---
title: Ascertain the plain meaning of the designation "sanitation engineer"… — Soft words for hard things: work, firi… · tree and pragmatics
description: Ascertain the plain meaning of the designation "sanitation engineer" when employed facetiously in respect of a municipal worker. Exam question 4 of lesson 21 «Soft words for hard things: work, firing and the economy» of the euphemisms course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pra
---

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# Exam question 4 · Soft words for hard things: work, firing and the economy

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Ascertain the plain meaning of the designation "sanitation engineer" when employed facetiously in respect of a municipal worker.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 2 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** you · **What happens:** ascertain, employ, mean, respect · **To what, where:** plain meaning, respect, designation, municipal worker

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This is exam question 4 of lesson 21 «Soft words for hard things: 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/21-work-firing-and-the-economy/#e4).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:21-work-firing-and-the-economy:e4:1
# text = Ascertain the plain meaning of the designation "sanitation engineer" when employed facetiously in respect of a municipal worker.
1	Ascertain	ascertain	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	designation	designation	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nmod	_	_
8	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	10	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	sanitation	sanitation	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	compound	_	_
10	engineer	engineer	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	appos	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	10	punct	_	_
12	when	when	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	13	advmod	_	_
13	employed	employ	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	10	acl	_	_
14	facetiously	facetiously	ADV	RB	_	13	advmod	_	_
15	in	in	ADP	IN	_	16	case	_	_
16	respect	respect	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	obl	_	_
17	of	of	ADP	IN	_	20	case	_	_
18	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	20	det	_	_
19	municipal	municipal	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	20	amod	_	_
20	worker	worker	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	16	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
21	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **ascertain** | imperative | you *not said here* | the plain meaning of the designation |  |  |  |  | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent meaning=Topic |
| 2 | **employ** | participle |  |  |  | respect of a municipal worker |  | facetiously *property* | vn hire-13.5.3 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **mean** |  |  | the designation |  |  |  |  | nom meaning «communication transitive»: of=patient |
| 4 | **respect** |  |  | a municipal worker |  |  |  |  | nom respect «cognition 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 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A designer of civil structures

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:21-work-firing-and-the-economy:e4:o1:1
# text = A designer of civil structures
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	designer	designer	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	of	of	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
4	civil	civil	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	structures	structure	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nmod	_	_
```

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

### Option 2 · ✓ the right answer {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A collector of refuse

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:21-work-firing-and-the-economy:e4:o2:1
# text = A collector of refuse
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	collector	collector	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	of	of	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
4	refuse	refuse	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	_
```

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

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
An installer of electrical systems

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:21-work-firing-and-the-economy:e4:o3:1
# text = An installer of electrical systems
1	An	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	installer	installer	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	of	of	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
4	electrical	electrical	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	systems	system	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nmod	_	_
```

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

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
An inspector of hospitals

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:21-work-firing-and-the-economy:e4:o4:1
# text = An inspector of hospitals
1	An	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	inspector	inspector	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	of	of	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
4	hospitals	hospital	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .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: work, firi…, exam 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/euphemisms/21-work-firing-and-the-economy/e3/)
- next →: [Soft words for hard things: work, firi…, test 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/euphemisms/22-jobs-shops-and-estate-agents/t1/)
- ↑ back to [Soft words for hard things: work, firing and the economy](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/euphemisms/21-work-firing-and-the-economy/)