---
title: Identify the principal meaning of "use of force" as employed in poli… — Soft words for hard things: crime, pri… · tree and pragmatics
description: Identify the principal meaning of "use of force" as employed in police reports. Exam question 2 of lesson 27 «Soft words for hard things: crime, prison and the police» of the euphemisms course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each option; Mova'
---

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# Exam question 2 · Soft words for hard things: crime, prison and the police

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Identify the principal meaning of "use of force" as employed in police reports.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 3 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** you · **What happens:** identify, employ, mean, use · **To what, where:** principal meaning, police reports, use, force

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This is exam question 2 of lesson 27 «Soft words for hard things: crime, prison and the police» 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/27-crime-prison-and-police/#e2).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:27-crime-prison-and-police:e2:1
# text = Identify the principal meaning of "use of force" as employed in police reports.
1	Identify	identify	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
3	principal	principal	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	amod	_	_
4	meaning	meaning	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
5	of	of	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	7	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	use	use	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nmod	_	_
8	of	of	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
9	force	force	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	9	punct	_	_
11	as	as	SCONJ	IN	_	12	mark	_	_
12	employed	employ	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	1	advcl	_	_
13	in	in	ADP	IN	_	15	case	_	_
14	police	police	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	15	compound	_	_
15	reports	report	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	12	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	.	.	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 principal meaning of use of force |  |  |  |  | vn characterize-29.2-1-1 «NP V NP S\_ING»: agent=Agent meaning=Theme |
| 2 | **employ** | participle | you *not said here* |  |  | police reports |  |  | vn hire-13.5.3 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **mean** |  |  | use of force |  |  |  |  | nom meaning «communication transitive»: of=patient |
| 4 | **use** *in a quote* |  |  | force |  |  |  |  | nom use «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.

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 · ← Mova's choice {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The operation of police vehicles

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:27-crime-prison-and-police:e2:o1:1
# text = The operation of police vehicles
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	operation	operation	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	of	of	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
4	police	police	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	compound	_	_
5	vehicles	vehicle	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **operate** |  |  | police vehicles |  |  |  |  | nom operation «state transitive»: of=patient |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The application of physics in the classroom

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:27-crime-prison-and-police:e2:o2:1
# text = The application of physics in the classroom
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	application	application	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	of	of	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
4	physics	physic	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nmod	_	_
5	in	in	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	classroom	classroom	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **apply** |  | physics in the classroom |  |  |  |  |  | nom application «act intransitive»: of=agent |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Violence by police

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:27-crime-prison-and-police:e2:o3:1
# text = Violence by police
1	Violence	violence	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
2	by	by	ADP	IN	_	3	case	_	_
3	police	police	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	1	nmod	_	_
```

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

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The opening of jammed doors

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:27-crime-prison-and-police:e2:o4:1
# text = The opening of jammed doors
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	opening	opening	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	of	of	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
4	jammed	jam	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	5	amod	_	_
5	doors	door	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **jam** | participle |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn spray-9.7-1-1 «NP V PP.destination»: agent=Theme |

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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: crime, pri…, exam 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/euphemisms/27-crime-prison-and-police/e1/)
- next →: [Soft words for hard things: crime, pri…, exam 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/euphemisms/27-crime-prison-and-police/e3/)
- ↑ back to [Soft words for hard things: crime, prison and the police](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/euphemisms/27-crime-prison-and-police/)