---
title: "He's being a bit creative with the truth about why he was late." Wh… — Soft words for hard things: crime, pri… · tree and pragmatics
description: "He's being a bit creative with the truth about why he was late." What does it mean? Test 11 · ★ of lesson 28 «Soft words for hard things: crime, prison and the police and lying and honesty» of the euphemisms course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question an
---

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# Test 11 · ★ · Soft words for hard things: crime, prison and the police a…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
"He's being a bit creative with the truth about why he was late." What does it mean?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 3 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** He, truth · **What happens:** be, mean

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 11 · ★ of lesson 28 «Soft words for hard things: crime, prison and the police and lying and honesty» 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/28-stealing-and-lying/#t11).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* "He's being a bit creative with the truth about why he was late."

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:28-stealing-and-lying:t11:1
# text = "He's being a bit creative with the truth about why he was late."
1	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	7	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	7	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	's	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	7	cop	_	_
4	being	be	AUX	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	7	cop	_	_
5	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	bit	bit	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obl:unmarked	_	_
7	creative	creative	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
8	with	with	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	truth	truth	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obl	_	_
11	about	about	SCONJ	IN	_	15	mark	_	_
12	why	why	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	15	advmod	_	_
13	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	15	nsubj	_	_
14	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	15	cop	_	_
15	late	late	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	10	acl	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	7	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	7	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** *in a quote* | present | He |  |  |  |  | with the truth; a bit *obl:unmarked*; creative *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **is** *in a quote* | past | he |  |  |  |  | late *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.

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 2:* What does it mean?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:28-stealing-and-lying:t11:2
# text = What does it mean?
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	4	obj	_	_
2	does	do	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
3	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
4	mean	mean	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **mean** | present · do-support | truth |  |  |  |  |  | vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent what=Topic |

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 · ← Mova's choice {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
He drew a picture of his excuse

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:28-stealing-and-lying:t11:o1:1
# text = He drew a picture of his excuse
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	drew	draw	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	picture	picture	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
5	of	of	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	7	nmod:poss	_	_
7	excuse	excuse	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **draw** | past | He | a picture of his excuse |  |  |  |  | vn scribble-25.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent picture=Theme |
| 2 | **excuse** |  | his *= he* |  |  |  |  |  | nom excuse «communication transitive»: poss=agent |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
He has a clever true excuse

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:28-stealing-and-lying:t11:o2:1
# text = He has a clever true excuse
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	has	have	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
4	clever	clever	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
5	true	true	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	excuse	excuse	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **have** | present | He | a clever true excuse |  |  |  |  | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent excuse=Patient |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
He is lying about why he was late

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:28-stealing-and-lying:t11:o3:1
# text = He is lying about why he was late
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux	_	_
3	lying	lie	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
4	about	about	SCONJ	IN	_	8	mark	_	_
5	why	why	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	8	advmod	_	_
6	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	8	nsubj	_	_
7	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	8	cop	_	_
8	late	late	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	advcl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **lie** | present · progressive | He |  |  |  |  |  | vn assuming\_position-50 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **is** | past | he |  |  |  |  | late *property* | tree rules |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
He was late because he was painting

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:28-stealing-and-lying:t11:o4:1
# text = He was late because he was painting
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	cop	_	_
3	late	late	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
4	because	because	SCONJ	IN	_	7	mark	_	_
5	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	7	nsubj	_	_
6	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	7	aux	_	_
7	painting	paint	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	3	advcl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | past | He |  |  |  |  | late *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **paint** | past · progressive | he |  |  |  |  |  | vn image\_impression-25.1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

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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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- ← previous: [Soft words for hard things: crime, pri…, test 10](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/euphemisms/28-stealing-and-lying/t10/)
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