---
title: Select the response that most accurately characterises the expressio… — Soft words for hard things: death and… · tree and pragmatics
description: Select the response that most accurately characterises the expression "kicked the bucket". Exam question 3 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 option; Mova's c
---

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# Exam question 3 · Soft words for hard things: death and dying

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Select the response that most accurately characterises the expression "kicked the bucket".

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 2 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** you, most, expression · **What happens:** select, characteris, kick · **To what, where:** response, expression, bucket

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 3 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/#e3).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:1-death-polite-and-joking:e3:1
# text = Select the response that most accurately characterises the expression "kicked the bucket".
1	Select	select	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	response	response	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
4	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	7	mark	_	_
5	most	most	ADJ	JJS	Degree=Sup	7	nsubj	_	_
6	accurately	accurately	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
7	characterises	characteris	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	1	advcl	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	expression	expression	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obj	_	_
10	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	11	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	kicked	kick	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	9	acl:relcl	_	_
12	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
13	bucket	bucket	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	11	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **select** | imperative | you *not said here* | the response |  |  |  |  | vn obtain-13.5.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent response=Theme |
| 2 | **characteris** | present | most | the expression |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 3 | **kick** *in a quote* | past | the expression *not said here* | the bucket |  |  |  |  | vn split-23.2 «NP V NP apart»: agent=Agent bucket=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 -->
A literal description of upsetting a vessel of water

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:1-death-polite-and-joking:e3:o1:1
# text = A literal description of upsetting a vessel of water
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	literal	literal	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	description	description	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
4	of	of	SCONJ	IN	_	5	mark	_	_
5	upsetting	upset	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	3	acl	_	_
6	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	vessel	vessel	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obj	_	_
8	of	of	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
9	water	water	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **upset** | gerund | a literal description *not said here* | a vessel of water |  |  |  |  | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Stimulus vessel=Experiencer |

### Option 2 · ✓ the right answer {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
An informal and humorous way of stating that a person died

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:1-death-polite-and-joking:e3:o2:1
# text = An informal and humorous way of stating that a person died
1	An	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
2	informal	informal	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
3	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	4	cc	_	_
4	humorous	humorous	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	conj	_	_
5	way	way	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
6	of	of	SCONJ	IN	_	7	mark	_	_
7	stating	state	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	5	acl	_	_
8	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	11	mark	_	_
9	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	person	person	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	nsubj	_	_
11	died	die	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	7	ccomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **state** *speech: other* | gerund | a informal way *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 2 | **die** | past | a person |  |  |  |  |  | vn calibratable\_cos-45.6.1 «NP.attribute V»: agent=Attribute |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A term denoting the commencement of a sporting contest

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:1-death-polite-and-joking:e3:o3:1
# text = A term denoting the commencement of a sporting contest
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	term	term	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	denoting	denote	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	2	acl	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	commencement	commencement	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
6	of	of	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
7	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
8	sporting	sport	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	9	amod	_	_
9	contest	contest	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **denote** | gerund | a term *not said here* | the commencement of a sporting contest |  |  |  |  | vn indicate-78 «NP V NP»: agent=Pivot commencement=Topic |
| 2 | **sport** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A formal and respectful way of stating that a person died

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:1-death-polite-and-joking:e3:o4:1
# text = A formal and respectful way of stating that a person died
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
2	formal	formal	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
3	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	4	cc	_	_
4	respectful	respectful	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	conj	_	_
5	way	way	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
6	of	of	SCONJ	IN	_	7	mark	_	_
7	stating	state	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	5	acl	_	_
8	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	11	mark	_	_
9	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	person	person	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	nsubj	_	_
11	died	die	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	7	ccomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **state** *speech: other* | gerund | a formal way *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 2 | **die** | past | a person |  |  |  |  |  | vn calibratable\_cos-45.6.1 «NP.attribute V»: agent=Attribute |

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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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- ← previous: [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/)
- next →: [Soft words for hard things: death and…, exam 4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/euphemisms/1-death-polite-and-joking/e4/)
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