---
title: An apple floats but a raw potato of the same size usually sinks. Why? — Materials and their properties · tree and pragmatics
description: An apple floats but a raw potato of the same size usually sinks. Why? Test 8 · ★★ of lesson 18 «Materials and their properties» of the world course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each option; Mova's choice was right.
---

<!-- md -->
[Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/world/18-materials-and-properties/t8/)

<!-- crumbs -->
[home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/) / [questions](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/) / [World](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/world/) / [Materials and their properties](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/world/18-materials-and-properties/) / t8

# Test 8 · ★★ · Materials and their properties

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
An apple floats but a raw potato of the same size usually sinks. Why?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 3 · **The right answer:** option 3 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** apple, raw potato · **What happens:** float, sink

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 8 · ★★ of lesson 18 «Materials and their properties» of the world 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/world/18-materials-and-properties/#t8).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* An apple floats but a raw potato of the same size usually sinks.

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:18-materials-and-properties:t8:1
# text = An apple floats but a raw potato of the same size usually sinks.
1	An	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	apple	apple	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	floats	float	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	but	but	CCONJ	CC	_	13	cc	_	_
5	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
6	raw	raw	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
7	potato	potato	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	nsubj	_	_
8	of	of	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
10	same	same	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	11	amod	_	_
11	size	size	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nmod	_	_
12	usually	usually	ADV	RB	_	13	advmod	_	_
13	sinks	sink	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **float** | present | a apple |  |  |  |  |  | vn run-51.3.2-2 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 2 | **sink** | present | a raw potato of the same size |  |  |  |  | usually *property* | vn other\_cos-45.4 «NP.patient V»: agent=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.

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 2:* Why?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:18-materials-and-properties:t8:2
# text = Why?
1	Why	why	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

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

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The apple is lighter in colour

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:18-materials-and-properties:t8:o1:1
# text = The apple is lighter in colour
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	apple	apple	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
3	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
4	lighter	light	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	0	root	_	_
5	in	in	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	colour	colour	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | the apple |  |  | colour |  | light *property* | tree rules |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The potato is rounder in shape

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:18-materials-and-properties:t8:o2:1
# text = The potato is rounder in shape
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	potato	potato	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
3	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
4	rounder	round	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	0	root	_	_
5	in	in	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	shape	shape	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | the potato |  |  | shape |  | round *property* | tree rules |

### Option 3 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The apple is less dense, partly because of the air inside it

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:18-materials-and-properties:t8:o3:1
# text = The apple is less dense, partly because of the air inside it
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	apple	apple	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
3	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
4	less	less	ADV	RBR	Degree=Cmp	5	advmod	_	_
5	dense	dense	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	11	punct	_	_
7	partly	partly	ADV	RB	_	11	advmod	_	_
8	because	because	ADP	IN	ExtPos=ADP	11	case	_	_
9	of	of	ADP	IN	_	8	fixed	_	_
10	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	air	air	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	_
12	inside	inside	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
13	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	11	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | the apple |  |  |  |  | because the air inside air; dense, less *property* | tree rules |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The apple has a stalk at the top that holds it up in the water

<!-- fold The tree, 15 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:18-materials-and-properties:t8:o4:1
# text = The apple has a stalk at the top that holds it up in the water
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	apple	apple	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	has	have	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	stalk	stalk	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
6	at	at	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	top	top	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nmod	_	_
9	that	that	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	10	nsubj	_	_
10	holds	hold	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	acl:relcl	_	_
11	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	10	obj	_	_
12	up	up	ADP	RP	_	10	compound:prt	_	_
13	in	in	ADP	IN	_	15	case	_	_
14	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	15	det	_	_
15	water	water	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **have** | present | the apple | a stalk |  | the top |  |  | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent stalk=Patient |
| 2 | **hold up** | present | a stalk | stalk |  | the water |  |  | vn support-15.3-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Pivot it=Theme |

<!-- 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 -->

<!-- pn -->
- ← previous: [Materials and their properties, test 7](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/world/18-materials-and-properties/t7/)
- next →: [Materials and their properties, test 9](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/world/18-materials-and-properties/t9/)
- ↑ back to [Materials and their properties](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/world/18-materials-and-properties/)