---
title: "they said the target was neutralized, mate, that means dead, right?… — Soft words for hard things: politics a… · tree and pragmatics
description: "they said the target was neutralized, mate, that means dead, right?" — is the speaker right? Test 2 · ★ of lesson 25 «Soft words for hard things: politics and government spin and war, the military and violence» of the euphemisms course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmati
---

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# Test 2 · ★ · Soft words for hard things: politics and government spin a…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
"they said the target was neutralized, mate, that means dead, right?" — is the speaker right?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 3 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** they, that · **What happens:** say, neutralize, mean, be · **To what, where:** target, speaker · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 2 · ★ of lesson 25 «Soft words for hard things: politics and government spin and war, the military and violence» 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/25-spin-war-and-violence/#t2).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:25-spin-war-and-violence:t2:1
# text = "they said the target was neutralized, mate, that means dead, right?" — is the speaker right?
1	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	3	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
3	said	say	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	target	target	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nsubj:pass	_	_
6	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	7	aux:pass	_	_
7	neutralized	neutralize	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	3	ccomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	9	punct	_	_
9	mate	mate	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	vocative	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	12	punct	_	_
11	that	that	PRON	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	12	nsubj	_	_
12	means	mean	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	ccomp	_	_
13	dead	dead	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	12	xcomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	15	punct	_	_
15	right	right	INTJ	UH	_	12	discourse	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	15	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	15	punct	_	_
18	—	-	PUNCT	:	_	21	punct	_	_
19	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	21	cop	_	_
20	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	21	det	_	_
21	speaker	speaker	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	parataxis	_	_
22	right	right	ADV	RB	_	21	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
23	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **say** *speech: ask* *in a quote* | past | they |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 2 | **neutralize** *in a quote* | past · passive |  | the target |  |  |  | mate *vocative* | vn other\_cos-45.4 «NP V NP.patient»: subject=Patient |
| 3 | **mean** *in a quote* | present | that |  |  |  |  | dead *property* | vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 4 | **is a** | present |  | the speaker |  |  |  | right *property* | tree rules |

<!-- .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 -->
No, it means moved away

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:25-spin-war-and-violence:t2:o1:1
# text = No, it means moved away
1	No	no	INTJ	UH	Polarity=Neg	4	discourse	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	1	punct	_	_
3	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
4	means	mean	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	moved	move	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	4	ccomp	_	_
6	away	away	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **mean** | present | it |  |  |  |  |  | vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 2 | **move away** | participle |  |  |  |  |  | away *property* | vn roll-51.3.1 «NP.theme V»: agent=Theme |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
No, it means calmed down

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:25-spin-war-and-violence:t2:o2:1
# text = No, it means calmed down
1	No	no	INTJ	UH	Polarity=Neg	4	discourse	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	1	punct	_	_
3	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
4	means	mean	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	calmed	calm	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	4	xcomp	_	_
6	down	down	ADP	RP	_	5	compound:prt	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **mean** | present | it |  |  |  |  |  | vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 2 | **calm down** *not said to happen* | participle |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn subjugate-42.3 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Yes, it means killed

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:25-spin-war-and-violence:t2:o3:1
# text = Yes, it means killed
1	Yes	yes	INTJ	UH	Polarity=Pos	4	discourse	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	1	punct	_	_
3	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
4	means	mean	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	killed	kill	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	4	ccomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **mean** | present | it |  |  |  |  |  | vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 2 | **kill** | participle |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V ADV-Middle»: agent=Experiencer |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
No, it means captured

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:25-spin-war-and-violence:t2:o4:1
# text = No, it means captured
1	No	no	INTJ	UH	Polarity=Neg	4	discourse	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	1	punct	_	_
3	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
4	means	mean	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	captured	capture	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	4	xcomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **mean** | present | it |  |  |  |  |  | vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 2 | **capture** *not said to happen* | participle |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn steal-10.5-1 «NP V NP»: 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 -->

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- ← previous: [Soft words for hard things: politics a…, test 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/euphemisms/25-spin-war-and-violence/t1/)
- next →: [Soft words for hard things: politics a…, test 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/euphemisms/25-spin-war-and-violence/t3/)
- ↑ back to [Soft words for hard things: politics and government spin and war, the military and violence](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/euphemisms/25-spin-war-and-violence/)