---
title: Ascertain the meaning of the injunction to forgive «seventy times se… — What Christians believe: prayer, forgi… · tree and pragmatics
description: Ascertain the meaning of the injunction to forgive «seventy times seven» times. Exam question 3 of lesson 22 «What Christians believe: prayer, forgiveness, grace and heaven» of the religion ethics course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each op
---

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# Exam question 3 · What Christians believe: prayer, forgiveness, grace and he…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Ascertain the meaning of the injunction to forgive «seventy times seven» times.

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

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 3 of lesson 22 «What Christians believe: prayer, forgiveness, grace and heaven» of the religion ethics 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/religion-ethics/22-prayer-forgiveness-grace-and-heaven/#e3).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:religion-ethics:22-prayer-forgiveness-grace-and-heaven:e3:1
# text = Ascertain the meaning of the injunction to forgive «seventy times seven» times.
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	injunction	injunction	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nmod	_	_
7	to	to	PART	TO	_	8	mark	_	_
8	forgive	forgive	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	6	acl	_	_
9	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	11	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	seventy	seventy	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	11	nummod	_	_
11	times	time	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	14	compound	_	_
12	seven	seven	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	11	flat	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	11	punct	_	_
14	times	time	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	.	.	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 injunction |  |  |  |  | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent meaning=Topic |
| 2 | **forgive** | to-infinitive | you *not said here* |  |  |  | time |  | vn judgment-33.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **mean** |  |  | the injunction |  |  |  |  | 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 · ✓ the right answer {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
That forgiveness ought to be extended without reckoning

```conllu
# sent_id = question:religion-ethics:22-prayer-forgiveness-grace-and-heaven:e3:o1:1
# text = That forgiveness ought to be extended without reckoning
1	That	that	DET	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	2	det	_	_
2	forgiveness	forgiveness	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nsubj:pass	_	_
3	ought	ought	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	6	aux	_	_
4	to	to	PART	TO	_	6	mark	_	_
5	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	6	aux:pass	_	_
6	extended	extend	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
7	without	without	SCONJ	IN	_	8	mark	_	_
8	reckoning	reckon	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	6	advcl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **extend** | ought · passive |  | that forgiveness |  |  |  |  | vn body\_motion-49.2-1 «NP V NP ADV»: subject=Theme |
| 2 | **reckon** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn consider-29.9-1 «NP V how S»: agent=Agent |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
That seven persons only are to be forgiven daily

```conllu
# sent_id = question:religion-ethics:22-prayer-forgiveness-grace-and-heaven:e3:o2:1
# text = That seven persons only are to be forgiven daily
1	That	that	PRON	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	3	nsubj	_	_
2	seven	seven	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	3	nummod	_	_
3	persons	person	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	nsubj:pass	_	_
4	only	only	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	_
5	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	8	aux:pass	_	_
6	to	to	PART	TO	_	8	mark	_	_
7	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	8	aux:pass	_	_
8	forgiven	forgive	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
9	daily	daily	ADV	RB	_	8	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **person** |  | That |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **forgive** | present · passive |  | seven persons |  |  |  | daily *property* | vn judgment-33.1-1 «NP V NP»: subject=Theme |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
That forgiveness ceases after four hundred and ninety offences

```conllu
# sent_id = question:religion-ethics:22-prayer-forgiveness-grace-and-heaven:e3:o3:1
# text = That forgiveness ceases after four hundred and ninety offences
1	That	that	DET	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	2	det	_	_
2	forgiveness	forgiveness	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	ceases	cease	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	after	after	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
5	four	four	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	6	compound	_	_
6	hundred	hundred	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	9	nummod	_	_
7	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	8	cc	_	_
8	ninety	ninety	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	6	conj	_	_
9	offences	offence	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **cease** | present | that forgiveness |  |  |  | after hundred offences |  | vn stop-55.4-1-1 «NP.eventuality V»: agent=Eventuality |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
That forgiveness is contingent upon a sevenfold apology

```conllu
# sent_id = question:religion-ethics:22-prayer-forgiveness-grace-and-heaven:e3:o4:1
# text = That forgiveness is contingent upon a sevenfold apology
1	That	that	DET	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	2	det	_	_
2	forgiveness	forgiveness	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
3	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
4	contingent	contingent	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
5	upon	upon	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
6	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
7	sevenfold	sevenfold	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	compound	_	_
8	apology	apology	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | that forgiveness | contingent |  |  |  | upon a sevenfold apology | tree rules |

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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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- ← previous: [What Christians believe: prayer, forgi…, exam 2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/religion-ethics/22-prayer-forgiveness-grace-and-heaven/e2/)
- next →: [What Christians believe: prayer, forgi…, exam 4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/religion-ethics/22-prayer-forgiveness-grace-and-heaven/e4/)
- ↑ back to [What Christians believe: prayer, forgiveness, grace and heaven](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/religion-ethics/22-prayer-forgiveness-grace-and-heaven/)