---
title: The minister calls the failed bridge project "a minor setback". What… — Soft words for hard things: failure an… · tree and pragmatics
description: The minister calls the failed bridge project "a minor setback". What should a careful listener think? Test 6 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 each option; 
---

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# Test 6 · Soft words for hard things: failure and mistakes

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The minister calls the failed bridge project "a minor setback". What should a careful listener think?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 2 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** minister, careful listener · **What happens:** call, fail, think · **To what, where:** failed bridge project · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 6 of lesson 33 «Soft words for hard things: failure and mistakes» 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/33-failure-and-mistakes/#t6).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* The minister calls the failed bridge project "a minor setback".

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:33-failure-and-mistakes:t6:1
# text = The minister calls the failed bridge project "a minor setback".
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	minister	minister	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	calls	call	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
5	failed	fail	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	7	amod	_	_
6	bridge	bridge	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	compound	_	_
7	project	project	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
8	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	11	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
10	minor	minor	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	11	amod	_	_
11	setback	setback	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	appos	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	11	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **call** | present | the minister | the failed bridge project |  |  |  |  | vn initiate\_communication-37.4.2-1 «NP V NP.recipient»: agent=Agent project=Recipient |
| 2 | **fail** | participle |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn succeed-74-3-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

<!-- .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:* What should a careful listener think?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:33-failure-and-mistakes:t6:2
# text = What should a careful listener think?
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	6	obj	_	_
2	should	should	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	6	aux	_	_
3	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	careful	careful	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	listener	listener	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	_
6	think	think	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	6	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **think** *speech: other* | should | a careful listener |  |  |  |  |  | vn wish-62 «NP V NP»: agent=Pivot what=Theme |

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 · ← Mova's choice {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The bridge was moved back a bit

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:33-failure-and-mistakes:t6:o1:1
# text = The bridge was moved back a bit
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	bridge	bridge	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
3	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux:pass	_	_
4	moved	move	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
5	back	back	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
6	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	bit	bit	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl:unmarked	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **move back** | past · passive |  | the bridge |  |  |  | a bit *obl:unmarked* | vn roll-51.3.1 «NP V NP.theme»: subject=Theme |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The project failed and he is making it sound small

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:33-failure-and-mistakes:t6:o2:1
# text = The project failed and he is making it sound small
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	project	project	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	failed	fail	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	7	cc	_	_
5	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	7	nsubj	_	_
6	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	7	aux	_	_
7	making	make	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	3	conj	_	_
8	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	7	obj	_	_
9	sound	sound	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	7	xcomp	_	_
10	small	small	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	xcomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **fail** | past | the project |  |  |  |  |  | vn succeed-74-3-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **make** | present · progressive | project | it |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 3 | **sound** | infinitive |  |  |  |  |  | small *property* | vn stimulus\_subject-30.4 «NP V ADJ»: agent=Stimulus |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The project is going perfectly

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:33-failure-and-mistakes:t6:o3:1
# text = The project is going perfectly
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	project	project	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
3	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
4	going	go	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
5	perfectly	perfectly	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
```

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

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The bridge is finished

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:33-failure-and-mistakes:t6:o4:1
# text = The bridge is finished
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	bridge	bridge	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj:pass	_	_
3	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux:pass	_	_
4	finished	finish	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **finish** | present · passive |  | the bridge |  |  |  |  | vn stop-55.4-1-1 «NP V NP.eventuality»: subject=Eventuality |

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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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