---
title: Select the response consistent with the established facts concerning… — Plurals that make no sense: mice, shee… · tree and pragmatics
description: Select the response consistent with the established facts concerning the plural "children". Exam question 4 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; Mo
---

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# Exam question 4 · Plurals that make no sense: mice, sheep and geese

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Select the response consistent with the established facts concerning the plural "children".

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 4 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** you, established facts · **What happens:** select, establish, concern · **To what, where:** response, plural children

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 4 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/#e4).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:10-plurals-mice-sheep-and-geese:e4:1
# text = Select the response consistent with the established facts concerning the plural "children".
1	Select	select	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	response	response	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
4	consistent	consistent	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	1	xcomp	_	_
5	with	with	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
7	established	establish	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	8	amod	_	_
8	facts	fact	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obl	_	_
9	concerning	concern	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	8	acl	_	_
10	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
11	plural	plural	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	13	amod	_	_
12	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	13	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	children	child	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	9	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	13	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **select** | imperative | you *not said here* | the response |  |  |  | consistent *property* | vn obtain-13.5.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent response=Theme |
| 2 | **establish** | participle |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn indicate-78-1-1 «NP V NP to be NP»: agent=Pivot |
| 3 | **concern** | gerund | the established facts *not said here* | the plural children |  |  |  |  | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Stimulus child=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 -->
It is unrelated to the word "child"

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:10-plurals-mice-sheep-and-geese:e4:o1:1
# text = It is unrelated to the word "child"
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	cop	_	_
3	unrelated	unrelated	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
4	to	to	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	word	word	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
7	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	8	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	child	child	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	appos	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	8	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | It |  |  |  |  | to the word; unrelated *property* | tree rules |

### Option 2 {#o2}

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

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:10-plurals-mice-sheep-and-geese:e4:o2:1
# 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 |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It is a modern invention of the twentieth century

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:10-plurals-mice-sheep-and-geese:e4:o3:1
# text = It is a modern invention of the twentieth century
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	5	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
3	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	modern	modern	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	invention	invention	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
6	of	of	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
8	twentieth	twentieth	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	amod	_	_
9	century	century	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | It | a modern invention |  |  | century |  | tree rules |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It combines an Old English plural with a further plural ending in "-en"

<!-- fold The tree, 13 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:10-plurals-mice-sheep-and-geese:e4:o4:1
# text = It combines an Old English plural with a further plural ending in "-en"
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	combines	combine	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
4	Old	old	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
5	English	English	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	plural	plural	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
7	with	with	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
8	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
9	further	further	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	11	amod	_	_
10	plural	plural	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	11	amod	_	_
11	ending	ending	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
12	in	in	ADP	IN	_	15	case	_	_
13	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	15	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	15	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	en	en	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	15	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **combine** | present | It | a Old English plural |  |  |  | with a further plural ending in en | vn mix-22.1-1-1 «NP V NP PP.co-patient»: agent=Agent plural=Patient with ending=Co-Patient |

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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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