---
title: Report: "Officers used a less-lethal weapon to stop the man." Which… — Soft words for hard things: crime, pri… · tree and pragmatics
description: Report: "Officers used a less-lethal weapon to stop the man." Which is true? Test 7 · ★ 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's choice
---

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# Test 7 · ★ · Soft words for hard things: crime, prison and the police

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Report: "Officers used a less-lethal weapon to stop the man." Which is true?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 2 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** Officers · **What happens:** use, stop, be · **To what, where:** Report, man

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 7 · ★ of lesson 27 «Soft words for hard things: crime, prison and the police» 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/27-crime-prison-and-police/#t7).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* Report: "Officers used a less-lethal weapon to stop the man."

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:27-crime-prison-and-police:t7:1
# text = Report: "Officers used a less-lethal weapon to stop the man."
1	Report	report	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	:	:	PUNCT	:	_	5	punct	_	_
3	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	5	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	Officers	officer	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	nsubj	_	_
5	used	use	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
6	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
7	less	less	ADV	RBR	Degree=Cmp	9	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	7	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	lethal	lethal	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	10	amod	_	_
10	weapon	weapon	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obj	_	_
11	to	to	PART	TO	_	12	mark	_	_
12	stop	stop	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	advcl	_	_
13	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	14	det	_	_
14	man	man	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	5	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **use** *in a quote* | past | Officers | Report |  |  |  |  | vn eat-39.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent weapon=Patient |
| 2 | **stop** *in a quote* | to-infinitive | Officers *not said here* | the man |  |  |  |  | vn stop-55.4-1-1 «NP V NP.eventuality»: agent=Subeventuality man=Eventuality |

<!-- .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:* Which is true?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:27-crime-prison-and-police:t7:2
# text = Which is true?
1	Which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	3	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	cop	_	_
3	true	true	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

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

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 · ← Mova's choice {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
They used no weapon at all

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:27-crime-prison-and-police:t7:o1:1
# text = They used no weapon at all
1	They	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	used	use	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	no	no	DET	DT	PronType=Neg	4	det	_	_
4	weapon	weapon	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
5	at	at	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	all	all	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	2	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **use** | past | They | no weapon |  | all |  |  | vn eat-39.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent weapon=Patient |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
They used a weapon meant not to kill, which can still hurt or kill

<!-- fold The tree, 14 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:27-crime-prison-and-police:t7:o2:1
# text = They used a weapon meant not to kill, which can still hurt or kill
1	They	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	used	use	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	weapon	weapon	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
5	meant	mean	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	4	acl	_	_
6	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	8	advmod	_	_
7	to	to	PART	TO	_	8	mark	_	_
8	kill	kill	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	xcomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	13	punct	_	_
10	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	13	nsubj	_	_
11	can	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	13	aux	_	_
12	still	still	ADV	RB	_	13	advmod	_	_
13	hurt	hurt	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	parataxis	_	_
14	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	15	cc	_	_
15	kill	kill	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	13	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **use** | past | They | a weapon |  |  |  |  | vn eat-39.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent weapon=Patient |
| 2 | **mean** | participle |  | a weapon *not said here* |  |  |  |  | vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V S\_INF»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 3 | **not** **kill** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V ADV-Middle»: agent=Experiencer |
| 4 | **hurt** | can | a weapon |  |  |  | still |  | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V ADV-Middle»: agent=Experiencer |
| 5 | **kill** | infinitive | a weapon *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V ADV-Middle»: agent=Experiencer |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
They used a toy

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:27-crime-prison-and-police:t7:o3:1
# text = They used a toy
1	They	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	used	use	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	toy	toy	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **use** | past | They | a toy |  |  |  |  | vn eat-39.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent toy=Patient |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
They used a deadly gun on purpose

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:27-crime-prison-and-police:t7:o4:1
# text = They used a deadly gun on purpose
1	They	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	used	use	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	deadly	deadly	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	gun	gun	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
6	on	on	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	purpose	purpose	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **use** | past | They | a deadly gun |  | purpose |  |  | vn eat-39.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent gun=Patient |

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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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