---
title: Ascertain the meaning of the abbreviation "brb". — Texting, abbreviations and emoji · tree and pragmatics
description: Ascertain the meaning of the abbreviation "brb". Exam question 4 of lesson 30 «Texting, abbreviations and emoji» 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 · Texting, abbreviations and emoji

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Ascertain the meaning of the abbreviation "brb".

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 3 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** you · **What happens:** ascertain, mean · **To what, where:** meaning, abbreviation

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 4 of lesson 30 «Texting, abbreviations and emoji» 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/30-texting-abbreviations-and-emoji/#e4).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:30-texting-abbreviations-and-emoji:e4:1
# text = Ascertain the meaning of the abbreviation "brb".
1	Ascertain	ascertain	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	meaning	meaning	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
4	of	of	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	abbreviation	abbreviation	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nmod	_	_
7	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	8	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	brb	brb	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	appos	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	8	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **ascertain** | imperative | you *not said here* | the meaning of the abbreviation |  |  |  |  | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent meaning=Topic |
| 2 | **mean** |  |  | the abbreviation |  |  |  |  | nom meaning «communication transitive»: of=patient |

<!-- .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 -->
Bye, really bored

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:30-texting-abbreviations-and-emoji:e4:o1:1
# text = Bye, really bored
1	Bye	bye	INTJ	UH	_	4	discourse	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	1	punct	_	_
3	really	really	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
4	bored	bored	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .note -->
The frames reader finds no event or fact in this sentence.

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Bring round bread

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:30-texting-abbreviations-and-emoji:e4:o2:1
# text = Bring round bread
1	Bring	bring	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	round	round	ADV	RB	_	1	advmod	_	_
3	bread	bread	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **bring round** | imperative | you *not said here* | bread |  |  |  | round *property* | vn bring-11.3-1 «NP V NP together»: agent=Agent bread=Theme |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Be right back

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:30-texting-abbreviations-and-emoji:e4:o3:1
# text = Be right back
1	Be	be	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	right	right	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	_
3	back	back	ADV	RB	_	1	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **be** | imperative | you *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn exist-47.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Best regards, brother

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:30-texting-abbreviations-and-emoji:e4:o4:1
# text = Best regards, brother
1	Best	good	ADJ	JJS	Degree=Sup	2	amod	_	_
2	regards	regards	NOUN	NNS	Number=Ptan	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	4	punct	_	_
4	brother	brother	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .note -->
The frames reader finds no event or fact in this sentence.

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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: [Texting, abbreviations and emoji, exam 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/language/30-texting-abbreviations-and-emoji/e3/)
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