---
title: "Course he caught a shark, it's a fish story," laughs the American a… — Soft words for hard things: lying and… · tree and pragmatics
description: "Course he caught a shark, it's a fish story," laughs the American aunt. What does she think? Test 6 · ★ of lesson 29 «Soft words for hard things: lying and honesty and drinking and drugs» of the euphemisms course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and 
---

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# Test 6 · ★ · Soft words for hard things: lying and honesty and drinking…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
"Course he caught a shark, it's a fish story," laughs the American aunt. What does she think?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 3 · **The right answer:** option 1 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** Course, shark, fish story, story · **What happens:** catch, be, laugh, think · **To what, where:** shark, fish story, American aunt

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 6 · ★ of lesson 29 «Soft words for hard things: lying and honesty and drinking and drugs» 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/29-lying-and-drinking/#t6).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* "Course he caught a shark, it's a fish story," laughs the American aunt.

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:29-lying-and-drinking:t6:1
# text = "Course he caught a shark, it's a fish story," laughs the American aunt.
1	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	4	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	Course	course	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
3	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
4	caught	catch	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	12	advcl	_	_
5	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	shark	shark	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	12	punct	_	_
8	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	12	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	's	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	12	cop	_	_
10	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
11	fish	fish	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	compound	_	_
12	story	story	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	15	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	12	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	12	punct	_	_
15	laughs	laugh	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
16	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	18	det	_	_
17	American	American	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	18	amod	_	_
18	aunt	aunt	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	15	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
19	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	15	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **catch** *in a quote* | past | Course | a shark |  |  |  |  | vn get-13.5.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent shark=Theme |
| 2 | **is a** *in a quote* | present | shark | a fish story |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 3 | **laugh** | present | a fish story | the American aunt |  |  |  |  | vn nonverbal\_expression-40.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent aunt=Theme |

<!-- .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 she think?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:29-lying-and-drinking:t6:2
# text = What does she think?
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	she	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
4	think	think	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 | **think** *speech: other* | present · do-support | story |  |  |  |  |  | vn wish-62 «NP V NP»: agent=Pivot what=Theme |

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 · ✓ the right answer {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The claim is exaggerated or made up

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:29-lying-and-drinking:t6:o1:1
# text = The claim is exaggerated or made up
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	claim	claim	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj:pass	_	_
3	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux:pass	_	_
4	exaggerated	exaggerate	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
5	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	6	cc	_	_
6	made	make	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	4	conj	_	_
7	up	up	ADP	RP	_	6	compound:prt	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **exaggerate** | present · passive |  | the claim |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **make up** | participle |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn comprise-107.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Theme |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Her nephew caught a real shark

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:29-lying-and-drinking:t6:o2:1
# text = Her nephew caught a real shark
1	Her	her	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	2	nmod:poss	_	_
2	nephew	nephew	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	caught	catch	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
5	real	real	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	shark	shark	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **catch** | past | Her nephew | a real shark |  |  |  |  | vn get-13.5.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent shark=Theme |

### Option 3 · ← Mova's choice {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It is a story about a goldfish

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:29-lying-and-drinking:t6:o3:1
# text = It is a story about a goldfish
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
3	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	story	story	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
5	about	about	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	goldfish	goldfish	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | It | a story |  |  |  | about a goldfish | tree rules |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It is a true tale from a book

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:29-lying-and-drinking:t6:o4:1
# text = It is a true tale from a book
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	5	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
3	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	true	true	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	tale	tale	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
6	from	from	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	book	book	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nmod	_	_
```

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

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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…, test 5](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/euphemisms/29-lying-and-drinking/t5/)
- next →: [Soft words for hard things: lying and…, test 7](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/euphemisms/29-lying-and-drinking/t7/)
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