---
title: A school letter: "We regret to inform you that your application was… — Soft words for hard things: failure an… · tree and pragmatics
description: A school letter: "We regret to inform you that your application was unsuccessful." What does the family learn? Test 1 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
---

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# Test 1 · Soft words for hard things: failure and mistakes

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A school letter: "We regret to inform you that your application was unsuccessful." What does the family learn?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 3 · **The right answer:** option 4 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** We, application, your, family · **What happens:** regret, inform, be, apply, learn · **To what, where:** school letter, you

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 1 of lesson 34 «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/34-failure-and-mistakes/#t1).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* A school letter: "We regret to inform you that your application was unsuccessful."

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:34-failure-and-mistakes:t1:1
# text = A school letter: "We regret to inform you that your application was unsuccessful."
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	school	school	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	compound	_	_
3	letter	letter	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	:	:	PUNCT	:	_	7	punct	_	_
5	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	7	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	We	we	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=1|PronType=Prs	7	nsubj	_	_
7	regret	regret	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=1|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	acl:relcl	_	_
8	to	to	PART	TO	_	9	mark	_	_
9	inform	inform	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	7	xcomp	_	_
10	you	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Person=2|PronType=Prs	9	iobj	_	_
11	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	15	mark	_	_
12	your	your	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Person=2|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	13	nmod:poss	_	_
13	application	application	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	15	nsubj	_	_
14	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	15	cop	_	_
15	unsuccessful	unsuccessful	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	advcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	7	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	7	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **regret** *in a quote* | present | We | a school letter *not said here* |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **inform** *speech: other* *in a quote* | to-infinitive | We *not said here* |  | you |  |  |  | vn tell-37.2 «NP V NP.recipient»: agent=Agent you=Recipient |
| 3 | **is** *in a quote* | past | your application |  |  |  |  | unsuccessful *property* | tree rules |
| 4 | **apply** *in a quote* |  | your |  |  |  |  |  | nom application «act intransitive»: poss=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 does the family learn?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:34-failure-and-mistakes:t1:2
# text = What does the family learn?
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	5	obj	_	_
2	does	do	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	aux	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	family	family	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
5	learn	learn	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **learn** | present · do-support | the family |  |  |  |  |  | vn learn-14-2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent what=Topic |

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
They must write again next week

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:34-failure-and-mistakes:t1:o1:1
# text = They must write again next week
1	They	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	must	must	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	3	aux	_	_
3	write	write	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
4	again	again	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	_
5	next	next	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	week	week	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl:unmarked	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **write** | must | They |  |  |  | again; week |  | vn scribble-25.2-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The child got a place

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:34-failure-and-mistakes:t1:o2:1
# text = The child got a place
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	child	child	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	got	get	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	place	place	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **get** | past | the child | a place |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer place=Stimulus |

### Option 3 · ← Mova's choice {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The letter was sent by mistake

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:34-failure-and-mistakes:t1:o3:1
# text = The letter was sent by mistake
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	letter	letter	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	sent	send	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
5	by	by	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	mistake	mistake	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **send** | past · passive | mistake | the letter |  |  |  |  | vn confine-92-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent subject=Theme |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The child did not get a place

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:34-failure-and-mistakes:t1:o4:1
# text = The child did not get a place
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	child	child	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
3	did	do	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	aux	_	_
4	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	5	advmod	_	_
5	get	get	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
6	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	place	place	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **get** | past · do-support | the child | a place |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer place=Stimulus |

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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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