---
title: Brackets, dashes, colons, semicolons and hyphens — how Mova does on the tests · English
description: Lesson 36 of the english course of Mova's primary school: 5 of 11 tests right, exam 0 of 4, every question with the options, the student's choice, the right answer and why it chose.
---

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# Brackets, dashes, colons, semicolons and hyphens

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**Tests:** 5 of 11 right · **Exam:** 0 of 4 right · **Kind:** ★★★ · **Understood:** 4 of 15 · **Run:** 2026-10-18, commit `f3c23ea72`

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Lesson 36 of the english course of Mova's primary school, as Mova's small model took its tests: it had read this lesson and the ones before it and learned from their exercises. Each test shows the options in the order the student saw them, its choice, the right answer, the score of every option and why it chose. The lesson itself, sentence by sentence with trees and pragmatics: [the lesson in the corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/english/36-brackets-dashes-colons-semicolons-and-hyphens/).

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Every question of this lesson and each of its options parsed by Mova, with trees and pragmatics: [the lesson's questions in the corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/english/36-brackets-dashes-colons-semicolons-and-hyphens/).

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### Test 1 · ★★★ · wrong ✗ {#t1}

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Your mate goes "brackets are for stuff that doesn't matter, so the teacher skips it." What is truer?

- **1.** It is extra detail that the sentence can stand without — **✓ the right answer** · no support
- **2.** Brackets mean the words inside them are spelled wrong — no support
- **3.** Brackets turn a sentence into a question — no support
- **4.** Teachers never read anything in brackets — **← Mova's choice** · score 2

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**Why:** It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 4 with score 2, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 4, line 1: «A silent e at the end of a word reaches back over one consonant and makes the vowel say its name: hop becomes hope, kit becomes kite, cub becomes cube. Schools…», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same action «read» (+2); the same doer «teacher» (+2); a different thing acted on (counts against) (+1). Against it: one says «not», the other does not (counts against) (-3). The right option, 1, found no support in what it remembers. · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/english/36-brackets-dashes-colons-semicolons-and-hyphens/t1/)

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### Test 2 · ★★★ · right ✓ {#t2}

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★★★ "A little used car" and "a little-used car." Which one is a car that is not driven much?

- **1.** A little-used car — **← Mova's choice** · **✓ the right answer** · no support
- **2.** A little used car — no support
- **3.** Both mean exactly that — no support
- **4.** Neither means that — no support

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**Why:** No option found support in what it remembers, so it guessed: it took the first option shown. · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/english/36-brackets-dashes-colons-semicolons-and-hyphens/t2/)

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### Test 3 · ★★★ · wrong ✗ {#t3}

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In a cartoon, a villain's note says "Meet me at the dock... alone." Why the three dots?

- **1.** They show the villain forgot a word — **← Mova's choice** · no support
- **2.** They show that "alone" is a list — no support
- **3.** They build suspense before "alone" — **✓ the right answer** · no support
- **4.** They are decoration, they mean nothing — no support

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**Why:** No option found support in what it remembers, so it guessed: it took the first option shown. · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/english/36-brackets-dashes-colons-semicolons-and-hyphens/t3/)

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### Test 4 · ★★★ · right ✓ {#t4}

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What would happen if the hyphen fell out of "man-eating shark"?

- **1.** It could mean a man eating a shark — **← Mova's choice** · **✓ the right answer** · score 6
- **2.** It would still mean exactly the same — score 2
- **3.** It would mean the shark is a man — no support
- **4.** It would mean a shark eating a man's dinner — score 4

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**Why:** It took the question to ask what happens next. It chose option 1 with score 6, against 4 for the next best. Its support: lesson 36, line 5: «A hyphen is a short join inside words, and it can change the story: a "man-eating shark" eats people, but a "man eating shark" is a man having shark for dinner…», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same action «eat» (+2); the same doer «man» (+2); the same thing acted on «shark» (+2). · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/english/36-brackets-dashes-colons-semicolons-and-hyphens/t4/)

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### Test 5 · ★★★ · right ✓ {#t5}

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★★★ Which sentence uses a semicolon wrongly?

- **1.** We went to the beach; because it was hot. — **← Mova's choice** · **✓ the right answer** · no support
- **2.** Mum laughed; Dad didn't. — no support
- **3.** It was late; the shops had shut. — no support
- **4.** We went to the beach; it was hot. — no support

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**Why:** No option found support in what it remembers, so it guessed: it took the first option shown. · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/english/36-brackets-dashes-colons-semicolons-and-hyphens/t5/)

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### Test 6 · ★★★ · right ✓ {#t6}

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A Gen Z cousin texts "the vibe — immaculate." Which mark is she using to add drama?

- **1.** A dash — **← Mova's choice** · **✓ the right answer** · score 10
- **2.** A semicolon — no support
- **3.** A colon — no support
- **4.** A hyphen — no support

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**Why:** It took the question to ask who or what does it. It chose option 1 with score 10, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 36, line 8: «Dashes give a stronger break than brackets or commas, and can make writing more dramatic; used too often they lose their effect.», reached through the remembered sentence the question matched. What matched: the same action «use» (+4); it fills the role the question asks for (+4); the same doer «dashes» (+2). · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/english/36-brackets-dashes-colons-semicolons-and-hyphens/t6/)

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### Test 7 · ★★★ · wrong ✗ {#t7}

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Nan in Belfast, dry: "You need three things, love: coat, hat, and stop moaning." What does the colon do?

- **1.** It ends Nan's question — no support
- **2.** It introduces the list after a full clause — **✓ the right answer** · score 6
- **3.** It shows missing letters in "love" — no support
- **4.** It joins two words into one word — **← Mova's choice** · score 9

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**Why:** It took the question to ask what is done. It chose option 4 with score 9, against 6 for the next best. Its support: lesson 19, line 2: «A prediction does not have to come true to be a good one. It has to be based on evidence. In a test that says «Predict what might happen next, using evidence f…», reached through the same lesson line as the sentence the question matched. What matched: it fills the role the question asks for (+5); the same action «join» (+4). The right option, 2, scored 6. · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/english/36-brackets-dashes-colons-semicolons-and-hyphens/t7/)

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### Test 8 · ★★★ · wrong ✗ {#t8}

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★★★ Choose the best punctuation: "We visited Leeds, England \_\_\_ Cork, Ireland \_\_\_ and Perth, Australia."

- **1.** Hyphens in both gaps — **← Mova's choice** · no support
- **2.** Commas in both gaps — no support
- **3.** Colons in both gaps — no support
- **4.** Semicolons in both gaps — **✓ the right answer** · no support

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**Why:** No option found support in what it remembers, so it guessed: it took the first option shown. · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/english/36-brackets-dashes-colons-semicolons-and-hyphens/t8/)

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### Test 9 · ★★★ · right ✓ {#t9}

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Your brother writes "I like my teacher – she is funny – she is kind – she is fair – she is tall." What would a good editor say?

- **1.** Too many dashes lose their effect — **← Mova's choice** · **✓ the right answer** · no support
- **2.** It needs even more dashes to be clear — no support
- **3.** It is perfect, dashes are always best — no support
- **4.** Dashes can never be used in a list — no support

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**Why:** No option found support in what it remembers, so it guessed: it took the first option shown. · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/english/36-brackets-dashes-colons-semicolons-and-hyphens/t9/)

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### Test 10 · ★★★ · wrong ✗ {#t10}

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A Liverpool lad says "The match – our kid's first – was boss." ("Boss" means great.) Lift out the part between the dashes. What is left?

- **1.** The match our kid's first. — **← Mova's choice** · no support
- **2.** The match was boss. — **✓ the right answer** · no support
- **3.** Our kid's first was boss. — no support
- **4.** Was boss. — no support

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**Why:** No option found support in what it remembers, so it guessed: it took the first option shown. · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/english/36-brackets-dashes-colons-semicolons-and-hyphens/t10/)

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### Test 11 · ★★★ · wrong ✗ {#t11}

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Which shows the sofa was covered again, not that someone got better?

- **1.** recovered — **← Mova's choice** · no support
- **2.** re: covered — no support
- **3.** re-covered — **✓ the right answer** · no support
- **4.** re covered — no support

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**Why:** No option found support in what it remembers, so it guessed: it took the first option shown. · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/english/36-brackets-dashes-colons-semicolons-and-hyphens/t11/)

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### Exam question 1 · formal language · wrong ✗ {#e1}

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Identify the sentence in which a colon is correctly employed to introduce a list.

- **1.** The recipe: requires three ingredients flour, eggs and milk. — **← Mova's choice** · no support
- **2.** The recipe requires three ingredients: flour, eggs and milk. — **✓ the right answer** · no support
- **3.** The recipe requires three: ingredients flour, eggs and milk. — no support
- **4.** The recipe requires: three ingredients flour, eggs and milk. — no support

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**Why:** No option found support in what it remembers, so it guessed: it took the first option shown. · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/english/36-brackets-dashes-colons-semicolons-and-hyphens/e1/)

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### Exam question 2 · formal language · wrong ✗ {#e2}

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Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the function of the semicolon in "It rained; we stayed in"?

- **1.** It denotes the omission of letters — **← Mova's choice** · no support
- **2.** It links two independent clauses closely related in meaning — **✓ the right answer** · no support
- **3.** It introduces a list of items subsequently enumerated — no support
- **4.** It marks the end of a question — no support

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**Why:** No option found support in what it remembers, so it guessed: it took the first option shown. · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/english/36-brackets-dashes-colons-semicolons-and-hyphens/e2/)

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### Exam question 3 · formal language · wrong ✗ {#e3}

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Select the response consistent with established convention concerning parenthesis.

- **1.** It must contain the main verb of the sentence — **← Mova's choice** · no support
- **2.** It may be indicated by brackets, dashes or commas — **✓ the right answer** · no support
- **3.** It may be indicated solely by brackets — no support
- **4.** It may not be removed without loss of grammaticality — no support

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**Why:** Nothing it remembers matched the question, so it guessed: it took the first option shown. · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/english/36-brackets-dashes-colons-semicolons-and-hyphens/e3/)

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### Exam question 4 · formal language · wrong ✗ {#e4}

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Ascertain the number of full stops constituting an ellipsis.

- **1.** two — **← Mova's choice** · no support
- **2.** three — **✓ the right answer** · no support
- **3.** seven — no support
- **4.** four — no support

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**Why:** No option found support in what it remembers, so it guessed: it took the first option shown. · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/english/36-brackets-dashes-colons-semicolons-and-hyphens/e4/)

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<!-- pn -->
- ← previous: [35. Direct speech: inverted commas and new speakers](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/school-run/english/35-direct-speech-inverted-commas-and-new-speakers/)
- next →: [37. Paragraphs and cohesion: holding a text together](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/school-run/english/37-paragraphs-and-cohesion-holding-a-text-together/)
- ↑ back to [English](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/school-run/english/)