---
title: Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the… — Plurals that make no sense: mice, shee… · tree and pragmatics
description: Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the plural "mice"? Exam question 1 of lesson 10 «Plurals that make no sense: mice, sheep and geese» of the language course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each option; Mova's choi
---

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# Exam question 1 · Plurals that make no sense: mice, sheep and geese

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the plural "mice"?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 1 · right ✓ · **What happens:** follow, characteris · **To what, where:** plural mice

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 1 of lesson 10 «Plurals that make no sense: mice, sheep and geese» 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/10-plurals-mice-sheep-and-geese/#e1).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:10-plurals-mice-sheep-and-geese:e1:1
# text = Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the plural "mice"?
1	Which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	8	nsubj	_	_
2	of	of	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	following	follow	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	5	amod	_	_
5	statements	statement	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	obl	_	_
6	most	most	ADV	RBS	Degree=Sup	7	advmod	_	_
7	accurately	accurately	ADV	RB	_	8	advmod	_	_
8	characterises	characteris	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
10	plural	plural	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	12	amod	_	_
11	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	12	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	mice	mouse	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	12	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	8	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **follow** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn occur-48.3-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 2 | **characteris** | present |  | the plural mice |  |  |  | of the following statements; accurately *property* | tree rules |

<!-- .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 preserves an ancient pattern in which the vowel within the word is altered

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:10-plurals-mice-sheep-and-geese:e1:o1:1
# text = It preserves an ancient pattern in which the vowel within the word is altered
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	preserves	preserve	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	ancient	ancient	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	pattern	pattern	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
6	in	in	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	14	obl	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	vowel	vowel	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	nsubj:pass	_	_
10	within	within	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
11	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
12	word	word	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	nmod	_	_
13	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	14	aux:pass	_	_
14	altered	alter	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	5	acl:relcl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **preserve** | present | It | a ancient pattern |  |  |  |  | vn defend-72.3 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent pattern=Beneficiary |
| 2 | **alter** | present · passive |  | the vowel within the word |  | a ancient pattern |  |  | vn other\_cos-45.4 «NP V NP.patient»: subject=Patient |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It constitutes a spelling error subsequently accepted

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:10-plurals-mice-sheep-and-geese:e1:o2:1
# text = It constitutes a spelling error subsequently accepted
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	constitutes	constitute	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	spelling	spelling	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	compound	_	_
5	error	error	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
6	subsequently	subsequently	ADV	RB	_	7	advmod	_	_
7	accepted	accept	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	5	acl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **constitute** | present | It | a spelling error |  |  |  |  | vn comprise-107.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Theme error=Pivot |
| 2 | **accept** | participle |  | a spelling error *not said here* |  |  |  | subsequently *property* | vn obtain-13.5.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It is borrowed from the French language

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:10-plurals-mice-sheep-and-geese:e1:o3:1
# text = It is borrowed from the French language
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj:pass	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux:pass	_	_
3	borrowed	borrow	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
4	from	from	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
6	French	French	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
7	language	language	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **borrow** | present · passive |  | It |  | the French language |  |  | vn obtain-13.5.2 «NP V NP PP.source»: subject=Theme from language=Source |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It is formed by the regular addition of "-s"

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:10-plurals-mice-sheep-and-geese:e1:o4:1
# text = It is formed by the regular addition of "-s"
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj:pass	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux:pass	_	_
3	formed	form	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
4	by	by	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
6	regular	regular	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
7	addition	addition	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
8	of	of	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	10	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	-s	-	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	7	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **form** | present · passive | the regular addition of -s | It |  |  |  |  | vn appear-48.1.1 «PP.location V NP»: agent=Location subject=Theme |

<!-- 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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