---
title: Mum to cousin: "Don't worry, it's the terrible twos, it'll pass." Wh… — Soft words for hard things: relations… · tree and pragmatics
description: Mum to cousin: "Don't worry, it's the terrible twos, it'll pass." What does she mean? Test 11 · ★ of lesson 14 «Soft words for hard things: relations and family and children's behaviour» of the euphemisms course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of
---

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# Test 11 · ★ · Soft words for hard things: relations and family and child…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Mum to cousin: "Don't worry, it's the terrible twos, it'll pass." What does she mean?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 4 · **The right answer:** option 4 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** cousin, Mum · **What happens:** not worry, be, pass, mean · **To what, where:** terrible twos

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 11 · ★ of lesson 14 «Soft words for hard things: relations and family and children's behaviour» 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/14-family-and-behaviour/#t11).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* Mum to cousin: "Don't worry, it's the terrible twos, it'll pass."

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:14-family-and-behaviour:t11:1
# text = Mum to cousin: "Don't worry, it's the terrible twos, it'll pass."
1	Mum	mum	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
2	to	to	ADP	IN	_	3	case	_	_
3	cousin	cousin	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	:	:	PUNCT	:	_	8	punct	_	_
5	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	8	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	Do	do	AUX	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	8	aux	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	n't	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	8	advmod	_	_
8	worry	worry	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	3	parataxis	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	14	punct	_	_
10	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	14	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	's	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	14	cop	_	_
12	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	14	det	_	_
13	terrible	terrible	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	14	amod	_	_
14	twos	two	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	18	punct	_	_
16	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	18	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	'll	will	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	18	aux	_	_
18	pass	pass	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	8	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
19	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
20	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **worry** *in a quote* | infinitive · do-support |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V ADV-Middle»: agent=Experiencer |
| 2 | **is a** *in a quote* | present | cousin | the terrible twos |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 3 | **pass** *in a quote* | future | cousin |  |  |  |  |  | vn occur-48.3-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

<!-- .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:14-family-and-behaviour:t11:2
# 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 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The twins are terrible

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:14-family-and-behaviour:t11:o1:1
# text = The twins are terrible
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	twins	twin	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj	_	_
3	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
4	terrible	terrible	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
```

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

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Two is a bad number

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:14-family-and-behaviour:t11:o2:1
# text = Two is a bad number
1	Two	two	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	5	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
3	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	bad	bad	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	number	number	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
```

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

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Something bad will happen twice more before it stops

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:14-family-and-behaviour:t11:o3:1
# text = Something bad will happen twice more before it stops
1	Something	something	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Ind	4	nsubj	_	_
2	bad	bad	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	1	amod	_	_
3	will	will	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
4	happen	happen	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
5	twice	twice	ADV	RB	NumForm=Word|NumType=Mult	6	advmod	_	_
6	more	more	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	4	obj	_	_
7	before	before	SCONJ	IN	_	9	mark	_	_
8	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	9	nsubj	_	_
9	stops	stop	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	advcl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **happen** | future | Something | more |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **stop** | present | it |  |  |  |  |  | vn stop-55.4-1-1 «NP.eventuality V»: agent=Eventuality |

### Option 4 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The toddler's bad behaviour is a normal stage

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:14-family-and-behaviour:t11:o4:1
# text = The toddler's bad behaviour is a normal stage
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	toddler	toddler	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	's	's	PART	POS	_	2	case	_	_
4	bad	bad	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	behaviour	behaviour	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	nsubj	_	_
6	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	9	cop	_	_
7	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
8	normal	normal	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	amod	_	_
9	stage	stage	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | the toddler's bad behaviour | a normal stage |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

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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.

<!-- /div -->

<!-- pn -->
- ← previous: [Soft words for hard things: relations…, test 10](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/euphemisms/14-family-and-behaviour/t10/)
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