---
title: Identify the principal reason for which the plural of "mongoose" is… — Plurals that make no sense: mice, shee… · tree and pragmatics
description: Identify the principal reason for which the plural of "mongoose" is not "mongeese". Exam question 2 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 cho
---

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# Exam question 2 · Plurals that make no sense: mice, sheep and geese

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Identify the principal reason for which the plural of "mongoose" is not "mongeese".

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 1 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** you, principal reason · **What happens:** identify, not be · **To what, where:** principal reason, mongeese

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 2 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/#e2).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:10-plurals-mice-sheep-and-geese:e2:1
# text = Identify the principal reason for which the plural of "mongoose" is not "mongeese".
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	reason	reason	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
5	for	for	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	16	nsubj	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	plural	plural	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	16	nsubj	_	_
9	of	of	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
10	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	11	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	mongoose	mongoose	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	11	punct	_	_
13	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	16	cop	_	_
14	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	16	advmod	_	_
15	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	16	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	mongeese	mongeese	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	appos	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	16	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
18	.	.	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 reason |  |  |  |  | vn characterize-29.2-1-1 «NP V NP S\_ING»: agent=Agent reason=Theme |
| 2 | **not** **is a** *in a quote* | present | the principal reason | mongeese |  |  |  |  | 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 -->
The word derives from Marathi and bears no relation to the English word "goose"

<!-- fold The tree, 14 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:10-plurals-mice-sheep-and-geese:e2:o1:1
# text = The word derives from Marathi and bears no relation to the English word "goose"
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	word	word	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	derives	derive	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	from	from	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	Marathi	Marathi	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
6	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	7	cc	_	_
7	bears	bear	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	conj	_	_
8	no	no	DET	DT	PronType=Neg	9	det	_	_
9	relation	relation	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
10	to	to	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
11	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
12	English	English	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	13	amod	_	_
13	word	word	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
14	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	15	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	goose	goose	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	appos	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	15	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **derive** | present | the word | no relation |  | Marathi and bears |  | to the English word | vn create-26.4 «NP V NP PP.material»: agent=Agent relation=Result from marathi=Material |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The form "mongeese" is reserved for formal registers

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:10-plurals-mice-sheep-and-geese:e2:o2:1
# text = The form "mongeese" is reserved for formal registers
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	form	form	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nsubj:pass	_	_
3	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	4	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	mongeese	mongeese	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	appos	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	4	punct	_	_
6	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	7	aux:pass	_	_
7	reserved	reserve	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
8	for	for	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	formal	formal	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	10	amod	_	_
10	registers	register	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **reserve** | present · passive |  | the form |  |  |  | for formal registers | vn get-13.5.1 «NP V NP PP.beneficiary»: subject=Theme for register=Beneficiary |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The word possesses no plural form whatsoever

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:10-plurals-mice-sheep-and-geese:e2:o3:1
# text = The word possesses no plural form whatsoever
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	word	word	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	possesses	possess	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	no	no	DET	DT	PronType=Neg	6	det	_	_
5	plural	plural	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	form	form	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
7	whatsoever	whatsoever	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **possess** | present | the word | no plural form |  |  |  | whatsoever *property* | vn own-100.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Pivot form=Theme |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The animal is too small to merit an irregular plural

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:10-plurals-mice-sheep-and-geese:e2:o4:1
# text = The animal is too small to merit an irregular plural
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	animal	animal	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
3	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
4	too	too	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
5	small	small	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
6	to	to	PART	TO	_	7	mark	_	_
7	merit	merit	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	advcl	_	_
8	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
9	irregular	irregular	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	10	amod	_	_
10	plural	plural	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | the animal |  |  |  |  | small *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **merit** | to-infinitive | the animal *not said here* | a irregular plural |  |  |  |  | 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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- ← previous: [Plurals that make no sense: mice, shee…, exam 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/language/10-plurals-mice-sheep-and-geese/e1/)
- next →: [Plurals that make no sense: mice, shee…, exam 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/language/10-plurals-mice-sheep-and-geese/e3/)
- ↑ back to [Plurals that make no sense: mice, sheep and geese](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/language/10-plurals-mice-sheep-and-geese/)