---
title: Which of the following statements most accurately characterises form… — Formal and informal: a mate versus the… · tree and pragmatics
description: Which of the following statements most accurately characterises formal language? Exam question 1 of lesson 16 «Formal and informal: a mate versus the head teacher» of the language course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each option; Mova's choi
---

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# Exam question 1 · Formal and informal: a mate versus the head teacher

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Which of the following statements most accurately characterises formal language?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 2 · **The right answer:** option 2 · right ✓ · **What happens:** follow, characteris · **To what, where:** formal language

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 1 of lesson 16 «Formal and informal: a mate versus the head teacher» 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/16-formal-and-informal-a-mate-versus-the-head-teacher/#e1).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:16-formal-and-informal-a-mate-versus-the-head-teacher:e1:1
# text = Which of the following statements most accurately characterises formal language?
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	formal	formal	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	10	amod	_	_
10	language	language	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	?	?	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 |  | formal language |  |  |  | of the following statements; accurately *property* | 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 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Language composed principally of abbreviations and symbols

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:16-formal-and-informal-a-mate-versus-the-head-teacher:e1:o1:1
# text = Language composed principally of abbreviations and symbols
1	Language	language	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nsubj	_	_
2	composed	compose	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	principally	principally	ADV	RB	_	2	advmod	_	_
4	of	of	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	abbreviations	abbreviation	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obl	_	_
6	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	7	cc	_	_
7	symbols	symbol	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **compose** | past | Language |  |  |  |  | of abbreviations and symbols; principally *property* | vn create-26.4-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Language that is careful, clear and courteous, appropriate to official purposes

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:16-formal-and-informal-a-mate-versus-the-head-teacher:e1:o2:1
# text = Language that is careful, clear and courteous, appropriate to official purposes
1	Language	language	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
2	that	that	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	4	nsubj	_	_
3	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
4	careful	careful	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	1	acl:relcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	6	punct	_	_
6	clear	clear	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	conj	_	_
7	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	8	cc	_	_
8	courteous	courteous	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	10	punct	_	_
10	appropriate	appropriate	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	conj	_	_
11	to	to	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
12	official	official	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	13	amod	_	_
13	purposes	purpose	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	10	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | Language |  |  |  |  | careful *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **be** |  | Language *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 3 | **be** |  | Language *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 4 | **be** |  | Language *not said here* |  |  |  |  | to official purposes | tree rules |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Language reserved exclusively for persons of advanced years

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:16-formal-and-informal-a-mate-versus-the-head-teacher:e1:o3:1
# text = Language reserved exclusively for persons of advanced years
1	Language	language	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nsubj	_	_
2	reserved	reserve	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	exclusively	exclusively	ADV	RB	_	2	advmod	_	_
4	for	for	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	persons	person	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obl	_	_
6	of	of	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	advanced	advanced	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	amod	_	_
8	years	year	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **reserve** | past | Language |  |  |  |  | for persons of advanced years; exclusively *property* | vn get-13.5.1 «NP V NP PP.beneficiary»: agent=Agent for person=Beneficiary |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Language that employs the greatest possible number of lengthy words in each sentence

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:16-formal-and-informal-a-mate-versus-the-head-teacher:e1:o4:1
# text = Language that employs the greatest possible number of lengthy words in each sentence
1	Language	language	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
2	that	that	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	3	nsubj	_	_
3	employs	employ	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	1	acl:relcl	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
5	greatest	great	ADJ	JJS	Degree=Sup	7	amod	_	_
6	possible	possible	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
7	number	number	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
8	of	of	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	lengthy	lengthy	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	10	amod	_	_
10	words	word	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	nmod	_	_
11	in	in	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
12	each	each	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	13	det	_	_
13	sentence	sentence	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **employ** | present | Language | the greatest possible number of lengthy words in each sentence |  |  |  |  | vn hire-13.5.3 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent number=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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- ↑ back to [Formal and informal: a mate versus the head teacher](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/language/16-formal-and-informal-a-mate-versus-the-head-teacher/)