--- title: Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the… — The apostrophe war · tree and pragmatics description: Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the functions of the apostrophe? Exam question 1 of lesson 15 «The apostrophe war» 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 wrong. --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/language/15-the-apostrophe-war/e1/) [home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/) / [questions](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/) / [Language](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/language/) / [The apostrophe war](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/language/15-the-apostrophe-war/) / e1 # Exam question 1 · The apostrophe war Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the functions of the apostrophe? **Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 4 · wrong ✗ · **What happens:** follow, characteris · **To what, where:** functions This is exam question 1 of lesson 15 «The apostrophe war» 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/15-the-apostrophe-war/#e1). ## The question {#question} ```conllu # sent_id = question:language:15-the-apostrophe-war:e1:1 # text = Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the functions of the apostrophe? 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 10 det _ _ 10 functions function NOUN NNS Number=Plur 8 obj _ _ 11 of of ADP IN _ 13 case _ _ 12 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 13 det _ _ 13 apostrophe apostrophe NOUN NN Number=Sing 10 nmod _ SpaceAfter=No 14 ? ? PUNCT . _ 8 punct _ _ ``` | # | 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 functions of the apostrophe | | | | of the following statements; accurately *property* | tree rules | 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} It denotes the plural number of nouns ```conllu # sent_id = question:language:15-the-apostrophe-war:e1:o1:1 # text = It denotes the plural number of nouns 1 It it PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 2 nsubj _ _ 2 denotes denote 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 plural plural ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 5 amod _ _ 5 number number NOUN NN Number=Sing 2 obj _ _ 6 of of ADP IN _ 7 case _ _ 7 nouns noun NOUN NNS Number=Plur 5 nmod _ _ ``` | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **denote** | present | It | the plural number of nouns | | | | | vn indicate-78 «NP V NP»: agent=Pivot number=Topic | ### Option 2 {#o2} It separates items enumerated in a list ```conllu # sent_id = question:language:15-the-apostrophe-war:e1:o2:1 # text = It separates items enumerated in a list 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 enumerated enumerate VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass 3 acl _ _ 5 in in ADP IN _ 7 case _ _ 6 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 7 det _ _ 7 list list NOUN NN Number=Sing 4 obl _ _ ``` | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **separate** | present | It | items | | | | | vn separate-23.1-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent item=Patient | | 2 | **enumerate** | participle | | items *not said here* | | a list | | | tree rules | ### Option 3 {#o3} It indicates an interrogative sentence ```conllu # sent_id = question:language:15-the-apostrophe-war:e1:o3:1 # text = It indicates an interrogative sentence 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 an a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 5 det _ _ 4 interrogative interrogative ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 5 amod _ _ 5 sentence sentence NOUN NN Number=Sing 2 obj _ _ ``` | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **indicate** | present | It | a interrogative sentence | | | | | vn indicate-78-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Pivot sentence=Topic | ### Option 4 · ✓ the right answer {#o4} It denotes the omission of letters or indicates possession ```conllu # sent_id = question:language:15-the-apostrophe-war:e1:o4:1 # text = It denotes the omission of letters or indicates possession 1 It it PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 2 nsubj _ _ 2 denotes denote 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 omission omission NOUN NN Number=Sing 2 obj _ _ 5 of of ADP IN _ 6 case _ _ 6 letters letter NOUN NNS Number=Plur 4 nmod _ _ 7 or or CCONJ CC _ 8 cc _ _ 8 indicates indicate VERB VBZ Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 2 conj _ _ 9 possession possession NOUN NN Number=Sing 8 obj _ _ ``` | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **denote** | present | It | the omission of letters | | | | | vn indicate-78 «NP V NP»: agent=Pivot omission=Topic | | 2 | **indicate** | present | | possession | | | | | vn indicate-78-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Pivot possession=Topic | | 3 | **omit** | | | letters | | | | | nom omission «act transitive»: of=patient | **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. - ← previous: [The apostrophe war, test 11](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/language/15-the-apostrophe-war/t11/) - next →: [The apostrophe war, exam 2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/language/15-the-apostrophe-war/e2/) - ↑ back to [The apostrophe war](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/language/15-the-apostrophe-war/)