---
title: "printer won't work, helpdesk says user error. rude!!" What is the h… — Soft words for hard things: failure an… · tree and pragmatics
description: "printer won't work, helpdesk says user error. rude!!" What is the helpdesk saying? Test 1 of lesson 35 «Soft words for hard things: failure and mistakes and stupidity and madness» 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 and stupi…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
"printer won't work, helpdesk says user error. rude!!" What is the helpdesk saying?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 3 · **The right answer:** option 3 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** printer, helpdesk · **What happens:** not work, say · **To what, where:** user error · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 1 of lesson 35 «Soft words for hard things: failure and mistakes and stupidity and madness» 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/35-mistakes-and-stupidity/#t1).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* "printer won't work, helpdesk says user error. rude!!"

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:35-mistakes-and-stupidity:t1:1
# text = "printer won't work, helpdesk says user error. rude!!"
1	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	5	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	printer	printer	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
3	wo	will	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	5	aux	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	n't	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	5	advmod	_	_
5	work	work	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	8	punct	_	_
7	helpdesk	helpdesk	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nsubj	_	_
8	says	say	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	parataxis	_	_
9	user	user	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	compound	_	_
10	error	error	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
12	rude	rude	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	advcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	!!	!!	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	5	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **work** *in a quote* | future | printer |  |  |  |  |  | vn employment-95.3 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **say** *speech: assert* *in a quote* | present | helpdesk | user error |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V NP.topic»: agent=Agent error=Topic |

<!-- .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 is the helpdesk saying?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:35-mistakes-and-stupidity:t1:2
# text = What is the helpdesk saying?
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	5	obj	_	_
2	is	be	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	helpdesk	helpdesk	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
5	saying	say	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **say** *speech: assert* | present · progressive | the helpdesk |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V NP.topic»: agent=Agent what=Topic |

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The helpdesk is at fault for the trouble

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:35-mistakes-and-stupidity:t1:o1:1
# text = The helpdesk is at fault for the trouble
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	helpdesk	helpdesk	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
3	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
4	at	at	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	fault	fault	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
6	for	for	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	trouble	trouble	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nmod	_	_
```

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

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The ink has run out

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:35-mistakes-and-stupidity:t1:o2:1
# text = The ink has run out
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	ink	ink	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj:pass	_	_
3	has	have	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
4	run	run	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
5	out	out	ADP	RP	_	4	compound:prt	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **run out** | present · perfect · passive |  | the ink |  |  |  |  | vn run-51.3.2-2-1 «NP V NP»: subject=Trajectory |

### Option 3 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The person using it got it wrong

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:35-mistakes-and-stupidity:t1:o3:1
# text = The person using it got it wrong
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	person	person	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
3	using	use	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	2	acl	_	_
4	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	obj	_	_
5	got	get	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
6	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	5	obj	_	_
7	wrong	wrong	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	xcomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **use** | gerund | the person *not said here* | person |  |  |  |  | vn eat-39.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent it=Patient |
| 2 | **get** | past | the person | it |  |  |  | wrong *property* | vn comprehend-87.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer it=Stimulus |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The printer is broken

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:35-mistakes-and-stupidity:t1:o4:1
# text = The printer is broken
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	printer	printer	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	broken	break	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 | **break** | present · passive |  | the printer |  |  |  |  | vn hurt-40.8.3-1-1 «NP V NP»: subject=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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