---
title: Identify the means by which Mandarin indicates that an action is com… — Mandarin compared with English · tree and pragmatics
description: Identify the means by which Mandarin indicates that an action is completed. Exam question 2 of lesson 34 «Mandarin compared with English» 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 · Mandarin compared with English

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Identify the means by which Mandarin indicates that an action is completed.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 4 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** you, the · **What happens:** identify, mean, indicate, complete · **To what, where:** action · **Speech:** someone speaks here

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This is exam question 2 of lesson 34 «Mandarin compared with English» 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/34-mandarin-compared-with-english/#e2).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:34-mandarin-compared-with-english:e2:1
# text = Identify the means by which Mandarin indicates that an action is completed.
1	Identify	identify	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	nsubj	_	_
3	means	mean	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	1	ccomp	_	_
4	by	by	SCONJ	IN	_	7	mark	_	_
5	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	7	nsubj	_	_
6	Mandarin	Mandarin	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	7	nsubj	_	_
7	indicates	indicate	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	ccomp	_	_
8	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	12	mark	_	_
9	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	action	action	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	nsubj:pass	_	_
11	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	12	aux:pass	_	_
12	completed	complete	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	7	advcl	_	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* |  |  |  |  |  | vn characterize-29.2-1-1 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Agent clause=Theme |
| 2 | **mean** | present | the |  |  |  |  |  | vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 3 | **indicate** | present |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn indicate-78-1 «NP V how S»: agent=Pivot |
| 4 | **complete** | present · passive |  | a action |  |  |  |  | vn complete-55.2 «NP V NP»: subject=Eventuality |

<!-- .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 suffix "-ed" appended to the verb

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:34-mandarin-compared-with-english:e2:o1:1
# text = The suffix "-ed" appended to the verb
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	suffix	suffix	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nsubj	_	_
3	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	5	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	5	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	ed	ed	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	appos	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	5	punct	_	_
7	appended	append	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
8	to	to	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	verb	verb	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **append** | past | the suffix |  |  |  |  | to the verb | tree rules |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A change in the tone of the noun

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:34-mandarin-compared-with-english:e2:o2:1
# text = A change in the tone of the noun
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	change	change	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	in	in	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	tone	tone	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	_
6	of	of	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	noun	noun	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **intonate** |  |  | the noun |  |  |  |  | nom tone «communication transitive»: of=patient |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The omission of the verb

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:34-mandarin-compared-with-english:e2:o3:1
# text = The omission of the verb
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	_	5	case	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	verb	verb	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	_
```

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

### Option 4 · ✓ the right answer {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Particles such as "了" and words denoting time

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:34-mandarin-compared-with-english:e2:o4:1
# text = Particles such as "了" and words denoting time
1	Particles	particle	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	0	root	_	_
2	such	such	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos|ExtPos=ADP	5	case	_	_
3	as	as	ADP	IN	_	2	fixed	_	_
4	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	5	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	了	了	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	5	punct	_	_
7	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	8	cc	_	_
8	words	word	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	conj	_	_
9	denoting	denote	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	8	acl	_	_
10	time	time	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **denote** | gerund | words *not said here* |  |  |  | time |  | vn indicate-78 «NP V how S»: agent=Pivot |

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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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