and erosion, exam 2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/geography/52-weathering-and-erosion/e2/)
- ↑ back to [Weathering and erosion](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/geography/52-weathering-and-erosion/)