---
title: "Cheap trainers, mate, don't ask — they fell off the back of a lorry… — Soft words for hard things: crime, pri… · tree and pragmatics
description: "Cheap trainers, mate, don't ask — they fell off the back of a lorry." What is the seller hinting? Test 2 · ★ 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 th
---

<!-- md -->
[Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/euphemisms/28-stealing-and-lying/t2/)

<!-- crumbs -->
[home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/) / [questions](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/) / [Euphemisms](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/euphemisms/) / [Soft words for hard things: crime, pri…](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/euphemisms/28-stealing-and-lying/) / t2

# Test 2 · ★ · Soft words for hard things: crime, prison and the police a…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
"Cheap trainers, mate, don't ask — they fell off the back of a lorry." What is the seller hinting?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 3 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** Cheap trainers, trainers, seller · **What happens:** not ask, fall off, be, hint · **To what, where:** back · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 2 · ★ 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/#t2).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* "Cheap trainers, mate, don't ask — they fell off the back of a lorry."

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:28-stealing-and-lying:t2:1
# text = "Cheap trainers, mate, don't ask — they fell off the back of a lorry."
1	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	3	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	Cheap	cheap	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	trainers	trainer	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	9	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	5	punct	_	_
5	mate	mate	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	3	punct	_	_
7	do	do	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	9	aux	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	n't	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	9	advmod	_	_
9	ask	ask	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
10	—	-	PUNCT	:	_	12	punct	_	_
11	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	12	nsubj	_	_
12	fell	fall	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	9	ccomp	_	_
13	off	off	ADP	IN	_	15	case	_	_
14	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	15	det	_	_
15	back	back	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	obl	_	_
16	of	of	ADP	IN	_	18	case	_	_
17	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	18	det	_	_
18	lorry	lorry	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	15	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
19	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	9	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
20	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	9	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **ask** *speech: ask* *in a quote* | infinitive · do-support | Cheap trainers and mate |  |  |  |  |  | vn inquire-37.1.2 «NP V how S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 2 | **fall off** *in a quote* | past | trainers *= trainer* | the back of a lorry |  |  |  |  | vn calibratable\_cos-45.6.1-1 «NP.patient V NP.extent PP.source PP.goal»: agent=Patient back=Extent |

<!-- .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 is the seller hinting?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:28-stealing-and-lying:t2:2
# text = What is the seller hinting?
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	0	root	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	1	cop	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	seller	seller	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	nsubj	_	_
5	hinting	hint	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	4	acl	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | the seller |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **hint** *speech: other* | gerund | the seller *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-2 «NP V how S»: agent=Agent |

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 · ← Mova's choice {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The trainers are made of rubber

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:28-stealing-and-lying:t2:o1:1
# text = The trainers are made of rubber
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	trainers	trainer	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj:pass	_	_
3	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux:pass	_	_
4	made	make	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
5	of	of	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	rubber	rubber	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **make** | present · passive |  | the trainers |  |  |  | of rubber | vn build-26.1-1 «NP.asset V NP»: subject=Product |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The trainers came by post

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:28-stealing-and-lying:t2:o2:1
# text = The trainers came by post
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	trainers	trainer	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj	_	_
3	came	come	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	by	by	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	post	post	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **come** | past | the trainers |  |  |  |  | by post | vn appear-48.1.1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme by post=Location |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The trainers are stolen

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:28-stealing-and-lying:t2:o3:1
# text = The trainers are stolen
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	trainers	trainer	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj:pass	_	_
3	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux:pass	_	_
4	stolen	steal	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **steal** | present · passive |  | the trainers |  |  |  |  | vn appear-48.1.1 «PP.location V NP»: subject=Theme |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The trainers are damaged

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:28-stealing-and-lying:t2:o4:1
# text = The trainers are damaged
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	trainers	trainer	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj:pass	_	_
3	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux:pass	_	_
4	damaged	damage	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **damage** | present · passive |  | the trainers |  |  |  |  | vn destroy-44 «NP V NP»: subject=Patient |

<!-- 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 -->

<!-- pn -->
- ← previous: [Soft words for hard things: crime, pri…, test 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/euphemisms/28-stealing-and-lying/t1/)
- next →: [Soft words for hard things: crime, pri…, test 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/euphemisms/28-stealing-and-lying/t3/)
- ↑ back to [Soft words for hard things: crime, prison and the police and lying and honesty](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/euphemisms/28-stealing-and-lying/)