2nd run:
Overview
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Read the provided sentence which occurred in a news story. Extract all verbs from the sentence and decide for each verb if the fact the verb belongs to could generally be observed or experienced by other persons or not.
We Provide
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* One sentence
Process
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1. Read the sentence.
2. Look for all verbs. Categorize them into "observable" or "not-observable" (see Definition of Observable Facts) and enter them into the text boxes (without space at the end and in the same ordering). The fact of each verb must be classified as either observable or non-observable.
Definition of Observable Facts
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* An observable fact (or action) can be an occurrence (e.g. "arrive", "buy", "destroy"), a reporting (e.g., "say", report", "acknowledge"), or an immediate action (e.g., "claim", "approve"). Observable actions are characterized by the fact that they could be observed or confirmed by third persons directly (e.g., in case of "say") or indirectly (e.g., in case of "confirm").
* Non-observable facts describe states which characterize persons or objects, but which are not observable by other persons than the persons involved. Such non-observable facts are states which last for an indefinite/unspecified period of time (e.g., "be happy", "bankrupt"; often in combination with "to be"), immediate states (e.g., "believe", "worried", "expected"), aspects (e.g., "resume", "start", "continue"), or perceptions ("listen", "feel").
Note: The categorization into observable vs. non-observable facts is done independently of the fact whether the action has happened (or the state is) for sure or not (e.g., because it is in the future).
Tips and Examples
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* The sentence
"Apple Inc. bought Beats Electronics for $3 billion."
contains the verb"bought" which describes an observable fact, since it can be observed as occurrence.
* In the sentence
"Beats makes the popular Beats headphones."
the verb "makes" without any time or place indicates rather a state than an observable action, so it should be classified as non-observable action.
* There can be several facts in one sentence, especially in long sentences.
* If several sentences are presented, you must consider all of them.
* There might be sentences which contain no verbs at all. In this case nothing needs to be extracted and classified.
* Verbs should be extracted, but no nouns or adjectives.
* The verb is mostly one single word. Auxiliary verbs which occur in addition to the actual verb such as "be", "are", "is", "must" do not have to be extracted.
Example:
"Apple today announced it has agreed to acquire the streaming music service Beats Music."
Here the verbs are "announced" (observable), "agreed" (not "has agreed", classified as observable), and "acquire" (classified as observable).
* Participles should only be extracted if they express a fact on its own and if they are not just adjectives.
Example: In
"A laughing man is stronger than a suffering man. "
"laughing" and "suffering" should not be extracted. "is" indicates a state, since it lasts for an indefinite period of time and is valid independent of time and place.
Further Examples
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* "McDonald's plans to return $18 billion and $20 billion to shareholders through stock buybacks and dividends from 2014 to 2016."
contains "return" as observable action verb. "plans" is a noun here and, hence, does not need to be extracted.
* "Mobile analytics firm App Annie announced that it acquired competitor Distimo in a transaction that the company says will help develop 'the most advanced platform for analyzing the mobile app ecosystem.'"
has the verbs "announced" (observable), "acquired" (observable), "says" (observable), "help" (observable somehow, time and place imaginable), "develop" (observable), "analyzing" (observable).
* "The fascinating book was a thrilling read. "
contains "was" which describes a state of the book (non-observable). "thrilling" is a participial adjective only describing "read", so it does not need to be extracted.
Thank You!
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Thank you for your hard work on this task!