---
title: A leader calls the invasion of a neighbour a "special military opera… — Soft words for hard things: war, the m… · tree and pragmatics
description: A leader calls the invasion of a neighbour a "special military operation". Why use that phrase? Test 5 · ★ of lesson 26 «Soft words for hard things: war, the military and violence» of the euphemisms course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each 
---

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# Test 5 · ★ · Soft words for hard things: war, the military and violence

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A leader calls the invasion of a neighbour a "special military operation". Why use that phrase?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 2 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** leader, you · **What happens:** call, invade, use · **To what, where:** invasion, neighbour, phrase · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 5 · ★ of lesson 26 «Soft words for hard things: 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/26-war-and-the-military/#t5).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* A leader calls the invasion of a neighbour a "special military operation".

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:26-war-and-the-military:t5:1
# text = A leader calls the invasion of a neighbour a "special military operation".
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	leader	leader	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	calls	call	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	invasion	invasion	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
6	of	of	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	neighbour	neighbour	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nmod	_	_
9	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
10	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	13	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	special	special	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	13	amod	_	_
12	military	military	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	13	amod	_	_
13	operation	operation	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	xcomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	13	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **call** | present | a leader | the invasion of a neighbour |  |  |  |  | vn initiate\_communication-37.4.2-1 «NP V NP.recipient»: agent=Agent invasion=Recipient |
| 2 | **invade** |  |  | a neighbour |  |  |  |  | nom invasion «act 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.

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 2:* Why use that phrase?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:26-war-and-the-military:t5:2
# text = Why use that phrase?
1	Why	why	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	2	advmod	_	_
2	use	use	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	that	that	DET	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	4	det	_	_
4	phrase	phrase	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **use** | imperative | you *not said here* | that phrase |  |  |  |  | vn eat-39.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent phrase=Patient |

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 · ← Mova's choice {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Because it is a small parade

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:26-war-and-the-military:t5:o1:1
# text = Because it is a small parade
1	Because	because	SCONJ	IN	_	6	mark	_	_
2	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	6	nsubj	_	_
3	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	cop	_	_
4	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
5	small	small	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	parade	parade	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | it | a small parade |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
To avoid admitting it is a war

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:26-war-and-the-military:t5:o2:1
# text = To avoid admitting it is a war
1	To	to	PART	TO	_	2	mark	_	_
2	avoid	avoid	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	admitting	admit	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	7	csubj	_	_
4	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	obj	_	_
5	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	7	cop	_	_
6	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	war	war	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **avoid** | to-infinitive |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn avoid-52 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **admit** *speech: other* | gerund |  | it |  |  |  |  | vn admit-64.3-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent it=Theme |
| 3 | **is a** | present | admitting | a war |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Because it is a medical operation

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:26-war-and-the-military:t5:o3:1
# text = Because it is a medical operation
1	Because	because	SCONJ	IN	_	6	mark	_	_
2	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	6	nsubj	_	_
3	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	cop	_	_
4	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
5	medical	medical	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	operation	operation	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | it | a medical operation |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Because it is a training game

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:26-war-and-the-military:t5:o4:1
# text = Because it is a training game
1	Because	because	SCONJ	IN	_	6	mark	_	_
2	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	6	nsubj	_	_
3	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	cop	_	_
4	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
5	training	training	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	compound	_	_
6	game	game	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | it | a training game |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

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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.

<!-- /div -->

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