---
title: "Uncle Jim's been on the wagon a year — no, two years now." Which is… — Soft words for hard things: drinking a… · tree and pragmatics
description: "Uncle Jim's been on the wagon a year — no, two years now." Which is true? Test 6 · ★ 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 and of each option; Mova's choice was wrong.
---

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# Test 6 · ★ · Soft words for hard things: drinking and drugs

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
"Uncle Jim's been on the wagon a year — no, two years now." Which is true?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 4 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** Uncle Jim · **What happens:** be · **To what, where:** wagon

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 6 · ★ of lesson 30 «Soft words for hard things: 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/30-drinking-and-drugs/#t6).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* "Uncle Jim's been on the wagon a year — no, two years now."

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:30-drinking-and-drugs:t6:1
# text = "Uncle Jim's been on the wagon a year — no, two years now."
1	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	8	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	Uncle	Uncle	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	3	compound	_	_
3	Jim	Jim	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	8	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	's	's	PART	POS	_	3	case	_	_
5	been	be	AUX	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	8	cop	_	_
6	on	on	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	wagon	wagon	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
9	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	year	year	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nmod:unmarked	_	_
11	—	-	PUNCT	:	_	15	punct	_	_
12	no	no	INTJ	UH	Polarity=Neg	15	discourse	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	12	punct	_	_
14	two	two	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	15	nummod	_	_
15	years	year	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	obl:unmarked	_	_
16	now	now	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	15	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	8	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
18	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	8	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** *in a quote* | participle | Uncle Jim |  |  | the wagon | year |  | 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.

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 2:* Which is true?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:30-drinking-and-drugs:t6:2
# text = Which is true?
1	Which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	3	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	cop	_	_
3	true	true	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

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

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 · ← Mova's choice {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Uncle Jim started drinking two years ago

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:30-drinking-and-drugs:t6:o1:1
# text = Uncle Jim started drinking two years ago
1	Uncle	Uncle	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
2	Jim	Jim	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	1	flat	_	_
3	started	start	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	drinking	drink	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	3	xcomp	_	_
5	two	two	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	6	nummod	_	_
6	years	year	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obj	_	_
7	ago	ago	ADV	RB	_	6	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **start** | past | Uncle |  |  |  |  |  | vn begin-55.1-1-1 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Agent clause=Eventuality |
| 2 | **drink** | gerund | Uncle *not said here* |  |  |  | year |  | vn eat-39.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Uncle Jim has not drunk alcohol for one year

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:30-drinking-and-drugs:t6:o2:1
# text = Uncle Jim has not drunk alcohol for one year
1	Uncle	Uncle	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	2	compound	_	_
2	Jim	Jim	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	has	have	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	5	advmod	_	_
5	drunk	drunk	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	alcohol	alcohol	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
7	for	for	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	one	one	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	9	nummod	_	_
9	year	year	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **have** | present | Uncle Jim | drunk alcohol |  |  | year |  | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent alcohol=Patient |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Uncle Jim has driven a wagon for a year

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:30-drinking-and-drugs:t6:o3:1
# text = Uncle Jim has driven a wagon for a year
1	Uncle	Uncle	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
2	Jim	Jim	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	1	flat	_	_
3	has	have	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
4	driven	drive	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
5	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	wagon	wagon	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obj	_	_
7	for	for	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	year	year	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **drive** | present · perfect | Uncle | a wagon |  |  | year |  | vn nonvehicle-51.4.2-1 «NP V NP.location»: agent=Agent wagon=Location |

### Option 4 · ✓ the right answer {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Uncle Jim has not drunk alcohol for two years

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:30-drinking-and-drugs:t6:o4:1
# text = Uncle Jim has not drunk alcohol for two years
1	Uncle	Uncle	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	2	compound	_	_
2	Jim	Jim	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	has	have	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	5	advmod	_	_
5	drunk	drunk	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	alcohol	alcohol	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
7	for	for	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	two	two	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	9	nummod	_	_
9	years	year	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **have** | present | Uncle Jim | drunk alcohol |  |  | year |  | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent alcohol=Patient |

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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…, test 5](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/euphemisms/30-drinking-and-drugs/t5/)
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