---
title: "We've been trying for a baby for two years." What do they want? — Soft words for hard things: pregnancy… · tree and pragmatics
description: "We've been trying for a baby for two years." What do they want? Test 8 · ★ of lesson 11 «Soft words for hard things: pregnancy and birth» 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 wrong.
---

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# Test 8 · ★ · Soft words for hard things: pregnancy and birth

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
"We've been trying for a baby for two years." What do they want?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 3 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** We, they · **What happens:** try, want

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 8 · ★ of lesson 11 «Soft words for hard things: pregnancy and birth» 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/11-pregnancy-and-birth/#t8).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* "We've been trying for a baby for two years."

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:11-pregnancy-and-birth:t8:1
# text = "We've been trying for a baby for two years."
1	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	5	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	We	we	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=1|PronType=Prs	5	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	've	have	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=1|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	aux	_	_
4	been	be	AUX	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	5	aux	_	_
5	trying	try	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
6	for	for	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	baby	baby	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	_
9	for	for	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
10	two	two	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	11	nummod	_	_
11	years	year	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	5	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **try** *in a quote* | present · perfect · progressive | We |  |  |  | year | for a baby | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V ADV-Middle»: agent=Experiencer |

<!-- .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 do they want?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:11-pregnancy-and-birth:t8:2
# text = What do they want?
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	4	obj	_	_
2	do	do	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
3	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
4	want	want	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 | **want** | present · do-support | they |  |  |  |  |  | vn want-32.1-1-1 «NP V NP ADV»: agent=Pivot what=Theme |

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 · ← Mova's choice {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
To babysit more

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:11-pregnancy-and-birth:t8:o1:1
# text = To babysit more
1	To	to	PART	TO	_	2	mark	_	_
2	babysit	babysit	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	more	more	ADV	RBR	Degree=Cmp	2	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **babysit** | to-infinitive |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn captain-29.8-1 «NP V PP.beneficiary»: agent=Agent |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
To adopt a puppy

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:11-pregnancy-and-birth:t8:o2:1
# text = To adopt a puppy
1	To	to	PART	TO	_	2	mark	_	_
2	adopt	adopt	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	puppy	puppy	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **adopt** | to-infinitive |  | a puppy |  |  |  |  | vn appoint-29.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent puppy=Theme |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
To have a baby

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:11-pregnancy-and-birth:t8:o3:1
# text = To have a baby
1	To	to	PART	TO	_	2	mark	_	_
2	have	have	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	baby	baby	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **have** | to-infinitive |  | a baby |  |  |  |  | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent baby=Patient |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
To buy baby clothes

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:11-pregnancy-and-birth:t8:o4:1
# text = To buy baby clothes
1	To	to	PART	TO	_	2	mark	_	_
2	buy	buy	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	baby	baby	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	compound	_	_
4	clothes	clothes	NOUN	NNS	Number=Ptan	2	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **buy** | to-infinitive |  | baby clothes |  |  |  |  | vn accept-77.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent clothes=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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- ← previous: [Soft words for hard things: pregnancy…, test 7](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/euphemisms/11-pregnancy-and-birth/t7/)
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