---
title: Given the sentences "The dog bit the man" and "The man bit the dog",… — What language is: sounds, words and ru… · tree and pragmatics
description: Given the sentences "The dog bit the man" and "The man bit the dog", select the response consistent with the established facts concerning English grammar. Exam question 3 of lesson 1 «What language is: sounds, words and rules everyone shares» of the language course of Mova's primary school, with the
---

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# Exam question 3 · What language is: sounds, words and rules everyone shares

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Given the sentences "The dog bit the man" and "The man bit the dog", select the response consistent with the established facts concerning English grammar.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 2 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** Given sentences, man, established facts · **What happens:** give, bite, select, establish, concern · **To what, where:** man, dog, response, English grammar

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 3 of lesson 1 «What language is: sounds, words and rules everyone shares» of the language 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/language/1-what-language-is-sounds-words-and-rules/#e3).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:1-what-language-is-sounds-words-and-rules:e3:1
# text = Given the sentences "The dog bit the man" and "The man bit the dog", select the response consistent with the established facts concerning English grammar.
1	Given	give	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	3	amod	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	sentences	sentence	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	nsubj	_	_
4	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	7	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	dog	dog	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nsubj	_	_
7	bit	bite	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	man	man	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	9	punct	_	_
11	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	15	cc	_	_
12	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	15	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	14	det	_	_
14	man	man	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	15	nsubj	_	_
15	bit	bite	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	7	conj	_	_
16	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	17	det	_	_
17	dog	dog	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	15	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
18	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	17	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
19	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	20	punct	_	_
20	select	select	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	15	conj	_	_
21	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	22	det	_	_
22	response	response	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	20	obj	_	_
23	consistent	consistent	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	20	xcomp	_	_
24	with	with	ADP	IN	_	27	case	_	_
25	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	27	det	_	_
26	established	establish	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	27	amod	_	_
27	facts	fact	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	23	obl	_	_
28	concerning	concern	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	27	acl	_	_
29	English	English	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	30	amod	_	_
30	grammar	grammar	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	28	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
31	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	7	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **give** | participle |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn break\_down-45.8 «NP V»: agent=Patient |
| 2 | **bite** *in a quote* | past | the Given sentences | the man |  |  |  |  | vn swat-18.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent man=Patient |
| 3 | **bite** *in a quote* | past | the man | the dog |  |  |  |  | vn swat-18.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent dog=Patient |
| 4 | **select** | infinitive | the man *not said here* | the response |  |  |  | consistent *property* | vn obtain-13.5.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent response=Theme |
| 5 | **establish** | participle |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn indicate-78-1-1 «NP V NP to be NP»: agent=Pivot |
| 6 | **concern** | gerund | the established facts *not said here* | English grammar |  |  |  |  | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Stimulus grammar=Experiencer |

<!-- .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 -->
Word order in English bears no relation to meaning

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:1-what-language-is-sounds-words-and-rules:e3:o1:1
# text = Word order in English bears no relation to meaning
1	Word	word	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	compound	_	_
2	order	order	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	in	in	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
4	English	English	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	5	compound	_	_
5	bears	bear	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nmod	_	_
6	no	no	DET	DT	PronType=Neg	7	det	_	_
7	relation	relation	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	conj	_	_
8	to	to	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
9	meaning	meaning	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nmod	_	_
```

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

### Option 2 · ✓ the right answer {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The position before the verb ordinarily designates the performer of the action

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:1-what-language-is-sounds-words-and-rules:e3:o2:1
# text = The position before the verb ordinarily designates the performer of the action
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	position	position	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nsubj	_	_
3	before	before	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	verb	verb	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	_
6	ordinarily	ordinarily	ADV	RB	_	7	advmod	_	_
7	designates	designate	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	performer	performer	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obj	_	_
10	of	of	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
11	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
12	action	action	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **designate** | present | the position before the verb | the performer of the action |  |  |  | ordinarily *property* | vn appoint-29.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent performer=Theme |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The second sentence is ungrammatical and therefore meaningless

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:1-what-language-is-sounds-words-and-rules:e3:o3:1
# text = The second sentence is ungrammatical and therefore meaningless
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	second	second	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos|NumForm=Word|NumType=Ord	3	amod	_	_
3	sentence	sentence	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
4	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
5	ungrammatical	ungrammatical	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
6	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	8	cc	_	_
7	therefore	therefore	ADV	RB	_	8	advmod	_	_
8	meaningless	meaningless	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | the second sentence |  |  |  |  | ungrammatical *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **be** |  | the second sentence *not said here* |  |  |  |  | therefore *property* | tree rules |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The two sentences are identical in meaning in every respect, whatever the order

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:1-what-language-is-sounds-words-and-rules:e3:o4:1
# text = The two sentences are identical in meaning in every respect, whatever the order
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	two	two	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	3	nummod	_	_
3	sentences	sentence	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	nsubj	_	_
4	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
5	identical	identical	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
6	in	in	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	meaning	meaning	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	_
8	in	in	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	every	every	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	10	det	_	_
10	respect	respect	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	12	punct	_	_
12	whatever	whatever	PRON	WP	PronType=Rel	5	parataxis	_	_
13	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	14	det	_	_
14	order	order	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	nsubj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | the two sentences |  |  | meaning in every respect |  | identical *property* | tree rules |

<!-- 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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