---
title: A friend says "my dad's going through a rough patch since he lost hi… — Soft words for hard things: illness, d… · tree and pragmatics
description: A friend says "my dad's going through a rough patch since he lost his job". What does this mean? Test 11 · ★ of lesson 4 «Soft words for hard things: illness, disability and the body» of the euphemisms course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of ea
---

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# Test 11 · ★ · Soft words for hard things: illness, disability and the body

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A friend says "my dad's going through a rough patch since he lost his job". What does this mean?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 1 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** friend, dad, this · **What happens:** say, go, lose, job, mean · **To what, where:** rough patch, job · **Speech:** someone speaks here

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This is test 11 · ★ of lesson 4 «Soft words for hard things: illness, disability and the body» 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/4-illness-disability-and-babies/#t11).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* A friend says "my dad's going through a rough patch since he lost his job".

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:4-illness-disability-and-babies:t11:1
# text = A friend says "my dad's going through a rough patch since he lost his job".
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	friend	friend	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	says	say	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	8	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	my	my	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Sing|Person=1|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	6	nmod:poss	_	_
6	dad	dad	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	's	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	8	aux	_	_
8	going	go	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	3	ccomp	_	_
9	through	through	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
10	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
11	rough	rough	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	12	amod	_	_
12	patch	patch	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obl	_	_
13	since	since	SCONJ	IN	_	15	mark	_	_
14	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	15	nsubj	_	_
15	lost	lose	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	8	advcl	_	_
16	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	17	nmod:poss	_	_
17	job	job	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	15	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
18	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	8	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
19	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **say** *speech: assert* | present | a friend |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 2 | **go** *in a quote* | present · progressive | my dad |  |  | a rough patch |  |  | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V PP.initial\_location»: agent=Theme through patch=Initial\_Location |
| 3 | **lose** *in a quote* | past | dad | dad's job |  |  |  |  | vn succeed-74-3-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent job=Eventuality |
| 4 | **job** *in a quote* |  | dad |  |  |  |  |  | nom job «act intransitive»: poss=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 does this mean?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:4-illness-disability-and-babies:t11:2
# text = What does this mean?
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	4	obj	_	_
2	does	do	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
3	this	this	PRON	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	4	nsubj	_	_
4	mean	mean	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **mean** | present · do-support | this |  |  |  |  |  | vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent what=Topic |

## The options {#options}

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Her dad is having a very hard time

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:4-illness-disability-and-babies:t11:o1:1
# text = Her dad is having a very hard time
1	Her	her	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	2	nmod:poss	_	_
2	dad	dad	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
3	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
4	having	have	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
5	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
6	very	very	ADV	RB	_	7	advmod	_	_
7	hard	hard	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	amod	_	_
8	time	time	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **have** | present · progressive | Her dad |  |  |  | time |  | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Her dad is repairing the road

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:4-illness-disability-and-babies:t11:o2:1
# text = Her dad is repairing the road
1	Her	her	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	2	nmod:poss	_	_
2	dad	dad	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
3	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
4	repairing	repair	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	road	road	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **repair** | present · progressive | Her dad | the road |  |  |  |  | vn remedy-45.7 «NP V NP.patient»: agent=Agent road=Patient |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Her dad is learning to garden

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:4-illness-disability-and-babies:t11:o3:1
# text = Her dad is learning to garden
1	Her	her	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	2	nmod:poss	_	_
2	dad	dad	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
3	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
4	learning	learn	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
5	to	to	PART	TO	_	6	mark	_	_
6	garden	garden	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	advcl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **learn** | present · progressive | Her dad |  |  |  |  |  | vn learn-14-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Her dad is sewing his clothes

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:4-illness-disability-and-babies:t11:o4:1
# text = Her dad is sewing his clothes
1	Her	her	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	2	nmod:poss	_	_
2	dad	dad	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
3	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
4	sewing	sew	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
5	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	6	nmod:poss	_	_
6	clothes	clothes	NOUN	NNS	Number=Ptan	4	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **sew** | present · progressive | Her dad | dad's clothes |  |  |  |  | vn build-26.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent clothes=Product |

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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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