---
title: A teacher writes: "Sam told a classmate to 'eff off' at lunch." What… — Soft words for hard things: rudeness a… · tree and pragmatics
description: A teacher writes: "Sam told a classmate to 'eff off' at lunch." What did Sam do wrong? Test 8 · ★ of lesson 38 «Soft words for hard things: rudeness and swearing» of the euphemisms course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each option; Mova's cho
---

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# Test 8 · ★ · Soft words for hard things: rudeness and swearing

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A teacher writes: "Sam told a classmate to 'eff off' at lunch." What did Sam do wrong?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 2 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** teacher, Sam · **What happens:** write, tell, eff off, do · **To what, where:** classmate, lunch · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 8 · ★ of lesson 38 «Soft words for hard things: 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/38-drat-and-the-f-word/#t8).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* A teacher writes: "Sam told a classmate to 'eff off' at lunch."

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:38-drat-and-the-f-word:t8:1
# text = A teacher writes: "Sam told a classmate to 'eff off' at lunch."
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	teacher	teacher	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	writes	write	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	:	:	PUNCT	:	_	7	punct	_	_
5	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	7	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	Sam	Sam	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	7	nsubj	_	_
7	told	tell	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	ccomp	_	_
8	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	classmate	classmate	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	iobj	_	_
10	to	to	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
11	'	'	PUNCT	``	_	12	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	eff	eff	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	7	ccomp	_	_
13	off	off	ADP	RP	_	12	compound:prt	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	'	'	PUNCT	''	_	12	punct	_	_
15	at	at	ADP	IN	_	16	case	_	_
16	lunch	lunch	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	7	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
18	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	7	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **write** | present | a teacher |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1 «NP V S-Quote»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 2 | **tell** *speech: assert* *in a quote* | past | Sam |  | a classmate |  |  |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP S\_INF»: agent=Agent classmate=Recipient clause=Topic |
| 3 | **eff off** *in a quote* | infinitive |  |  |  | lunch |  |  | 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.

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 2:* What did Sam do wrong?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:38-drat-and-the-f-word:t8:2
# text = What did Sam do wrong?
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	4	obj	_	_
2	did	do	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
3	Sam	Sam	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
4	do	do	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
5	wrong	wrong	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **do** | past · do-support | Sam |  |  |  |  |  | vn act-114-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent what=Eventuality |

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 · ← Mova's choice {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
He took off his shoes at lunch

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:38-drat-and-the-f-word:t8:o1:1
# text = He took off his shoes at lunch
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	took	take	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	off	off	ADP	RP	_	2	compound:prt	_	_
4	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	5	nmod:poss	_	_
5	shoes	shoe	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obj	_	_
6	at	at	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	lunch	lunch	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **take off** | past | He | his shoes |  | lunch |  |  | vn remove-10.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent shoe=Theme |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
He rudely told a classmate to go away

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:38-drat-and-the-f-word:t8:o2:1
# text = He rudely told a classmate to go away
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	rudely	rudely	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	_
3	told	tell	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	classmate	classmate	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	iobj	_	_
6	to	to	PART	TO	_	7	mark	_	_
7	go	go	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	xcomp	_	_
8	away	away	ADV	RB	_	7	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **tell** *speech: assert* | past | He |  | a classmate |  |  | rudely *property* | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP S\_INF»: agent=Agent classmate=Recipient clause=Topic |
| 2 | **go away** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive | He *not said here* |  |  |  |  | away *property* | vn disappearance-48.2-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
He went home early

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:38-drat-and-the-f-word:t8:o3:1
# text = He went home early
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	went	go	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	home	home	ADV	RB	_	2	advmod	_	_
4	early	early	ADV	RB	Degree=Pos	2	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **go** | past | He |  |  |  |  | early, home *property* | vn disappearance-48.2-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
He switched off the lights in the dining hall

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:38-drat-and-the-f-word:t8:o4:1
# text = He switched off the lights in the dining hall
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	switched	switch	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	off	off	ADP	RP	_	2	compound:prt	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	lights	light	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obj	_	_
6	in	in	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
8	dining	dining	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	compound	_	_
9	hall	hall	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **switch off** | past | He | the lights |  | the dining hall |  |  | vn convert-26.6.2-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent light=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.

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