---
title: Determine the meaning of the expression "gone pear-shaped" as employ… — Soft words for hard things: failure an… · tree and pragmatics
description: Determine the meaning of the expression "gone pear-shaped" as employed colloquially in the United Kingdom. Exam question 4 of lesson 33 «Soft words for hard things: failure and mistakes» 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 4 · Soft words for hard things: failure and mistakes

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Determine the meaning of the expression "gone pear-shaped" as employed colloquially in the United Kingdom.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 2 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** you · **What happens:** determine, shape, employ, mean · **To what, where:** meaning, United Kingdom, expression

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 4 of lesson 33 «Soft words for hard things: 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/33-failure-and-mistakes/#e4).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:33-failure-and-mistakes:e4:1
# text = Determine the meaning of the expression "gone pear-shaped" as employed colloquially in the United Kingdom.
1	Determine	determine	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	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	expression	expression	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nmod	_	_
7	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	8	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	gone	gone	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
9	pear	pear	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	compound	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	11	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	shaped	shape	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	8	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	11	punct	_	_
13	as	as	SCONJ	IN	_	14	mark	_	_
14	employed	employ	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	11	advcl	_	_
15	colloquially	colloquially	ADV	RB	_	14	advmod	_	_
16	in	in	ADP	IN	_	19	case	_	_
17	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	19	det	_	_
18	United	United	PROPN	NNP	_	19	flat	_	_
19	Kingdom	Kingdom	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	14	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
20	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **determine** | imperative | you *not said here* | the meaning of the expression |  |  |  |  | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent meaning=Topic |
| 2 | **shape** *in a quote* | participle | you *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn build-26.1-1 «NP.asset V NP»: agent=Asset |
| 3 | **employ** | participle | you *not said here* |  |  | the United Kingdom |  | colloquially *property* | vn hire-13.5.3 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent |
| 4 | **mean** |  |  | the expression |  |  |  |  | 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 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Become rounded in form

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:33-failure-and-mistakes:e4:o1:1
# text = Become rounded in form
1	Become	become	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	rounded	round	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	1	xcomp	_	_
3	in	in	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
4	form	form	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **become** | imperative | you *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **round** | participle | you *not said here* |  |  | form |  |  | vn bend-45.2 «NP.patient V»: agent=Patient |

### Option 2 · ✓ the right answer {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Gone wrong

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:33-failure-and-mistakes:e4:o2:1
# text = Gone wrong
1	Gone	go	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
2	wrong	wrong	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	1	xcomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **go** | participle |  |  |  |  |  | wrong *property* | vn disappearance-48.2-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Been supplemented with fruit

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:33-failure-and-mistakes:e4:o3:1
# text = Been supplemented with fruit
1	Been	been	ADV	RB	_	2	advmod	_	_
2	supplemented	supplement	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
3	with	with	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
4	fruit	fruit	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **supplement** | participle |  |  |  |  |  | with fruit; been *property* | tree rules |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Proceeded according to plan

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:33-failure-and-mistakes:e4:o4:1
# text = Proceeded according to plan
1	Proceeded	proceed	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	according	accord	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	1	xcomp	_	_
3	to	to	PART	TO	_	4	mark	_	_
4	plan	plan	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	2	xcomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **proceed** | past |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn begin-55.1 «NP V S\_INF»: agent=Agent clause=Eventuality |
| 2 | **accord** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 3 | **plan** | to-infinitive |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn intend-61.2-1-1 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Agent |

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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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