---
title: Gran: "That landlord's useless, three letters and still no one's com… — When things break: boilers, plumbers a… · tree and pragmatics
description: Gran: "That landlord's useless, three letters and still no one's come about the damp." What might the family do next? Test 7 of lesson 11 «When things break: boilers, plumbers and paint» of the adult life course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of
---

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# Test 7 · When things break: boilers, plumbers and paint

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Gran: "That landlord's useless, three letters and still no one's come about the damp." What might the family do next?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 3 · **The right answer:** option 1 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** family · **What happens:** do

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 7 of lesson 11 «When things break: boilers, plumbers and paint» of the adult life 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/adult-life/11-when-things-break/#t7).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* Gran: "That landlord's useless, three letters and still no one's come about the damp."

```conllu
# sent_id = question:adult-life:11-when-things-break:t7:1
# text = Gran: "That landlord's useless, three letters and still no one's come about the damp."
1	Gran	gran	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	:	:	PUNCT	:	_	7	punct	_	_
3	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	7	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	That	that	DET	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	5	det	_	_
5	landlord	landlord	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	's	's	PART	POS	_	5	case	_	_
7	useless	useless	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	10	punct	_	_
9	three	three	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	10	nummod	_	_
10	letters	letter	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	obl	_	_
11	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	16	cc	_	_
12	still	still	ADV	RB	_	16	advmod	_	_
13	no	no	DET	DT	PronType=Neg	14	det	_	_
14	one	one	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	16	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	's	's	PART	POS	_	14	case	_	_
16	come	come	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	conj	_	_
17	about	about	ADP	IN	_	19	case	_	_
18	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	19	det	_	_
19	damp	damp	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	16	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
20	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	7	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
21	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	7	punct	_	_
```

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

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 2:* What might the family do next?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:adult-life:11-when-things-break:t7:2
# text = What might the family do next?
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	5	obj	_	_
2	might	might	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	5	aux	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	family	family	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
5	do	do	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
6	next	next	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **do** | might | the family |  |  |  |  | next *property* | vn act-114-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent what=Eventuality |

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 · ✓ the right answer {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Ask the council for help

```conllu
# sent_id = question:adult-life:11-when-things-break:t7:o1:1
# text = Ask the council for help
1	Ask	ask	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	council	council	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
4	for	for	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	help	help	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **ask** *speech: ask* | imperative | you *not said here* | the council |  |  |  | for help | vn inquire-37.1.2 «NP V NP.recipient»: agent=Agent council=Recipient |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Paint over the mould and forget it

```conllu
# sent_id = question:adult-life:11-when-things-break:t7:o2:1
# text = Paint over the mould and forget it
1	Paint	paint	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	_
2	over	over	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	mould	mould	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	nmod	_	_
5	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	6	cc	_	_
6	forget	forget	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
7	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	6	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **forget** | infinitive | Paint over the mould | mould |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

### Option 3 · ← Mova's choice {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Fix the walls with sticky tape

```conllu
# sent_id = question:adult-life:11-when-things-break:t7:o3:1
# text = Fix the walls with sticky tape
1	Fix	fix	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	walls	wall	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	1	obj	_	_
4	with	with	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	sticky	sticky	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	tape	tape	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **fix** | imperative | you *not said here* | the walls |  |  |  | with sticky tape | vn shake-22.3-2 «NP V NP PP»: agent=Agent wall=Patient with tape=Co-Patient |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Stop paying for the water

```conllu
# sent_id = question:adult-life:11-when-things-break:t7:o4:1
# text = Stop paying for the water
1	Stop	stop	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	paying	pay	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	1	xcomp	_	_
3	for	for	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	water	water	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **stop** | imperative | you *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn stop-55.4-1-1 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Affector clause=Eventuality |
| 2 | **pay** | gerund | you *not said here* |  |  |  |  | for the water | vn pay-68-1 «NP V NP PP.theme»: agent=Agent for water=Theme |

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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.

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