---
title: It is given that a guest at a festive gathering is described as "mer… — Soft words for hard things: lying and… · tree and pragmatics
description: It is given that a guest at a festive gathering is described as "merry". Select the response that is consistent with the established British usage. Exam question 3 of lesson 29 «Soft words for hard things: lying and honesty and drinking and drugs» of the euphemisms course of Mova's primary school, w
---

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# Exam question 3 · Soft words for hard things: lying and honesty and drinking…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It is given that a guest at a festive gathering is described as "merry". Select the response that is consistent with the established British usage.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 1 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** you, response · **What happens:** give, describe, select, be, establish · **To what, where:** It, guest, response

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This is exam question 3 of lesson 29 «Soft words for hard things: lying and honesty and drinking and drugs» 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/29-lying-and-drinking/#e3).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* It is given that a guest at a festive gathering is described as "merry".

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:29-lying-and-drinking:e3:1
# text = It is given that a guest at a festive gathering is described as "merry".
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj:pass	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux:pass	_	_
3	given	give	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
4	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	12	mark	_	_
5	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	guest	guest	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	nsubj:pass	_	_
7	at	at	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
8	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
9	festive	festive	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	10	amod	_	_
10	gathering	gathering	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nmod	_	_
11	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	12	aux:pass	_	_
12	described	describe	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	3	advcl	_	_
13	as	as	ADP	IN	_	15	case	_	_
14	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	15	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	merry	merry	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	15	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **give** | present · passive |  | It |  |  |  |  | vn give-13.1-1 «NP V NP»: subject=Theme |
| 2 | **describe** | present · passive |  | a guest at a festive gathering |  |  |  | as merry | vn characterize-29.2-1-1 «NP V NP S\_ING»: subject=Theme as merry=Attribute |

<!-- .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:* Select the response that is consistent with the established British usage.

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:29-lying-and-drinking:e3:2
# text = Select the response that is consistent with the established British usage.
1	Select	select	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	response	response	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
4	that	that	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	6	nsubj	_	_
5	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	cop	_	_
6	consistent	consistent	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	acl:relcl	_	_
7	with	with	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
9	established	establish	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	11	amod	_	_
10	British	British	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	11	amod	_	_
11	usage	usage	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **select** | imperative | you *not said here* | the response |  |  |  |  | vn obtain-13.5.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent response=Theme |
| 2 | **is** | present | the response |  |  |  |  | with the established British usage; consistent *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **establish** | participle |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn indicate-78-1-1 «NP V NP to be NP»: agent=Pivot |

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The guest is slightly drunk

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:29-lying-and-drinking:e3:o1:1
# text = The guest is slightly drunk
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	guest	guest	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
3	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
4	slightly	slightly	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
5	drunk	drunk	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
```

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

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The guest is greatly distressed

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:29-lying-and-drinking:e3:o2:1
# text = The guest is greatly distressed
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	guest	guest	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj:pass	_	_
3	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	aux:pass	_	_
4	greatly	greatly	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
5	distressed	distress	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 | **distress** | present · passive |  | the guest |  |  |  | greatly *property* | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V NP»: subject=Experiencer |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The guest is about to be married

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:29-lying-and-drinking:e3:o3:1
# text = The guest is about to be married
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	guest	guest	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
3	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
4	about	about	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
5	to	to	PART	TO	_	7	mark	_	_
6	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	7	aux:pass	_	_
7	married	marry	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	4	xcomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | the guest |  |  |  |  | about *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **marry** | to-infinitive · passive | the guest *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn amalgamate-22.2-3-1-1 «NP V» |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The guest is singing hymns

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:29-lying-and-drinking:e3:o4:1
# text = The guest is singing hymns
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	guest	guest	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
3	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
4	singing	sing	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
5	hymns	hymn	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **sing** *speech: express* | present · progressive | the guest | hymns |  |  |  |  | vn sound\_emission-43.2 «PP.location V NP»: agent=Location hymn=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: lying and…, exam 2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/euphemisms/29-lying-and-drinking/e2/)
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