---
title: Which of the following statements most accurately characterises a pun? — Puns and jokes that need a pun · tree and pragmatics
description: Which of the following statements most accurately characterises a pun? Exam question 1 of lesson 28 «Puns and jokes that need a pun» 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 right.
---

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# Exam question 1 · Puns and jokes that need a pun

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

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

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 1 of lesson 28 «Puns and jokes that need a pun» 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/28-puns-and-jokes-that-need-a-pun/#e1).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:28-puns-and-jokes-that-need-a-pun:e1:1
# text = Which of the following statements most accurately characterises a pun?
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	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	pun	pun	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 |  | a pun |  |  |  | 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 -->
A statement that must be literally true

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:28-puns-and-jokes-that-need-a-pun:e1:o1:1
# text = A statement that must be literally true
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	statement	statement	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	that	that	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	7	nsubj	_	_
4	must	must	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	7	aux	_	_
5	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	7	cop	_	_
6	literally	literally	ADV	RB	_	7	advmod	_	_
7	true	true	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	acl:relcl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | must | a statement |  |  |  |  | literally, true *property* | tree rules |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A humorous use of a word bearing two meanings, or of words identical in sound

<!-- fold The tree, 15 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:28-puns-and-jokes-that-need-a-pun:e1:o2:1
# text = A humorous use of a word bearing two meanings, or of words identical in sound
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	humorous	humorous	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	use	use	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
4	of	of	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	word	word	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nmod	_	_
7	bearing	bear	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	6	acl	_	_
8	two	two	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	9	nummod	_	_
9	meanings	meaning	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	13	punct	_	_
11	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	13	cc	_	_
12	of	of	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
13	words	word	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nmod	_	_
14	identical	identical	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	13	amod	_	_
15	in	in	ADP	IN	_	16	case	_	_
16	sound	sound	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **bear** | gerund | a word *not said here* | two meanings |  |  |  |  | vn birth-28.2-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent meaning=Patient |
| 2 | **use** |  |  | a word |  |  |  |  | nom use «act transitive»: of=patient |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A joke composed exclusively of numerals

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:28-puns-and-jokes-that-need-a-pun:e1:o3:1
# text = A joke composed exclusively of numerals
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	joke	joke	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	composed	compose	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	2	acl	_	_
4	exclusively	exclusively	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	_
5	of	of	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	numerals	numeral	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **compose** | participle |  | a joke *not said here* |  |  |  | of numerals; exclusively *property* | vn create-26.4-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A narrative of considerable length concerning animals endowed with the power of speech

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:28-puns-and-jokes-that-need-a-pun:e1:o4:1
# text = A narrative of considerable length concerning animals endowed with the power of speech
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	narrative	narrative	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nsubj	_	_
3	of	of	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
4	considerable	considerable	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	length	length	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	_
6	concerning	concern	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	7	amod	_	_
7	animals	animal	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	0	root	_	_
8	endowed	endow	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	7	acl	_	_
9	with	with	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
10	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	power	power	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obl	_	_
12	of	of	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
13	speech	speech	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **concern** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V ADV-Middle»: agent=Experiencer |
| 2 | **endow** | participle |  | concerning animals *not said here* |  |  |  | with the power of speech | vn fill-9.8 «NP V NP PP.theme»: agent=Agent with power=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.

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- ← previous: [Puns and jokes that need a pun, test 11](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/language/28-puns-and-jokes-that-need-a-pun/t11/)
- next →: [Puns and jokes that need a pun, exam 2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/language/28-puns-and-jokes-that-need-a-pun/e2/)
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