---
title: Ascertain the meaning conveyed by the suffix "-less" in the word "ho… — Building words: prefixes, suffixes and… · tree and pragmatics
description: Ascertain the meaning conveyed by the suffix "-less" in the word "hopeless". Exam question 4 of lesson 37 «Building words: prefixes, suffixes and compounds» 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 
---

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# Exam question 4 · Building words: prefixes, suffixes and compounds

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Ascertain the meaning conveyed by the suffix "-less" in the word "hopeless".

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 2 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** you · **What happens:** ascertain, convey · **To what, where:** meaning, word

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This is exam question 4 of lesson 37 «Building words: prefixes, suffixes and compounds» 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/37-building-words-prefixes-suffixes-and-compounds/#e4).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:37-building-words-prefixes-suffixes-and-compounds:e4:1
# text = Ascertain the meaning conveyed by the suffix "-less" in the word "hopeless".
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	conveyed	convey	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	3	acl	_	_
5	by	by	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	suffix	suffix	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
8	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	10	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	10	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	less	less	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	7	appos	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	10	punct	_	_
12	in	in	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
13	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	14	det	_	_
14	word	word	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
15	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	16	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	hopeless	hopeless	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	14	appos	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	16	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
18	.	.	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 |  |  |  |  | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent meaning=Topic |
| 2 | **convey** | participle |  | the meaning *not said here* |  | the word |  | by the suffix | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent |

<!-- .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 -->
Before

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:37-building-words-prefixes-suffixes-and-compounds:e4:o1:1
# text = Before
1	Before	before	SCONJ	IN	_	0	root	_	_
```

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

### Option 2 · ✓ the right answer {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Without

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:37-building-words-prefixes-suffixes-and-compounds:e4:o2:1
# text = Without
1	Without	without	ADP	IN	_	0	root	_	_
```

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

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Full of

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:37-building-words-prefixes-suffixes-and-compounds:e4:o3:1
# text = Full of
1	Full	full	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
2	of	of	ADP	IN	_	1	obl	_	_
```

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

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Somewhat

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:37-building-words-prefixes-suffixes-and-compounds:e4:o4:1
# text = Somewhat
1	Somewhat	somewhat	ADV	RB	_	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .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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- next →: [Words that changed their meaning, test 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/language/38-words-that-changed-their-meaning/t1/)
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