---
title: Identify the plain meaning of the expression "passed away" as employ… — Soft words for hard things: death and… · tree and pragmatics
description: Identify the plain meaning of the expression "passed away" as employed in a formal notice of bereavement. Exam question 1 of lesson 1 «Soft words for hard things: death and dying» of the euphemisms course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each o
---

<!-- md -->
[Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/euphemisms/1-death-polite-and-joking/e1/)

<!-- 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/) / [Euphemisms](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/euphemisms/) / [Soft words for hard things: death and…](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/euphemisms/1-death-polite-and-joking/) / e1

# Exam question 1 · Soft words for hard things: death and dying

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Identify the plain meaning of the expression "passed away" as employed in a formal notice of bereavement.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 4 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** you · **What happens:** identify, pass away, employ, mean, notice · **To what, where:** plain meaning, expression, formal notice, bereavement

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 1 of lesson 1 «Soft words for hard things: death and dying» of the euphemisms course of Mova's primary school, asked in stiff, formal language. 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/euphemisms/1-death-polite-and-joking/#e1).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:1-death-polite-and-joking:e1:1
# text = Identify the plain meaning of the expression "passed away" as employed in a formal notice of bereavement.
1	Identify	identify	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
3	plain	plain	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	amod	_	_
4	meaning	meaning	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
5	of	of	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	expression	expression	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nmod	_	_
8	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	9	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	passed	pass	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	7	acl	_	_
10	away	away	ADV	RB	_	9	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	9	punct	_	_
12	as	as	SCONJ	IN	_	13	mark	_	_
13	employed	employ	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	9	advcl	_	_
14	in	in	ADP	IN	_	17	case	_	_
15	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	17	det	_	_
16	formal	formal	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	17	amod	_	_
17	notice	notice	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	obl	_	_
18	of	of	ADP	IN	_	19	case	_	_
19	bereavement	bereavement	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	17	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
20	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **identify** | imperative | you *not said here* | the plain meaning of the expression |  |  |  |  | vn characterize-29.2-1-1 «NP V NP S\_ING»: agent=Agent meaning=Theme |
| 2 | **pass away** *in a quote* | participle |  | the expression *not said here* |  |  |  | away *property* | vn die-42.4-1 «NP V»: agent=Patient |
| 3 | **employ** | participle |  |  |  | a formal notice of bereavement |  |  | vn hire-13.5.3 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent |
| 4 | **mean** |  |  | the expression |  |  |  |  | nom meaning «communication transitive»: of=patient |
| 5 | **notice** |  |  | bereavement |  |  |  |  | nom notice «communication transitive»: of=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.

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 · ← Mova's choice {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Was discharged from hospital

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:1-death-polite-and-joking:e1:o1:1
# text = Was discharged from hospital
1	Was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	2	aux:pass	_	_
2	discharged	discharge	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
3	from	from	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
4	hospital	hospital	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **discharge** | past · passive |  |  |  | hospital |  |  | vn banish-10.2 «NP V NP PP.source»: from hospital=Source |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Relocated to another address

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:1-death-polite-and-joking:e1:o2:1
# text = Relocated to another address
1	Relocated	relocate	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
2	to	to	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
3	another	another	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	4	det	_	_
4	address	address	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **relocate** | participle |  |  |  |  |  | to another address | tree rules |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Lost consciousness briefly

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:1-death-polite-and-joking:e1:o3:1
# text = Lost consciousness briefly
1	Lost	lose	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	2	amod	_	_
2	consciousness	consciousness	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	briefly	briefly	ADV	RB	_	2	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **lose** | participle |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn succeed-74-3-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

### Option 4 · ✓ the right answer {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The person has died

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:1-death-polite-and-joking:e1:o4:1
# text = The person has died
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	person	person	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
3	has	have	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
4	died	die	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **die** | present · perfect | the person |  |  |  |  |  | vn calibratable\_cos-45.6.1 «NP.attribute V»: agent=Attribute |

<!-- 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: [Soft words for hard things: death and…, test 12](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/euphemisms/1-death-polite-and-joking/t12/)
- next →: [Soft words for hard things: death and…, exam 2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/euphemisms/1-death-polite-and-joking/e2/)
- ↑ back to [Soft words for hard things: death and dying](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/euphemisms/1-death-polite-and-joking/)