---
title: Gran: "Darn! I've burnt the pie." Why does she say "darn" and not a… — Soft words for hard things: stupidity… · tree and pragmatics
description: Gran: "Darn! I've burnt the pie." Why does she say "darn" and not a stronger word? Test 10 · ★ 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 dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of 
---

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# Test 10 · ★ · Soft words for hard things: stupidity and madness and rude…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Gran: "Darn! I've burnt the pie." Why does she say "darn" and not a stronger word?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 2 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** I, she · **What happens:** burnt, say · **To what, where:** pie, darn · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 10 · ★ of lesson 37 «Soft words for hard things: stupidity and madness and rudeness and swearing» 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/37-bats-and-gosh/#t10).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* Gran: "Darn!

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:37-bats-and-gosh:t10:1
# text = Gran: "Darn!
1	Gran	gran	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	:	:	PUNCT	:	_	4	punct	_	_
3	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	4	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	Darn	darn	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	!	!	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .note -->
The frames reader finds no event or fact in this sentence.

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 2:* I've burnt the pie."

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:37-bats-and-gosh:t10:2
# text = I've burnt the pie."
1	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	've	have	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux	_	_
3	burnt	burnt	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	pie	pie	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **burnt** | present · perfect | I | the pie |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 3:* Why does she say "darn" and not a stronger word?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:37-bats-and-gosh:t10:3
# text = Why does she say "darn" and not a stronger word?
1	Why	why	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	4	advmod	_	_
2	does	do	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
3	she	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
4	say	say	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
5	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	6	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	darn	darn	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	6	punct	_	_
8	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	12	cc	_	_
9	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	12	advmod	_	_
10	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
11	stronger	strong	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	12	amod	_	_
12	word	word	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **say** *speech: assert* | present · do-support | she | darn and a stronger word |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V NP.topic»: agent=Agent darn=Topic |

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 · ← Mova's choice {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Because the pie was dark

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:37-bats-and-gosh:t10:o1:1
# text = Because the pie was dark
1	Because	because	SCONJ	IN	_	5	mark	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	pie	pie	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
4	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
5	dark	dark	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | past | the pie |  |  |  |  | dark *property* | tree rules |

### Option 2 · ✓ the right answer {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It is a polite form of the curse "damn"

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:37-bats-and-gosh:t10:o2:1
# text = It is a polite form of the curse "damn"
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	5	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
3	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	polite	polite	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	form	form	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
6	of	of	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	curse	curse	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nmod	_	_
9	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	10	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	damn	damn	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	appos	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	10	punct	_	_
```

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

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Because "darn" means burnt

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:37-bats-and-gosh:t10:o3:1
# text = Because "darn" means burnt
1	Because	because	SCONJ	IN	_	5	mark	_	_
2	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	3	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	darn	darn	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	3	punct	_	_
5	means	mean	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
6	burnt	burnt	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	5	xcomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **mean** | present | darn |  |  |  |  |  | vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 2 | **burnt** *not said to happen* | participle | darn *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Because she is mending a sock with a needle

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:37-bats-and-gosh:t10:o4:1
# text = Because she is mending a sock with a needle
1	Because	because	SCONJ	IN	_	4	mark	_	_
2	she	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
3	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
4	mending	mend	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
5	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	sock	sock	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obj	_	_
7	with	with	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	needle	needle	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **mend** | present · progressive | she | a sock |  |  |  | with a needle | 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…, test 9](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/euphemisms/37-bats-and-gosh/t9/)
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