---
title: Mum: "Your great-grandad departed this life before you were born." W… — Soft words for hard things: death and… · tree and pragmatics
description: Mum: "Your great-grandad departed this life before you were born." What does she mean? Test 8 · ★ 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 choice was
---

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# Test 8 · ★ · Soft words for hard things: death and dying

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Mum: "Your great-grandad departed this life before you were born." What does she mean?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 3 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** Mum · **What happens:** depart, bear, mean · **To what, where:** life, you

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 8 · ★ of lesson 1 «Soft words for hard things: death and dying» of the euphemisms 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/euphemisms/1-death-polite-and-joking/#t8).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* Mum: "Your great-grandad departed this life before you were born."

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:1-death-polite-and-joking:t8:1
# text = Mum: "Your great-grandad departed this life before you were born."
1	Mum	mum	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	:	:	PUNCT	:	_	1	punct	_	_
3	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	8	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	Your	your	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Person=2|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	7	nmod:poss	_	_
5	great	great	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	5	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	grandad	grandad	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nsubj	_	_
8	departed	depart	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
9	this	this	DET	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	10	det	_	_
10	life	life	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obj	_	_
11	before	before	SCONJ	IN	_	14	mark	_	_
12	you	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Person=2|PronType=Prs	14	nsubj:pass	_	_
13	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=2|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	14	aux:pass	_	_
14	born	bear	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	8	advcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	8	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	8	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **depart** *in a quote* | past | Mum | this life |  |  |  |  | vn escape-51.1-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Theme life=Initial\_Location |
| 2 | **bear** *in a quote* | past · passive |  | you |  |  |  |  | vn birth-28.2-1-1 «NP V NP»: subject=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.

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 2:* What does she mean?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:1-death-polite-and-joking:t8:2
# text = What does she mean?
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	4	obj	_	_
2	does	do	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
3	she	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
4	mean	mean	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **mean** | present · do-support | Mum |  |  |  |  |  | vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent what=Topic |

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 · ← Mova's choice {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
He was born before you were

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:1-death-polite-and-joking:t8:o1:1
# text = He was born before you were
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj:pass	_	_
2	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux:pass	_	_
3	born	bear	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
4	before	before	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	you	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Person=2|PronType=Prs	3	obl	_	_
6	were	be	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **bear** | past · passive |  | He |  |  | before you |  | vn birth-28.2-1-1 «NP V NP»: subject=Patient |
| 2 | **be** | past |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn exist-47.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
He left the country before you were born

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:1-death-polite-and-joking:t8:o2:1
# text = He left the country before you were born
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	left	leave	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	country	country	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
5	before	before	SCONJ	IN	_	8	mark	_	_
6	you	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Person=2|PronType=Prs	8	nsubj:pass	_	_
7	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=2|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	8	aux:pass	_	_
8	born	bear	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	2	advcl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **leave** | past | He | the country |  |  |  |  | vn keep-15.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent country=Theme |
| 2 | **bear** | past · passive |  | you |  |  |  |  | vn birth-28.2-1-1 «NP V NP»: subject=Patient |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
He died before you were born

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:1-death-polite-and-joking:t8:o3:1
# text = He died before you were born
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	died	die	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	before	before	SCONJ	IN	_	6	mark	_	_
4	you	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Person=2|PronType=Prs	6	nsubj:pass	_	_
5	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=2|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	6	aux:pass	_	_
6	born	bear	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	2	advcl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **die** | past | He |  |  |  |  |  | vn calibratable\_cos-45.6.1 «NP.attribute V»: agent=Attribute |
| 2 | **bear** | past · passive |  | you |  |  |  |  | vn birth-28.2-1-1 «NP V NP»: subject=Patient |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
He stopped working before you were born

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:1-death-polite-and-joking:t8:o4:1
# text = He stopped working before you were born
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	stopped	stop	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	working	work	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	2	xcomp	_	_
4	before	before	SCONJ	IN	_	7	mark	_	_
5	you	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Person=2|PronType=Prs	7	nsubj:pass	_	_
6	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=2|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	7	aux:pass	_	_
7	born	bear	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	3	advcl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **stop** | past | He |  |  |  |  |  | vn stop-55.4-1-1 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Affector clause=Eventuality |
| 2 | **work** | gerund | He *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn employment-95.3 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **bear** | past · passive |  | you |  |  |  |  | vn birth-28.2-1-1 «NP V NP»: subject=Patient |

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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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