---
title: Identify the plain meaning of the term "collateral damage" as it app… — Soft words for hard things: death and… · tree and pragmatics
description: Identify the plain meaning of the term "collateral damage" as it appears in an official military communiqué. Exam question 1 of lesson 2 «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 eac
---

<!-- md -->
[Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/euphemisms/2-death-official-and-slang/e1/)

<!-- crumbs -->
[home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/) / [questions](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/) / [Euphemisms](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/euphemisms/) / [Soft words for hard things: death and…](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/euphemisms/2-death-official-and-slang/) / e1

# Exam question 1 · Soft words for hard things: death and dying

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Identify the plain meaning of the term "collateral damage" as it appears in an official military communiqué.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 1 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** you, it · **What happens:** identify, appear, mean · **To what, where:** plain meaning, official military communiqué, term

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 1 of lesson 2 «Soft words for hard things: death and dying» of the euphemisms course of Mova's primary school, asked in stiff, formal language. 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/2-death-official-and-slang/#e1).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:2-death-official-and-slang:e1:1
# text = Identify the plain meaning of the term "collateral damage" as it appears in an official military communiqué.
1	Identify	identify	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
3	plain	plain	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	amod	_	_
4	meaning	meaning	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
5	of	of	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	term	term	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nmod	_	_
8	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	10	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	collateral	collateral	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	compound	_	_
10	damage	damage	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	appos	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	10	punct	_	_
12	as	as	SCONJ	IN	_	14	mark	_	_
13	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	14	nsubj	_	_
14	appears	appear	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	1	advcl	_	_
15	in	in	ADP	IN	_	19	case	_	_
16	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	19	det	_	_
17	official	official	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	19	amod	_	_
18	military	military	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	19	amod	_	_
19	communiqué	communiqué	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
20	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **identify** | imperative | you *not said here* | the plain meaning of the term |  |  |  |  | vn characterize-29.2-1-1 «NP V NP S\_ING»: agent=Agent meaning=Theme |
| 2 | **appear** | present | it |  |  | a official military communiqué |  |  | vn appear-48.1.1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme in communiqué=Location |
| 3 | **mean** |  |  | the term |  |  |  |  | nom meaning «communication transitive»: of=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.

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The unintended killing of civilians or destruction of property

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:2-death-official-and-slang:e1:o1:1
# text = The unintended killing of civilians or destruction of property
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	unintended	unintended	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	killing	killing	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
4	of	of	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	civilians	civilian	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nmod	_	_
6	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	7	cc	_	_
7	destruction	destruction	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	conj	_	_
8	of	of	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
9	property	property	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **kill** |  |  | civilians or destruction of property |  |  |  |  | nom killing «event transitive»: of=patient |
| 2 | **destroy** |  |  | property |  |  |  |  | nom destruction «act transitive»: of=patient |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Financial losses incurred by the armed forces

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:2-death-official-and-slang:e1:o2:1
# text = Financial losses incurred by the armed forces
1	Financial	financial	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	amod	_	_
2	losses	loss	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	0	root	_	_
3	incurred	incur	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	2	acl	_	_
4	by	by	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
6	armed	armed	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
7	forces	force	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **incur** | participle |  | Financial losses *not said here* |  |  |  | by the armed forces | tree rules |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Damage sustained by military vehicles in transit

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:2-death-official-and-slang:e1:o3:1
# text = Damage sustained by military vehicles in transit
1	Damage	damage	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
2	sustained	sustain	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	1	acl	_	_
3	by	by	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
4	military	military	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	vehicles	vehicle	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obl	_	_
6	in	in	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	transit	transit	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **sustain** | participle |  | Damage *not said here* |  | transit |  | by military vehicles | vn sustain-55.6 «NP V NP PP.instrument»: agent=Agent |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Injuries sustained by soldiers during training

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:2-death-official-and-slang:e1:o4:1
# text = Injuries sustained by soldiers during training
1	Injuries	injury	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	0	root	_	_
2	sustained	sustain	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	1	acl	_	_
3	by	by	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
4	soldiers	soldier	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obl	_	_
5	during	during	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	training	training	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **sustain** | participle |  | Injuries *not said here* |  |  | during training | by soldiers | vn sustain-55.6 «NP V NP PP.instrument»: agent=Agent |

<!-- div src -->

**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: death and…, test 12](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/euphemisms/2-death-official-and-slang/t12/)
- next →: [Soft words for hard things: death and…, exam 2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/euphemisms/2-death-official-and-slang/e2/)
- ↑ back to [Soft words for hard things: death and dying](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/euphemisms/2-death-official-and-slang/)