---
title: Ben says: "'Teething problems' means a baby is getting teeth, so the… — Soft words for hard things: failure an… · tree and pragmatics
description: Ben says: "'Teething problems' means a baby is getting teeth, so the new bus has babies on it?" Is he right? Test 5 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 o
---

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# Test 5 · Soft words for hard things: failure and mistakes

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Ben says: "'Teething problems' means a baby is getting teeth, so the new bus has babies on it?" Is he right?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 1 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** Ben, Teething problems, baby, new bus · **What happens:** say, teethe, mean, get, have, be · **To what, where:** teeth, babies, baby · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 5 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/#t5).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* Ben says: "'Teething problems' means a baby is getting teeth, so the new bus has babies on it?"

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:34-failure-and-mistakes:t5:1
# text = Ben says: "'Teething problems' means a baby is getting teeth, so the new bus has babies on it?"
1	Ben	Ben	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	2	nsubj	_	_
2	says	say	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	:	:	PUNCT	:	_	9	punct	_	_
4	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	7	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	'	'	PUNCT	``	_	7	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	Teething	teethe	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	7	amod	_	_
7	problems	problem	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	9	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	'	'	PUNCT	''	_	7	punct	_	_
9	means	mean	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	2	ccomp	_	_
10	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	baby	baby	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	nsubj	_	_
12	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	13	aux	_	_
13	getting	get	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	9	ccomp	_	_
14	teeth	tooth	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	13	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	20	punct	_	_
16	so	so	ADV	RB	_	20	advmod	_	_
17	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	19	det	_	_
18	new	new	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	19	amod	_	_
19	bus	bus	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	20	nsubj	_	_
20	has	have	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	2	ccomp	_	_
21	babies	baby	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	20	obj	_	_
22	on	on	ADP	IN	_	23	case	_	_
23	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	20	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
24	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	20	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
25	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	20	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **say** *speech: ask* | present | Ben |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 2 | **teethe** *in a quote* | gerund |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn chew-39.2 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **mean** *in a quote* | present | Teething problems |  |  |  |  |  | vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 4 | **get** *in a quote* | present · progressive | a baby | teeth |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer tooth=Stimulus |
| 5 | **have** *in a quote* | present | the new bus | babies |  | baby |  |  | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent baby=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.

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 2:* Is he right?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:34-failure-and-mistakes:t5:2
# text = Is he right?
1	Is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	cop	_	_
2	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
3	right	right	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | Ben |  |  |  |  | right *property* | tree rules |

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
No, it means faults in something new

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:34-failure-and-mistakes:t5:o1:1
# text = No, it means faults in something new
1	No	no	INTJ	UH	Polarity=Neg	4	discourse	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	4	punct	_	_
3	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
4	means	mean	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	faults	fault	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obj	_	_
6	in	in	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	something	something	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Ind	5	nmod	_	_
8	new	new	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **mean** | present | it | faults |  |  |  | in something | vn representation-110.1 «NP V NP PP.attribute»: agent=Pivot fault=Theme in something=Attribute |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
No, it means the bus is old

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:34-failure-and-mistakes:t5:o2:1
# text = No, it means the bus is old
1	No	no	INTJ	UH	Polarity=Neg	4	discourse	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	1	punct	_	_
3	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
4	means	mean	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	bus	bus	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nsubj	_	_
7	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	8	cop	_	_
8	old	old	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	ccomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **mean** | present | it |  |  |  |  |  | vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V S»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **is** | present | the bus |  |  |  |  | old *property* | tree rules |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Yes, the bus driver has toothache

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:34-failure-and-mistakes:t5:o3:1
# text = Yes, the bus driver has toothache
1	Yes	yes	INTJ	UH	Polarity=Pos	6	discourse	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	1	punct	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	bus	bus	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	compound	_	_
5	driver	driver	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	_
6	has	have	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
7	toothache	toothache	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **have** | present | the bus driver | toothache |  |  |  |  | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent toothache=Patient |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Yes, babies are on the bus

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:34-failure-and-mistakes:t5:o4:1
# text = Yes, babies are on the bus
1	Yes	yes	INTJ	UH	Polarity=Pos	7	discourse	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	1	punct	_	_
3	babies	baby	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	nsubj	_	_
4	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	7	cop	_	_
5	on	on	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	bus	bus	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | babies |  |  | the bus |  |  | tree rules |

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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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