---
title: Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the… — Punctuation that changes meaning · tree and pragmatics
description: Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the function of the comma in the sentence "Let's eat, Grandma!"? Exam question 1 of lesson 14 «Punctuation that changes meaning» of the language course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question an
---

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# Exam question 1 · Punctuation that changes meaning

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the function of the comma in the sentence "Let's eat, Grandma!"?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 2 · **The right answer:** option 2 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** 's · **What happens:** follow, characteris, let, eat · **To what, where:** function, 's

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 1 of lesson 14 «Punctuation that changes meaning» 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/14-punctuation-that-changes-meaning/#e1).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:14-punctuation-that-changes-meaning:e1:1
# text = Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the function of the comma in the sentence "Let's eat, Grandma!"?
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	1	nmod	_	_
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	10	det	_	_
10	function	function	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obj	_	_
11	of	of	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
12	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
13	comma	comma	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	nmod	_	_
14	in	in	ADP	IN	_	16	case	_	_
15	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	16	det	_	_
16	sentence	sentence	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	nmod	_	_
17	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	18	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
18	Let	let	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	8	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
19	's	we	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=1|PronType=Prs	18	obj	_	_
20	eat	eat	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	18	xcomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
21	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	22	punct	_	_
22	Grandma	grandma	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	18	vocative	_	SpaceAfter=No
23	!	!	PUNCT	.	_	18	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
24	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	18	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
25	?	?	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 function of the comma in the sentence |  |  |  | accurately *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **let** *in a quote* | infinitive |  | 's |  |  |  | Grandma *vocative* | tree rules |
| 4 | **eat** *in a quote* | infinitive | 's *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn eat-39.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

<!-- .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 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It separates items in a list of foods

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:14-punctuation-that-changes-meaning:e1:o1:1
# text = It separates items in a list of foods
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	separates	separate	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	items	item	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obj	_	_
4	in	in	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	list	list	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
7	of	of	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
8	foods	food	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **separate** | present | It | items |  |  |  | in a list of foods *goal* | vn classify-29.10 «NP V NP PP.goal»: agent=Agent item=Theme in list=Goal |
| 2 | **list** |  |  | foods |  |  |  |  | nom list «communication transitive»: of=patient |

### Option 2 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It marks the direct address of the person named

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:14-punctuation-that-changes-meaning:e1:o2:1
# text = It marks the direct address of the person named
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	marks	mark	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	direct	direct	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	address	address	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
6	of	of	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	person	person	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nmod	_	_
9	named	name	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	8	acl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **mark** | present | It | the direct address of the person |  |  |  |  | vn image\_impression-25.1 «NP V NP.destination»: agent=Agent address=Destination |
| 2 | **name** | participle |  | the person *not said here* |  |  |  |  | vn appoint-29.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **address** |  |  | the person |  |  |  |  | nom address «communication transitive»: of=patient |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It indicates possession by the person named

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:14-punctuation-that-changes-meaning:e1:o3:1
# text = It indicates possession by the person named
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	indicates	indicate	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	possession	possession	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
4	by	by	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	person	person	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
7	named	name	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	6	acl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **indicate** | present | It | possession |  |  |  | by the person | vn indicate-78-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Pivot possession=Topic |
| 2 | **name** | participle |  | the person *not said here* |  |  |  |  | vn appoint-29.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It concludes the sentence

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:14-punctuation-that-changes-meaning:e1:o4:1
# text = It concludes the sentence
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	concludes	conclude	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	sentence	sentence	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **conclude** | present | It | the sentence |  |  |  |  | vn deduce-97.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent sentence=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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