---
title: What would happen if nobody had ever split "hamburger" into "ham" +… — Building words: prefixes, suffixes and… · tree and pragmatics
description: What would happen if nobody had ever split "hamburger" into "ham" + "burger"? Test 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 righ
---

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# Test 4 · ★ · Building words: prefixes, suffixes and compounds

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
What would happen if nobody had ever split "hamburger" into "ham" + "burger"?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 2 · **The right answer:** option 2 · right ✓ · **What happens:** happen, split · **To what, where:** nobody, ham

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 4 · ★ of lesson 37 «Building words: prefixes, suffixes and compounds» of the language course of Mova's primary school. 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/#t4).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:37-building-words-prefixes-suffixes-and-compounds:t4:1
# text = What would happen if nobody had ever split "hamburger" into "ham" + "burger"?
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	3	nsubj	_	_
2	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	3	aux	_	_
3	happen	happen	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
4	if	if	SCONJ	IN	_	8	mark	_	_
5	nobody	nobody	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Neg	8	nsubj:pass	_	_
6	had	have	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	8	aux	_	_
7	ever	ever	ADV	RB	PronType=Ind	8	advmod	_	_
8	split	split	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	3	advcl	_	_
9	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	10	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	hamburger	hamburger	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	10	punct	_	_
12	into	into	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
13	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	14	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	ham	ham	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	14	punct	_	_
16	+	+	SYM	SYM	_	18	cc	_	_
17	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	18	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
18	burger	burger	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
19	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	18	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
20	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **happen** | would |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn occur-48.3-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 2 | **split** *a condition, not said to happen* | past · perfect · passive |  | nobody |  | ham + burger | ever |  | vn break-45.1 «NP V NP ADJ»: subject=Patient hamburger=Result |

<!-- .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 -->
Hamburgers would be called Hamburg pies by law

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:37-building-words-prefixes-suffixes-and-compounds:t4:o1:1
# text = Hamburgers would be called Hamburg pies by law
1	Hamburgers	hamburger	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj:pass	_	_
2	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
3	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	aux:pass	_	_
4	called	call	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
5	Hamburg	Hamburg	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	6	compound	_	_
6	pies	pie	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	xcomp	_	_
7	by	by	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
8	law	law	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **call** | would · passive | law | Hamburgers |  |  |  |  | vn initiate\_communication-37.4.2-1 «NP V NP.recipient»: agent=Agent subject=Recipient |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
We probably wouldn't say "cheeseburger" or "veggie burger"

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:37-building-words-prefixes-suffixes-and-compounds:t4:o2:1
# text = We probably wouldn't say "cheeseburger" or "veggie burger"
1	We	we	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=1|PronType=Prs	5	nsubj	_	_
2	probably	probably	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
3	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	5	aux	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	n't	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	5	advmod	_	_
5	say	say	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
6	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	7	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	cheeseburger	cheeseburger	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	7	punct	_	_
9	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	12	cc	_	_
10	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	12	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	veggie	veggie	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	compound	_	_
12	burger	burger	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	12	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **say** *speech: assert* | would | We | cheeseburger or veggie burger |  |  |  | probably *property* | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V NP.topic»: agent=Agent cheeseburger=Topic |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Nothing at all would change in English

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:37-building-words-prefixes-suffixes-and-compounds:t4:o3:1
# text = Nothing at all would change in English
1	Nothing	nothing	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Neg	5	nsubj	_	_
2	at	at	ADP	IN	_	3	case	_	_
3	all	all	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	1	nmod	_	_
4	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	5	aux	_	_
5	change	change	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
6	in	in	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	English	English	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **change** | would | Nothing |  |  | English |  |  | vn dress-41.1.1-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
We would have no word at all for sandwiches

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:37-building-words-prefixes-suffixes-and-compounds:t4:o4:1
# text = We would have no word at all for sandwiches
1	We	we	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=1|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	3	aux	_	_
3	have	have	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
4	no	no	DET	DT	PronType=Neg	5	det	_	_
5	word	word	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
6	at	at	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	all	all	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	5	nmod	_	_
8	for	for	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
9	sandwiches	sandwich	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **have** | would | We | no word |  | all |  | for sandwiches | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent word=Patient |

<!-- 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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