---
title: Identify the principal reason for which puns are seldom preserved in… — Puns and jokes that need a pun · tree and pragmatics
description: Identify the principal reason for which puns are seldom preserved in translation. Exam question 2 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 wrong.
---

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# Exam question 2 · Puns and jokes that need a pun

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Identify the principal reason for which puns are seldom preserved in translation.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 4 · **The right answer:** option 1 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** you · **What happens:** identify, preserve · **To what, where:** principal reason, puns, translation

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

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:28-puns-and-jokes-that-need-a-pun:e2:1
# text = Identify the principal reason for which puns are seldom preserved in translation.
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	reason	reason	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
5	for	for	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	10	obl	_	_
7	puns	pun	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	10	nsubj:pass	_	_
8	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	10	aux:pass	_	_
9	seldom	seldom	ADV	RB	_	10	advmod	_	_
10	preserved	preserve	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	4	acl	_	_
11	in	in	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
12	translation	translation	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	.	.	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 reason |  |  |  |  | vn characterize-29.2-1-1 «NP V NP S\_ING»: agent=Agent reason=Theme |
| 2 | **preserve** | present · passive |  | puns |  | translation |  | for the principal reason; seldom *property* | vn defend-72.3 «NP V NP»: subject=Beneficiary |

<!-- .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 · ✓ the right answer {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The double meaning depends upon the words of a particular language

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:28-puns-and-jokes-that-need-a-pun:e2:o1:1
# text = The double meaning depends upon the words of a particular language
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	double	double	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	meaning	meaning	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
4	depends	depend	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	upon	upon	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	words	word	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obl	_	_
8	of	of	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
9	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
10	particular	particular	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	11	amod	_	_
11	language	language	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **depend** | present | the double meaning |  |  |  |  | upon the words of a particular language | vn rely-70 «NP V PP.theme S\_ING»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **word** |  |  | a particular language |  |  |  |  | nom word «communication transitive»: of=patient |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Translation removes all words of one syllable

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:28-puns-and-jokes-that-need-a-pun:e2:o2:1
# text = Translation removes all words of one syllable
1	Translation	translation	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nsubj	_	_
2	removes	remove	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	all	all	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	4	det	_	_
4	words	word	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obj	_	_
5	of	of	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	one	one	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	7	nummod	_	_
7	syllable	syllable	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **remove** | present | Translation | all words of one syllable |  |  |  |  | vn fire-10.10 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent word=Theme |
| 2 | **word** |  |  | one syllable |  |  |  |  | nom word «communication transitive»: of=patient |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Translators are forbidden by professional regulation to render any form of humour

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:28-puns-and-jokes-that-need-a-pun:e2:o3:1
# text = Translators are forbidden by professional regulation to render any form of humour
1	Translators	translator	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj:pass	_	_
2	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux:pass	_	_
3	forbidden	forbid	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
4	by	by	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	professional	professional	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	regulation	regulation	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
7	to	to	PART	TO	_	8	mark	_	_
8	render	render	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	xcomp	_	_
9	any	any	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	10	det	_	_
10	form	form	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obj	_	_
11	of	of	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
12	humour	humour	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **forbid** | present · passive | professional regulation | Translators |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **render** | to-infinitive | professional regulation *not said here* | any form of humour |  |  |  |  | vn give-13.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent form=Theme |
| 3 | **form** |  |  | humour |  |  |  |  | nom form «communication transitive»: of=patient |

### Option 4 · ← Mova's choice {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Puns exist in only one language worldwide

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:28-puns-and-jokes-that-need-a-pun:e2:o4:1
# text = Puns exist in only one language worldwide
1	Puns	pun	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nsubj	_	_
2	exist	exist	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	in	in	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
4	only	only	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
5	one	one	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	6	nummod	_	_
6	language	language	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
7	worldwide	worldwide	ADV	RB	_	2	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **exist** | present | Puns |  |  | one language |  | worldwide *property* | vn exist-47.1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme in language=Location |

<!-- div src -->

**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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- ← previous: [Puns and jokes that need a pun, exam 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/language/28-puns-and-jokes-that-need-a-pun/e1/)
- next →: [Puns and jokes that need a pun, exam 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/language/28-puns-and-jokes-that-need-a-pun/e3/)
- ↑ back to [Puns and jokes that need a pun](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/language/28-puns-and-jokes-that-need-a-pun/)