---
title: Whereas a speaker remarks that a misfortune "was a blessing in disgu… — Soft words for hard things: religion a… · tree and pragmatics
description: Whereas a speaker remarks that a misfortune "was a blessing in disguise", identify the principal meaning of the remark. Exam question 3 of lesson 32 «Soft words for hard things: religion and fate and failure and mistakes» of the euphemisms course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree an
---

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# Exam question 3 · Soft words for hard things: religion and fate and failure…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Whereas a speaker remarks that a misfortune "was a blessing in disguise", identify the principal meaning of the remark.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 1 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** speaker, misfortune, you · **What happens:** remark, be, identify, mean · **To what, where:** blessing, disguise, principal meaning, remark · **Speech:** someone speaks here

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This is exam question 3 of lesson 32 «Soft words for hard things: religion and fate and failure and mistakes» 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/32-religion-fate-failure/#e3).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:32-religion-fate-failure:e3:1
# text = Whereas a speaker remarks that a misfortune "was a blessing in disguise", identify the principal meaning of the remark.
1	Whereas	whereas	SCONJ	IN	_	4	mark	_	_
2	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	speaker	speaker	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
4	remarks	remark	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	16	advcl	_	_
5	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	11	mark	_	_
6	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	misfortune	misfortune	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	nsubj	_	_
8	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	7	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	11	cop	_	_
10	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	blessing	blessing	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	ccomp	_	_
12	in	in	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
13	disguise	disguise	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	11	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	4	punct	_	_
16	identify	identify	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
17	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	19	det	_	_
18	principal	principal	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	19	amod	_	_
19	meaning	meaning	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	16	obj	_	_
20	of	of	ADP	IN	_	22	case	_	_
21	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	22	det	_	_
22	remark	remark	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	19	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
23	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	16	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **remark** *speech: assert* | present | a speaker |  |  |  |  |  | vn lecture-37.11-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **is a** *in a quote* | past | a misfortune | a blessing |  | disguise |  |  | tree rules |
| 3 | **identify** | imperative | you *not said here* | the principal meaning of the remark |  |  |  |  | vn characterize-29.2-1-1 «NP V NP S\_ING»: agent=Agent meaning=Theme |
| 4 | **mean** |  |  | the remark |  |  |  |  | nom meaning «communication transitive»: of=patient |

<!-- .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 apparently adverse event subsequently proved advantageous

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:32-religion-fate-failure:e3:o1:1
# text = An apparently adverse event subsequently proved advantageous
1	An	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
2	apparently	apparently	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	_
3	adverse	adverse	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	amod	_	_
4	event	event	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	_
5	subsequently	subsequently	ADV	RB	_	6	advmod	_	_
6	proved	prove	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
7	advantageous	advantageous	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	xcomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **prove** | past | a adverse event |  |  |  |  | advantageous, subsequently *property* | vn declare-29.4-1-1 «NP V what S\_INF»: agent=Agent |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The event constituted a grave moral transgression

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:32-religion-fate-failure:e3:o2:1
# text = The event constituted a grave moral transgression
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	event	event	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	constituted	constitute	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	2	acl	_	_
4	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
5	grave	grave	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
6	moral	moral	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
7	transgression	transgression	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **constitute** | participle | the event *not said here* | a grave moral transgression |  |  |  |  | vn comprise-107.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Theme transgression=Pivot |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The event was sanctified by a member of the clergy

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:32-religion-fate-failure:e3:o3:1
# text = The event was sanctified by a member of the clergy
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	event	event	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj:pass	_	_
3	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux:pass	_	_
4	sanctified	sanctify	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
5	by	by	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	member	member	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl:agent	_	_
8	of	of	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	clergy	clergy	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **sanctify** | past · passive | a member of the clergy | the event |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The event was concealed from the speaker's family

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:32-religion-fate-failure:e3:o4:1
# text = The event was concealed from the speaker's family
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	event	event	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj:pass	_	_
3	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux:pass	_	_
4	concealed	conceal	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
5	from	from	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	speaker	speaker	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	's	's	PART	POS	_	7	case	_	_
9	family	family	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **conceal** | past · passive |  | the event |  | the speaker's family |  |  | vn concealment-16 «NP V NP PP.beneficiary»: subject=Patient from family=Beneficiary |

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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.

<!-- /div -->

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- ← previous: [Soft words for hard things: religion a…, exam 2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/euphemisms/32-religion-fate-failure/e2/)
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