---
title: Ascertain the meaning of "worse for wear" when it is applied to a pe… — Soft words for hard things: drinking a… · tree and pragmatics
description: Ascertain the meaning of "worse for wear" when it is applied to a person on the morning following a celebration. Exam question 4 of lesson 30 «Soft words for hard things: drinking and drugs» of the euphemisms course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question an
---

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# Exam question 4 · Soft words for hard things: drinking and drugs

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Ascertain the meaning of "worse for wear" when it is applied to a person on the morning following a celebration.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 3 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** you · **What happens:** ascertain, apply, follow · **To what, where:** meaning, celebration

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 4 of lesson 30 «Soft words for hard things: 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/30-drinking-and-drugs/#e4).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:30-drinking-and-drugs:e4:1
# text = Ascertain the meaning of "worse for wear" when it is applied to a person on the morning following a celebration.
1	Ascertain	ascertain	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	meaning	meaning	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
4	of	of	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	6	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	worse	bad	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	3	acl:relcl	_	_
7	for	for	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
8	wear	wear	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	6	punct	_	_
10	when	when	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	13	advmod	_	_
11	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	13	nsubj:pass	_	_
12	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	13	aux:pass	_	_
13	applied	apply	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	1	advcl	_	_
14	to	to	ADP	IN	_	16	case	_	_
15	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	16	det	_	_
16	person	person	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	obl	_	_
17	on	on	ADP	IN	_	19	case	_	_
18	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	19	det	_	_
19	morning	morning	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	16	nmod	_	_
20	following	follow	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	13	advcl	_	_
21	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	22	det	_	_
22	celebration	celebration	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	20	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
23	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **ascertain** | imperative | you *not said here* | the meaning |  |  |  |  | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent meaning=Topic |
| 2 | **apply** | present · passive |  | meaning |  |  |  | to a person on the morning | vn use-105.1 «NP V NP»: subject=Theme |
| 3 | **follow** | gerund |  | a celebration |  |  |  |  | vn chase-51.6 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent celebration=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.

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 · ← Mova's choice {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Possessed of a torn coat

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:30-drinking-and-drugs:e4:o1:1
# text = Possessed of a torn coat
1	Possessed	possess	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
2	of	of	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
3	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	torn	tear	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	5	amod	_	_
5	coat	coat	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obl:agent	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **possess** | participle |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn own-100.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Pivot |
| 2 | **tear** | participle |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn run-51.3.2 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Attired in worn garments

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:30-drinking-and-drugs:e4:o2:1
# text = Attired in worn garments
1	Attired	attire	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
2	in	in	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
3	worn	worn	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	amod	_	_
4	garments	garment	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	1	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **attire** | participle |  |  |  |  |  | in worn garments | vn dress-41.1.1-1-2 «Passive»: agent=Pivot in garment=Theme |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Drunk or badly hungover

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:30-drinking-and-drugs:e4:o3:1
# text = Drunk or badly hungover
1	Drunk	Drunk	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
2	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	3	cc	_	_
3	badly	badly	ADV	RB	Degree=Pos	1	conj	_	_
4	hungover	hungover	PROPN	ADD	_	1	list	_	_
```

<!-- .note -->
The frames reader finds no event or fact in this sentence.

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Fatigued from dancing

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:30-drinking-and-drugs:e4:o4:1
# text = Fatigued from dancing
1	Fatigued	fatigue	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
2	from	from	ADP	IN	_	3	case	_	_
3	dancing	dancing	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **fatigue** | participle |  |  |  | dancing |  |  | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V ADV-Middle»: agent=Experiencer |

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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: drinking a…, exam 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/euphemisms/30-drinking-and-drugs/e3/)
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