---
title: Whereas an undertaking states that it is "downsizing", determine the… — Soft words for hard things: money and… · tree and pragmatics
description: Whereas an undertaking states that it is "downsizing", determine the consequence most likely to ensue for its personnel. Exam question 4 of lesson 20 «Soft words for hard things: money and poverty and work, firing and the economy» of the euphemisms course of Mova's primary school, with the dependenc
---

<!-- md -->
[Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/euphemisms/20-debt-and-jobs/e4/)

<!-- 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: money and…](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/euphemisms/20-debt-and-jobs/) / e4

# Exam question 4 · Soft words for hard things: money and poverty and work, fi…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Whereas an undertaking states that it is "downsizing", determine the consequence most likely to ensue for its personnel.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 3 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** undertaking, you · **What happens:** state, be, determine, ensue · **To what, where:** downsizing, consequence · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 4 of lesson 20 «Soft words for hard things: money and poverty and work, firing and the economy» 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/20-debt-and-jobs/#e4).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:20-debt-and-jobs:e4:1
# text = Whereas an undertaking states that it is "downsizing", determine the consequence most likely to ensue for its personnel.
1	Whereas	whereas	SCONJ	IN	_	4	mark	_	_
2	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	undertaking	undertaking	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
4	states	state	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	12	advcl	_	_
5	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	9	mark	_	_
6	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	9	nsubj	_	_
7	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	9	cop	_	_
8	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	9	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	downsizing	downsizing	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	ccomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	9	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	12	punct	_	_
12	determine	determine	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
13	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	14	det	_	_
14	consequence	consequence	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	obj	_	_
15	most	most	ADV	RBS	Degree=Sup	16	advmod	_	_
16	likely	likely	ADV	RB	_	18	advmod	_	_
17	to	to	PART	TO	_	18	mark	_	_
18	ensue	ensue	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	14	acl:relcl	_	_
19	for	for	ADP	IN	_	21	case	_	_
20	its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	21	nmod:poss	_	_
21	personnel	personnel	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	18	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
22	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	12	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **state** *speech: other* | present | a undertaking |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **is a** *in a quote* | present | undertaking | downsizing |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 3 | **determine** | imperative | you *not said here* | the consequence |  |  |  |  | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent consequence=Topic |
| 4 | **ensue** | to-infinitive | you *not said here* | the consequence *not said here* |  |  |  | for undertaking's personnel; likely *property* | 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.

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 · ← Mova's choice {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The relocation of all staff to larger premises

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:20-debt-and-jobs:e4:o1:1
# text = The relocation of all staff to larger premises
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	relocation	relocation	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	of	of	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
4	all	all	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	5	det	_	_
5	staff	staff	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	_
6	to	to	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	larger	large	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	8	amod	_	_
8	premises	premise	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **relocate** |  |  | all staff |  |  |  | to larger premises | nom relocation «act transitive»: of=patient to=obl |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
An increase in remuneration

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:20-debt-and-jobs:e4:o2:1
# text = An increase in remuneration
1	An	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	increase	increase	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	in	in	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
4	remuneration	remuneration	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	_
```

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

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A reduction in the number of jobs

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:20-debt-and-jobs:e4:o3:1
# text = A reduction in the number of jobs
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	reduction	reduction	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	in	in	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	number	number	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	_
6	of	of	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	jobs	job	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	nmod	_	_
```

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

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A reduction in the size of furniture

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:20-debt-and-jobs:e4:o4:1
# text = A reduction in the size of furniture
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	reduction	reduction	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	in	in	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	size	size	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	_
6	of	of	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	furniture	furniture	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nmod	_	_
```

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

<!-- 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: money and…, exam 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/euphemisms/20-debt-and-jobs/e3/)
- next →: [Soft words for hard things: work, firi…, test 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/euphemisms/21-work-firing-and-the-economy/t1/)
- ↑ back to [Soft words for hard things: money and poverty and work, firing and the economy](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/euphemisms/20-debt-and-jobs/)