---
title: Uncle at a barbecue: "Ask the boss, mate", pointing at his wife. Wha… — Soft words for hard things: relations… · tree and pragmatics
description: Uncle at a barbecue: "Ask the boss, mate", pointing at his wife. What is "the boss" here? Test 3 · ★ of lesson 13 «Soft words for hard things: relations and family» 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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# Test 3 · ★ · Soft words for hard things: relations and family

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Uncle at a barbecue: "Ask the boss, mate", pointing at his wife. What is "the boss" here?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 3 · **The right answer:** option 3 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** Uncle, boss · **What happens:** ask, point, be · **To what, where:** boss

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 3 · ★ of lesson 13 «Soft words for hard things: relations and family» 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/13-relations-and-family/#t3).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* Uncle at a barbecue: "Ask the boss, mate", pointing at his wife.

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:13-relations-and-family:t3:1
# text = Uncle at a barbecue: "Ask the boss, mate", pointing at his wife.
1	Uncle	uncle	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nsubj	_	_
2	at	at	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
3	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	barbecue	barbecue	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	:	:	PUNCT	:	_	7	punct	_	_
6	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	7	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	Ask	ask	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	boss	boss	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	11	punct	_	_
11	mate	mate	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	9	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	14	punct	_	_
14	pointing	point	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	7	advcl	_	_
15	at	at	ADP	IN	_	17	case	_	_
16	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	17	nmod:poss	_	_
17	wife	wife	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
18	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	7	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **ask** *speech: ask* *in a quote* | infinitive | Uncle at a barbecue | the boss and mate |  |  |  |  | vn inquire-37.1.2 «NP V NP.recipient»: agent=Agent boss=Recipient |
| 2 | **point** | gerund | Uncle at a barbecue *not said here* |  |  |  |  | at Uncle's wife | vn wink-40.3.1 «NP V»: 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:* What is "the boss" here?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:13-relations-and-family:t3:2
# text = What is "the boss" here?
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	0	root	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	1	cop	_	_
3	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	5	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	boss	boss	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	7	punct	_	_
7	here	here	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	5	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | the boss |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
His old mum

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:13-relations-and-family:t3:o1:1
# text = His old mum
1	His	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	3	nmod:poss	_	_
2	old	old	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	mum	mum	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .note -->
The frames reader finds no event or fact in this sentence.

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The cook at the grill

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:13-relations-and-family:t3:o2:1
# text = The cook at the grill
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	cook	cook	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	at	at	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	grill	grill	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .note -->
The frames reader finds no event or fact in this sentence.

### Option 3 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
His wife

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:13-relations-and-family:t3:o3:1
# text = His wife
1	His	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	2	nmod:poss	_	_
2	wife	wife	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .note -->
The frames reader finds no event or fact in this sentence.

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
His manager

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:13-relations-and-family:t3:o4:1
# text = His manager
1	His	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	2	nmod:poss	_	_
2	manager	manager	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .note -->
The frames reader finds no event or fact in this sentence.

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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: relations…, test 2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/euphemisms/13-relations-and-family/t2/)
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