---
title: Dad: "On my own the boss wouldn't listen. With the union behind me,… — When work goes wrong · tree and pragmatics
description: Dad: "On my own the boss wouldn't listen. With the union behind me, he had to." Why? Test 7 · ★★ of lesson 4 «When work goes wrong» of the adult life course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each option; Mova's choice was wrong.
---

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# Test 7 · ★★ · When work goes wrong

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Dad: "On my own the boss wouldn't listen. With the union behind me, he had to." Why?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 3 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** boss · **What happens:** not listen, have

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 7 · ★★ of lesson 4 «When work goes wrong» 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/4-when-work-goes-wrong/#t7).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* Dad: "On my own the boss wouldn't listen.

```conllu
# sent_id = question:adult-life:4-when-work-goes-wrong:t7:1
# text = Dad: "On my own the boss wouldn't listen.
1	Dad	dad	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	:	:	PUNCT	:	_	6	punct	_	_
3	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	6	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	On	on	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	my	my	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Sing|Person=1|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	6	nmod:poss	_	_
6	own	own	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	boss	boss	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	nsubj	_	_
9	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	11	aux	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	n't	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	11	advmod	_	_
11	listen	listen	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	6	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	6	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **listen** *in a quote* | would | the boss |  |  |  |  |  | vn peer-30.3 «NP V PP.theme»: agent=Agent |

<!-- .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:* With the union behind me, he had to."

```conllu
# sent_id = question:adult-life:4-when-work-goes-wrong:t7:2
# text = With the union behind me, he had to."
1	With	with	ADP	IN	_	3	case	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	union	union	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obl	_	_
4	behind	behind	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	me	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	3	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	3	punct	_	_
7	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	8	nsubj	_	_
8	had	have	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
9	to	to	PART	TO	_	8	xcomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	8	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	8	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **have** | past | boss |  |  |  |  | with the union behind me | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent |

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 3:* Why?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:adult-life:4-when-work-goes-wrong:t7:3
# 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 · ← Mova's choice {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The union paid the boss to listen

```conllu
# sent_id = question:adult-life:4-when-work-goes-wrong:t7:o1:1
# text = The union paid the boss to listen
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	union	union	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	paid	pay	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	boss	boss	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
6	to	to	PART	TO	_	7	mark	_	_
7	listen	listen	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	acl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **pay** | past | the union | the boss |  |  |  |  | vn pay-68-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent boss=Asset |
| 2 | **listen** | to-infinitive | the union *not said here* | the boss *not said here* |  |  |  |  | vn peer-30.3 «NP V PP.theme»: agent=Agent |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The union sacked the boss

```conllu
# sent_id = question:adult-life:4-when-work-goes-wrong:t7:o2:1
# text = The union sacked the boss
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	union	union	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	sacked	sack	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	boss	boss	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **sack** | past | the union | the boss |  |  |  |  | vn fire-10.10 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent boss=Theme |

### Option 3 · ✓ the right answer {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Many workers together are harder to ignore than one

```conllu
# sent_id = question:adult-life:4-when-work-goes-wrong:t7:o3:1
# text = Many workers together are harder to ignore than one
1	Many	many	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	amod	_	_
2	workers	worker	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	nsubj	_	_
3	together	together	ADV	RB	_	2	advmod	_	_
4	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
5	harder	hard	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	0	root	_	_
6	to	to	PART	TO	_	7	mark	_	_
7	ignore	ignore	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	xcomp	_	_
8	than	than	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
9	one	one	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	7	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | Many workers |  |  |  |  | hard *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **ignore** | to-infinitive | Many workers *not said here* |  |  |  |  | than one | vn neglect-75.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The boss is a member of the union too

```conllu
# sent_id = question:adult-life:4-when-work-goes-wrong:t7:o4:1
# text = The boss is a member of the union too
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	boss	boss	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
3	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
4	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	member	member	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
6	of	of	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	union	union	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nmod	_	_
9	too	too	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | the boss | a member |  |  |  | of the union | 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: [When work goes wrong, test 6](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/adult-life/4-when-work-goes-wrong/t6/)
- next →: [When work goes wrong, test 8](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/adult-life/4-when-work-goes-wrong/t8/)
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