---
title: Select the response that most accurately characterises the expressio… — Soft words for hard things: death and… · tree and pragmatics
description: Select the response that most accurately characterises the expression "under the weather". Exam question 3 of lesson 3 «Soft words for hard things: death and dying, illness and the body» of the euphemisms course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of
---

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# Exam question 3 · Soft words for hard things: death and dying, illness and t…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Select the response that most accurately characterises the expression "under the weather".

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 1 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** you, most · **What happens:** select, characteris · **To what, where:** response, expression, weather

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This is exam question 3 of lesson 3 «Soft words for hard things: death and dying, illness and the body» 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/3-death-and-feeling-poorly/#e3).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:3-death-and-feeling-poorly:e3:1
# text = Select the response that most accurately characterises the expression "under the weather".
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	SCONJ	IN	_	7	mark	_	_
5	most	most	ADJ	JJS	Degree=Sup	7	nsubj	_	_
6	accurately	accurately	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
7	characterises	characteris	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	1	advcl	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	expression	expression	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obj	_	_
10	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	9	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	under	under	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
12	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
13	weather	weather	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	13	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	.	.	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 | **characteris** | present | most | the expression |  | the weather |  |  | 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.

## The options {#options}

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
An informal expression signifying mild illness

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:3-death-and-feeling-poorly:e3:o1:1
# text = An informal expression signifying mild illness
1	An	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	informal	informal	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	expression	expression	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
4	signifying	signify	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	3	acl	_	_
5	mild	mild	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	illness	illness	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **signify** | gerund | a informal expression *not said here* | mild illness |  |  |  |  | vn representation-110.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Pivot illness=Theme |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A formal term signifying a grave illness

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:3-death-and-feeling-poorly:e3:o2:1
# text = A formal term signifying a grave illness
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	formal	formal	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	term	term	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
4	signifying	signify	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	3	acl	_	_
5	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
6	grave	grave	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	compound	_	_
7	illness	illness	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **signify** | gerund | a formal term *not said here* | a grave illness |  |  |  |  | vn representation-110.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Pivot illness=Theme |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
An expression signifying shelter from a storm

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:3-death-and-feeling-poorly:e3:o3:1
# text = An expression signifying shelter from a storm
1	An	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	expression	expression	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	signifying	signify	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	2	acl	_	_
4	shelter	shelter	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
5	from	from	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	storm	storm	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **signify** | gerund | a expression *not said here* | shelter |  | a storm |  |  | vn representation-110.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Pivot shelter=Theme |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A meteorological term signifying heavy rain

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:3-death-and-feeling-poorly:e3:o4:1
# text = A meteorological term signifying heavy rain
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	meteorological	meteorological	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	term	term	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
4	signifying	signify	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	3	acl	_	_
5	heavy	heavy	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	rain	rain	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **signify** | gerund | a meteorological term *not said here* | heavy rain |  |  |  |  | vn representation-110.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Pivot rain=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: death and…, exam 2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/euphemisms/3-death-and-feeling-poorly/e2/)
- next →: [Soft words for hard things: death and…, exam 4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/euphemisms/3-death-and-feeling-poorly/e4/)
- ↑ back to [Soft words for hard things: death and dying, illness and the body](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/euphemisms/3-death-and-feeling-poorly/)