---
title: Determine the most appropriate procedure for rendering an idiom into… — Idioms taken literally · tree and pragmatics
description: Determine the most appropriate procedure for rendering an idiom into another language. Exam question 4 of lesson 25 «Idioms taken literally» 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.
---

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# Exam question 4 · Idioms taken literally

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Determine the most appropriate procedure for rendering an idiom into another language.

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**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 3 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** you · **What happens:** determine, render · **To what, where:** appropriate procedure, idiom, language

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This is exam question 4 of lesson 25 «Idioms taken literally» 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/25-idioms-taken-literally/#e4).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:25-idioms-taken-literally:e4:1
# text = Determine the most appropriate procedure for rendering an idiom into another language.
1	Determine	determine	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
3	most	most	ADV	RBS	Degree=Sup	4	advmod	_	_
4	appropriate	appropriate	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	procedure	procedure	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
6	for	for	SCONJ	IN	_	7	mark	_	_
7	rendering	render	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	1	advcl	_	_
8	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	idiom	idiom	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obj	_	_
10	into	into	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
11	another	another	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	12	det	_	_
12	language	language	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **determine** | imperative | you *not said here* | the appropriate procedure |  |  |  |  | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent procedure=Topic |
| 2 | **render** | gerund | you *not said here* | a idiom |  | another language |  |  | vn give-13.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent idiom=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 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The omission of all figurative language

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:25-idioms-taken-literally:e4:o1:1
# text = The omission of all figurative language
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	omission	omission	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	of	of	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
4	all	all	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	6	det	_	_
5	figurative	figurative	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	language	language	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **omit** |  |  | all figurative language |  |  |  |  | nom omission «act transitive»: of=patient |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The literal translation of each constituent word in its original order, without exception

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:25-idioms-taken-literally:e4:o2:1
# text = The literal translation of each constituent word in its original order, without exception
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	literal	literal	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	translation	translation	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
4	of	of	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
5	each	each	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	7	det	_	_
6	constituent	constituent	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	compound	_	_
7	word	word	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nmod	_	_
8	in	in	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
9	its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	11	nmod:poss	_	_
10	original	original	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	11	amod	_	_
11	order	order	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	14	punct	_	_
13	without	without	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
14	exception	exception	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **translate** |  | each constituent word in word's original order |  |  |  |  |  | nom translation «communication intransitive»: of=agent |
| 2 | **order** |  | word |  |  |  |  |  | nom order «communication transitive»: poss=agent |

### Option 3 · ✓ the right answer {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The substitution of an idiom of equivalent meaning in the target language

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:25-idioms-taken-literally:e4:o3:1
# text = The substitution of an idiom of equivalent meaning in the target language
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	substitution	substitution	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	of	of	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
4	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	idiom	idiom	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	_
6	of	of	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	equivalent	equivalent	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	amod	_	_
8	meaning	meaning	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nmod	_	_
9	in	in	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
10	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
11	target	target	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	compound	_	_
12	language	language	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **substitute** |  | a idiom of equivalent meaning |  |  | the target language |  |  | nom substitution «event intransitive»: of=agent in=place |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The retention of the original words untranslated

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:25-idioms-taken-literally:e4:o4:1
# text = The retention of the original words untranslated
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	retention	retention	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nsubj	_	_
3	of	of	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
5	original	original	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	words	word	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nmod	_	_
7	untranslated	untranslat	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **untranslat** | participle | the retention of the original words |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **retain** |  |  | the original words |  |  |  |  | nom retention «act transitive»: of=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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- ← previous: [Idioms taken literally, exam 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/language/25-idioms-taken-literally/e3/)
- next →: [Phrasal verbs: get up, give up, make up, test 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/language/26-phrasal-verbs-get-up-give-up-make-up/t1/)
- ↑ back to [Idioms taken literally](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/language/25-idioms-taken-literally/)