---
title: Ascertain the meaning most accurately conveyed by the statement that… — Soft words for hard things: stupidity… · tree and pragmatics
description: Ascertain the meaning most accurately conveyed by the statement that an individual is "not the sharpest knife in the drawer". Exam question 2 of lesson 37 «Soft words for hard things: stupidity and madness and rudeness and swearing» of the euphemisms course of Mova's primary school, with the depende
---

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# Exam question 2 · Soft words for hard things: stupidity and madness and rude…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Ascertain the meaning most accurately conveyed by the statement that an individual is "not the sharpest knife in the drawer".

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 4 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** you, individual · **What happens:** ascertain, convey, not be · **To what, where:** meaning, sharpest knife, drawer

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 2 of lesson 37 «Soft words for hard things: stupidity and madness and rudeness and swearing» of the euphemisms course of Mova's primary school, asked in stiff, formal language. 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/37-bats-and-gosh/#e2).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:37-bats-and-gosh:e2:1
# text = Ascertain the meaning most accurately conveyed by the statement that an individual is "not the sharpest knife in the drawer".
1	Ascertain	ascertain	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	meaning	meaning	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
4	most	most	ADV	RBS	Degree=Sup	5	advmod	_	_
5	accurately	accurately	ADV	RB	_	6	advmod	_	_
6	conveyed	convey	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	3	acl	_	_
7	by	by	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	statement	statement	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obl	_	_
10	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	18	mark	_	_
11	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
12	individual	individual	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	18	nsubj	_	_
13	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	18	cop	_	_
14	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	18	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	18	advmod	_	_
16	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	18	det	_	_
17	sharpest	sharp	ADJ	JJS	Degree=Sup	18	amod	_	_
18	knife	knife	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	nmod	_	_
19	in	in	ADP	IN	_	21	case	_	_
20	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	21	det	_	_
21	drawer	drawer	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	18	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
22	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	18	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
23	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **ascertain** | imperative | you *not said here* | the meaning |  |  |  |  | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent meaning=Topic |
| 2 | **convey** | participle |  | the meaning *not said here* |  |  |  | by the statement; accurately *property* | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **not** **is a** *in a quote* | present | a individual | the sharpest knife |  | the drawer |  |  | tree rules |

<!-- .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.

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 · ← Mova's choice {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The individual is of an untidy habit

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:37-bats-and-gosh:e2:o1:1
# text = The individual is of an untidy habit
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	individual	individual	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nsubj	_	_
3	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	7	cop	_	_
4	of	of	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
5	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
6	untidy	untidy	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
7	habit	habit	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
```

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

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The individual is lacking in culinary skill

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:37-bats-and-gosh:e2:o2:1
# text = The individual is lacking in culinary skill
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	individual	individual	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
3	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
4	lacking	lack	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
5	in	in	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	culinary	culinary	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
7	skill	skill	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **lack** | present · progressive | the individual |  |  | culinary skill |  |  | tree rules |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The individual is of a hostile disposition

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:37-bats-and-gosh:e2:o3:1
# text = The individual is of a hostile disposition
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	individual	individual	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nsubj	_	_
3	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	7	cop	_	_
4	of	of	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
5	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
6	hostile	hostile	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
7	disposition	disposition	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
```

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

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The individual is of limited intelligence

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:37-bats-and-gosh:e2:o4:1
# text = The individual is of limited intelligence
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	individual	individual	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	_
3	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	cop	_	_
4	of	of	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	limited	limited	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	intelligence	intelligence	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | the individual |  |  |  |  | of limited intelligence | 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.

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- ← previous: [Soft words for hard things: stupidity…, exam 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/euphemisms/37-bats-and-gosh/e1/)
- next →: [Soft words for hard things: stupidity…, exam 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/euphemisms/37-bats-and-gosh/e3/)
- ↑ back to [Soft words for hard things: stupidity and madness and rudeness and swearing](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/euphemisms/37-bats-and-gosh/)