---
title: Gossip: "Old Mr Grey's lost his marbles, he talks to his roses now."… — Soft words for hard things: stupidity… · tree and pragmatics
description: Gossip: "Old Mr Grey's lost his marbles, he talks to his roses now." What are they saying about Mr Grey? Test 5 · ★ of lesson 36 «Soft words for hard things: 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 5 · ★ · Soft words for hard things: stupidity and madness

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Gossip: "Old Mr Grey's lost his marbles, he talks to his roses now." What are they saying about Mr Grey?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 1 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** Gossip, marbles · **What happens:** lose, talk, say · **To what, where:** Old Mr Grey · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 5 · ★ of lesson 36 «Soft words for hard things: 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/36-dim-and-round-the-bend/#t5).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* Gossip: "Old Mr Grey's lost his marbles, he talks to his roses now."

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:36-dim-and-round-the-bend:t5:1
# text = Gossip: "Old Mr Grey's lost his marbles, he talks to his roses now."
1	Gossip	gossip	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	:	:	PUNCT	:	_	8	punct	_	_
3	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	8	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	Old	old	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
5	Mr	Mr	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	6	compound	_	_
6	Grey	Grey	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	8	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	's	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	8	aux:pass	_	_
8	lost	lose	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	1	acl:relcl	_	_
9	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	10	nmod:poss	_	_
10	marbles	marble	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	13	punct	_	_
12	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	13	nsubj	_	_
13	talks	talk	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
14	to	to	ADP	IN	_	16	case	_	_
15	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	16	nmod:poss	_	_
16	roses	rose	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	13	obl	_	_
17	now	now	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	13	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
18	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	13	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
19	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	13	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **lose** *in a quote* | present · passive |  | Old Mr Grey |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **talk** *in a quote* | present | Gossip |  |  |  | now | to Grey's roses | vn talk-37.5 «NP V PP.co-agent»: agent=Agent to rose=Co-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 are they saying about Mr Grey?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:36-dim-and-round-the-bend:t5:2
# text = What are they saying about Mr Grey?
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	4	obj	_	_
2	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
3	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
4	saying	say	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
5	about	about	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	Mr	Mr	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	7	compound	_	_
7	Grey	Grey	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

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

## The options {#options}

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
They think he has gone mad or confused

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:36-dim-and-round-the-bend:t5:o1:1
# text = They think he has gone mad or confused
1	They	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	think	think	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	5	nsubj	_	_
4	has	have	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	aux	_	_
5	gone	go	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	2	ccomp	_	_
6	mad	mad	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	xcomp	_	_
7	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	8	cc	_	_
8	confused	confused	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **think** *speech: other* | present | They |  |  |  |  |  | vn consider-29.9-2 «NP V how S»: agent=Agent clause=Theme |
| 2 | **go** | present · perfect | he |  |  |  |  | mad *property* | vn disappearance-48.2-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
He is a famous rose grower

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:36-dim-and-round-the-bend:t5:o2:1
# text = He is a famous rose grower
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	6	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	cop	_	_
3	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
4	famous	famous	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
5	rose	rose	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	compound	_	_
6	grower	grower	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | He | a famous rose grower |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
He has lost his roses from the garden

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:36-dim-and-round-the-bend:t5:o3:1
# text = He has lost his roses from the garden
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	has	have	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux	_	_
3	lost	lose	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
4	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	5	nmod:poss	_	_
5	roses	rose	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obj	_	_
6	from	from	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	garden	garden	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **lose** | present · perfect | He | his roses |  | the garden |  |  | vn remove-10.1 «NP V NP PP»: agent=Agent rose=Theme from garden=Initial\_Location |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
He has lost a bag of glass marbles in the grass

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:36-dim-and-round-the-bend:t5:o4:1
# text = He has lost a bag of glass marbles in the grass
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	has	have	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux	_	_
3	lost	lose	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
4	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	bag	bag	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
6	of	of	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	glass	glass	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	compound	_	_
8	marbles	marble	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	nmod	_	_
9	in	in	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
10	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	grass	grass	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **lose** | present · perfect | He | a bag of glass marbles |  | the grass |  |  | vn succeed-74-3-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent bag=Eventuality |

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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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