---
title: Grandad: "In my day, an old horse that couldn't work went to the kna… — Soft words for hard things: animals an… · tree and pragmatics
description: Grandad: "In my day, an old horse that couldn't work went to the knacker's yard." What happened to such horses? Test 9 · ★ of lesson 18 «Soft words for hard things: animals and pets and money and poverty» of the euphemisms course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of t
---

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# Test 9 · ★ · Soft words for hard things: animals and pets and money and…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Grandad: "In my day, an old horse that couldn't work went to the knacker's yard." What happened to such horses?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 3 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** old horse, Grandad · **What happens:** not work, go, happen

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 9 · ★ of lesson 18 «Soft words for hard things: animals and pets and money and poverty» 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/18-pets-and-money/#t9).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* Grandad: "In my day, an old horse that couldn't work went to the knacker's yard."

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:18-pets-and-money:t9:1
# text = Grandad: "In my day, an old horse that couldn't work went to the knacker's yard."
1	Grandad	Grandad	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	15	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	:	:	PUNCT	:	_	15	punct	_	_
3	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	15	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	In	in	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	my	my	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Sing|Person=1|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	6	nmod:poss	_	_
6	day	day	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	15	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	6	punct	_	_
8	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
9	old	old	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	10	amod	_	_
10	horse	horse	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	15	nsubj	_	_
11	that	that	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	14	nsubj	_	_
12	could	could	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	14	aux	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	n't	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	14	advmod	_	_
14	work	work	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	10	acl:relcl	_	_
15	went	go	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
16	to	to	ADP	IN	_	20	case	_	_
17	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	18	det	_	_
18	knacker	knacker	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	20	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
19	's	's	PART	POS	_	18	case	_	_
20	yard	yard	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	15	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
21	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	15	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
22	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	15	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **work** *in a quote* | could | a old horse |  |  |  |  |  | vn employment-95.3 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **go** *in a quote* | past | Grandad |  |  |  | day | to the knacker's yard | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V PP.initial\_location»: agent=Theme to yard=Initial\_Location |

<!-- .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 happened to such horses?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:18-pets-and-money:t9:2
# text = What happened to such horses?
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	2	nsubj	_	_
2	happened	happen	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	to	to	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
4	such	such	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	horses	horse	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **happen** | past |  |  |  |  |  | to such horses | vn occur-48.3-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 · ← Mova's choice {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
They were sold to a circus

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:18-pets-and-money:t9:o1:1
# text = They were sold to a circus
1	They	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj:pass	_	_
2	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux:pass	_	_
3	sold	sell	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
4	to	to	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	circus	circus	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **sell** | past · passive |  | They | a circus |  |  |  | vn give-13.1-1 «NP V NP PP.recipient»: subject=Theme to circus=Recipient |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
They were given a rest

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:18-pets-and-money:t9:o2:1
# text = They were given a rest
1	They	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux:pass	_	_
3	given	give	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
4	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	rest	rest	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **give** | past · passive |  | They |  |  |  |  | vn give-13.1-1 «NP V NP-Dative NP»: subject=Recipient rest=Theme |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
They were slaughtered

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:18-pets-and-money:t9:o3:1
# text = They were slaughtered
1	They	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj:pass	_	_
2	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux:pass	_	_
3	slaughtered	slaughter	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **slaughter** | past · passive |  | They |  |  |  |  | vn murder-42.1 «NP V NP»: subject=Patient |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
They were fed better

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:18-pets-and-money:t9:o4:1
# text = They were fed better
1	They	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj:pass	_	_
2	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux:pass	_	_
3	fed	feed	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
4	better	good	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	3	xcomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **feed** | past · passive |  | They |  |  |  | good *property* | vn feeding-39.7 «NP V NP»: subject=Recipient |

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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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