--- title: "Our school play was a total damp squib, half the audience left." Ho… — Soft words for hard things: failure an… · tree and pragmatics description: "Our school play was a total damp squib, half the audience left." How did the play go? Test 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 option; Mova's choice w --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/euphemisms/34-failure-and-mistakes/t4/) [home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/) / [questions](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/) / [Euphemisms](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/euphemisms/) / [Soft words for hard things: failure an…](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/euphemisms/34-failure-and-mistakes/) / t4 # Test 4 · Soft words for hard things: failure and mistakes "Our school play was a total damp squib, half the audience left." How did the play go? **Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 3 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** school play, total damp squib, Our, play · **What happens:** be, leave, play, go · **To what, where:** total damp squib This is test 4 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/#t4). ## The question {#question} *Sentence 1:* "Our school play was a total damp squib, half the audience left." ```conllu # sent_id = question:euphemisms:34-failure-and-mistakes:t4:1 # text = "Our school play was a total damp squib, half the audience left." 1 " " PUNCT `` _ 9 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 2 Our our PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=1|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 4 nmod:poss _ _ 3 school school NOUN NN Number=Sing 4 compound _ _ 4 play play NOUN NN Number=Sing 9 nsubj _ _ 5 was be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 9 cop _ _ 6 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 9 det _ _ 7 total total ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 9 amod _ _ 8 damp damp ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 9 amod _ _ 9 squib squib NOUN NN Number=Sing 14 nsubj _ SpaceAfter=No 10 , , PUNCT , _ 9 punct _ _ 11 half half DET PDT NumForm=Word|NumType=Frac|PronType=Ind 13 det:predet _ _ 12 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 13 det _ _ 13 audience audience NOUN NN Number=Sing 14 nsubj _ _ 14 left leave VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 0 root _ SpaceAfter=No 15 . . PUNCT . _ 14 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 16 " " PUNCT '' _ 14 punct _ _ ``` | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **is a** *in a quote* | past | Our school play | a total damp squib | | | | | tree rules | | 2 | **leave** *in a quote* | past | a total damp squib | | | | | | vn escape-51.1-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme | | 3 | **play** *in a quote* | | Our | | | | | | nom play «communication intransitive»: poss=agent | 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. *Sentence 2:* How did the play go? ```conllu # sent_id = question:euphemisms:34-failure-and-mistakes:t4:2 # text = How did the play go? 1 How how ADV WRB PronType=Int 5 advmod _ _ 2 did do AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 5 aux _ _ 3 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 4 det _ _ 4 play play NOUN NN Number=Sing 5 nsubj _ _ 5 go go VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 0 root _ SpaceAfter=No 6 ? ? PUNCT . _ 5 punct _ _ ``` | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **go** | past · do-support | the play | | | | | | vn disappearance-48.2-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme | ## The options {#options} ### Option 1 · ← Mova's choice {#o1} It was about fireworks ```conllu # sent_id = question:euphemisms:34-failure-and-mistakes:t4:o1:1 # text = It was about fireworks 1 It it PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 4 nsubj _ _ 2 was be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 4 cop _ _ 3 about about ADP IN _ 4 case _ _ 4 fireworks firework NOUN NNS Number=Plur 0 root _ _ ``` | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **is** | past | It | | | | | about fireworks | tree rules | ### Option 2 {#o2} It was cancelled by rain ```conllu # sent_id = question:euphemisms:34-failure-and-mistakes:t4:o2:1 # text = It was cancelled by rain 1 It it PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 3 nsubj:pass _ _ 2 was be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 3 aux:pass _ _ 3 cancelled cancel VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass 0 root _ _ 4 by by ADP IN _ 5 case _ _ 5 rain rain NOUN NN Number=Sing 3 obl _ _ ``` | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **cancel** | past · passive | rain | It | | | | | tree rules | ### Option 3 · ✓ the right answer {#o3} It was a disappointing failure ```conllu # sent_id = question:euphemisms:34-failure-and-mistakes:t4:o3:1 # text = It was a disappointing failure 1 It it PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 5 nsubj _ _ 2 was be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 5 cop _ _ 3 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 5 det _ _ 4 disappointing disappointing ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 5 amod _ _ 5 failure failure NOUN NN Number=Sing 0 root _ _ ``` | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **is a** | past | It | a disappointing failure | | | | | tree rules | ### Option 4 {#o4} It was a great success ```conllu # sent_id = question:euphemisms:34-failure-and-mistakes:t4:o4:1 # text = It was a great success 1 It it PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 5 nsubj _ _ 2 was be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 5 cop _ _ 3 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 5 det _ _ 4 great great ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 5 amod _ _ 5 success success NOUN NN Number=Sing 0 root _ _ ``` | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **is a** | past | It | a great success | | | | | tree rules | **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. - ← previous: [Soft words for hard things: failure an…, test 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/euphemisms/34-failure-and-mistakes/t3/) - next →: [Soft words for hard things: failure an…, test 5](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/euphemisms/34-failure-and-mistakes/t5/) - ↑ back to [Soft words for hard things: failure and mistakes](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/euphemisms/34-failure-and-mistakes/)