---
title: Ascertain the number of constituent states of the United States of A… — The United States · tree and pragmatics
description: Ascertain the number of constituent states of the United States of America. Exam question 1 of lesson 9 «The United States» 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 · The United States

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Ascertain the number of constituent states of the United States of America.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 4 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** you · **What happens:** ascertain · **To what, where:** number

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 1 of lesson 9 «The United States» 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/9-the-united-states/#e1).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:geography:9-the-united-states:e1:1
# text = Ascertain the number of constituent states of the United States of America.
1	Ascertain	ascertain	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	number	number	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
4	of	of	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	constituent	constituent	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	compound	_	_
6	states	state	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nmod	_	_
7	of	of	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
9	United	United	ADJ	NNP	Degree=Pos	10	amod	_	_
10	States	State	PROPN	NNPS	Number=Plur	6	nmod	_	_
11	of	of	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
12	America	America	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	10	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	.	.	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 number of constituent states of the United States of America |  |  |  |  | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent number=Topic |

<!-- .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 -->
Fifty-two

```conllu
# sent_id = question:geography:9-the-united-states:e1:o1:1
# text = Fifty-two
1	Fifty	fifty	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	3	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	two	two	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	1	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .note -->
The frames reader finds no event or fact in this sentence.

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Thirteen

```conllu
# sent_id = question:geography:9-the-united-states:e1:o2:1
# text = Thirteen
1	Thirteen	thirteen	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .note -->
The frames reader finds no event or fact in this sentence.

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Forty-eight

```conllu
# sent_id = question:geography:9-the-united-states:e1:o3:1
# text = Forty-eight
1	Forty	forty	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	3	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	eight	eight	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	1	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .note -->
The frames reader finds no event or fact in this sentence.

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Fifty

```conllu
# sent_id = question:geography:9-the-united-states:e1:o4:1
# text = Fifty
1	Fifty	fifty	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .note -->
The frames reader finds no event or fact in this sentence.

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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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