---
title: Identify the principal defect of the sentence "I like cake I like ic… — Punctuation that changes meaning · tree and pragmatics
description: Identify the principal defect of the sentence "I like cake I like ice cream I like jelly". Exam question 2 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 and of each option; Mova's choice was ri
---

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# Exam question 2 · Punctuation that changes meaning

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Identify the principal defect of the sentence "I like cake I like ice cream I like jelly".

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 1 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** you, I · **What happens:** identify, like · **To what, where:** principal defect, cake, ice cream, jelly · **Speech:** someone speaks here

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

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:14-punctuation-that-changes-meaning:e2:1
# text = Identify the principal defect of the sentence "I like cake I like ice cream I like jelly".
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	defect	defect	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
5	of	of	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	sentence	sentence	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nmod	_	_
8	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	10	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	10	nsubj	_	_
10	like	like	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	1	parataxis	_	_
11	cake	cake	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	obj	_	_
12	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	13	nsubj	_	_
13	like	like	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	10	conj	_	_
14	ice	ice	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	15	compound	_	_
15	cream	cream	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	obj	_	_
16	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	17	nsubj	_	_
17	like	like	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	13	conj	_	_
18	jelly	jelly	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	17	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
19	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	17	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
20	.	.	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 defect of the sentence |  |  |  |  | vn characterize-29.2-1-1 «NP V NP to be ADJ»: agent=Agent defect=Theme clause=Attribute |
| 2 | **like** *in a quote* | present | I | cake |  |  |  |  | vn want-32.1-1-1 «NP V NP ADV»: agent=Pivot cake=Theme |
| 3 | **like** *in a quote* | present | I | ice cream |  |  |  |  | vn want-32.1-1-1 «NP V NP ADV»: agent=Pivot cream=Theme |
| 4 | **like** *in a quote* | present | I | jelly |  |  |  |  | vn want-32.1-1-1 «NP V NP ADV»: agent=Pivot jelly=Theme |

<!-- .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 joins complete sentences without appropriate punctuation

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:14-punctuation-that-changes-meaning:e2:o1:1
# text = It joins complete sentences without appropriate punctuation
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	joins	join	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	complete	complete	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	amod	_	_
4	sentences	sentence	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obj	_	_
5	without	without	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	appropriate	appropriate	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
7	punctuation	punctuation	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **join** | present | It | complete sentences |  |  |  | without appropriate punctuation | vn mix-22.1-2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent sentence=Patient |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It contains no verb and therefore cannot form a complete sentence

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:14-punctuation-that-changes-meaning:e2:o2:1
# text = It contains no verb and therefore cannot form a complete sentence
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	contains	contain	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	no	no	DET	DT	PronType=Neg	4	det	_	_
4	verb	verb	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
5	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	9	cc	_	_
6	therefore	therefore	ADV	RB	_	9	advmod	_	_
7	can	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	9	aux	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	9	advmod	_	_
9	form	form	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	2	conj	_	_
10	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
11	complete	complete	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	12	amod	_	_
12	sentence	sentence	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **contain** | present | It | no verb |  |  |  |  | vn comprise-107.2-2 «NP V NP»: agent=Pivot verb=Theme |
| 2 | **not** **form** | can |  | a complete sentence |  |  |  | therefore *property* | vn appear-48.1.1 «PP.location V NP»: agent=Location sentence=Theme |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It is excessively brief

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:14-punctuation-that-changes-meaning:e2:o3:1
# text = It is excessively brief
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
3	excessively	excessively	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
4	brief	brief	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
```

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

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It employs an incorrect tense

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:14-punctuation-that-changes-meaning:e2:o4:1
# text = It employs an incorrect tense
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	employs	employ	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	incorrect	incorrect	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	tense	tense	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **employ** | present | It | a incorrect tense |  |  |  |  | vn hire-13.5.3 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent tense=Theme |

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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.

<!-- /div -->

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