---
title: Determine the meaning of the term "teething problems" when applied t… — Soft words for hard things: failure an… · tree and pragmatics
description: Determine the meaning of the term "teething problems" when applied to a newly installed system. Exam question 4 of lesson 34 «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 optio
---

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# Exam question 4 · Soft words for hard things: failure and mistakes

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Determine the meaning of the term "teething problems" when applied to a newly installed system.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 4 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** you · **What happens:** determine, apply, install, mean · **To what, where:** meaning, term

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 4 of lesson 34 «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/34-failure-and-mistakes/#e4).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:34-failure-and-mistakes:e4:1
# text = Determine the meaning of the term "teething problems" when applied to a newly installed system.
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	term	term	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nmod	_	_
7	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	9	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	teething	teething	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	compound	_	_
9	problems	problem	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	appos	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	9	punct	_	_
11	when	when	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	12	advmod	_	_
12	applied	apply	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	1	advcl	_	_
13	to	to	ADP	IN	_	17	case	_	_
14	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	17	det	_	_
15	newly	newly	ADV	RB	_	16	advmod	_	_
16	installed	install	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	17	amod	_	_
17	system	system	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
18	.	.	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 term |  |  |  |  | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent meaning=Topic |
| 2 | **apply** | participle | you *not said here* |  |  |  |  | to a installed system | vn use-105.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **install** | participle |  |  |  |  |  | newly *property* | vn appoint-29.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent |
| 4 | **mean** |  |  | the term |  |  |  |  | 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 -->
Dental complaints among the system's operators

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:34-failure-and-mistakes:e4:o1:1
# text = Dental complaints among the system's operators
1	Dental	dental	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	amod	_	_
2	complaints	complaint	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	0	root	_	_
3	among	among	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	system	system	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	's	's	PART	POS	_	5	case	_	_
7	operators	operator	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nmod	_	_
```

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

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Defects arising from excessive age

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:34-failure-and-mistakes:e4:o2:1
# text = Defects arising from excessive age
1	Defects	defect	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	0	root	_	_
2	arising	arise	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	1	acl	_	_
3	from	from	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
4	excessive	excessive	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	age	age	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **arise** | gerund | Defects *not said here* |  |  |  | from excessive age |  | vn appear-48.1.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Difficulties associated with the mastication of food

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:34-failure-and-mistakes:e4:o3:1
# text = Difficulties associated with the mastication of food
1	Difficulties	difficulty	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	0	root	_	_
2	associated	associate	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	1	acl	_	_
3	with	with	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	mastication	mastication	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
6	of	of	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	food	food	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **associate** | participle |  | Difficulties *not said here* |  |  |  | with the mastication of food | vn amalgamate-22.2-2 «NP V PP»: agent=Patient with mastication=Co-Patient |
| 2 | **masticate** |  |  | food |  |  |  |  | nom mastication «act transitive»: of=patient |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Faults arising in something recently introduced

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:34-failure-and-mistakes:e4:o4:1
# text = Faults arising in something recently introduced
1	Faults	fault	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	0	root	_	_
2	arising	arise	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	1	acl	_	_
3	in	in	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
4	something	something	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Ind	2	obl	_	_
5	recently	recently	ADV	RB	_	6	advmod	_	_
6	introduced	introduce	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	4	acl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **arise** | gerund | Faults *not said here* |  |  | something |  |  | vn appear-48.1.1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme in something=Location |
| 2 | **introduce** | participle |  |  |  |  |  | recently *property* | vn amalgamate-22.2-3-1 «NP V ADVP-Middle»: agent=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.

<!-- /div -->

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