---
title: Gossip: "He's got a drinking problem, poor sod, can't keep a job." W… — Soft words for hard things: illness, d… · tree and pragmatics
description: Gossip: "He's got a drinking problem, poor sod, can't keep a job." What is wrong with him? Test 7 · ★ 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 each opti
---

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# Test 7 · ★ · Soft words for hard things: illness, disability and the body

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Gossip: "He's got a drinking problem, poor sod, can't keep a job." What is wrong with him?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 3 · **The right answer:** option 3 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** Gossip · **What happens:** get, not keep, be · **To what, where:** drinking problem, job

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 7 · ★ 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/#t7).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* Gossip: "He's got a drinking problem, poor sod, can't keep a job."

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:4-illness-disability-and-babies:t7:1
# text = Gossip: "He's got a drinking problem, poor sod, can't keep a job."
1	Gossip	gossip	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	16	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	:	:	PUNCT	:	_	6	punct	_	_
3	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	6	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	6	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	's	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	aux	_	_
6	got	get	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	1	appos	_	_
7	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
8	drinking	drinking	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	compound	_	_
9	problem	problem	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	12	punct	_	_
11	poor	poor	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	12	amod	_	_
12	sod	sod	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	16	punct	_	_
14	ca	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	16	aux	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	n't	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	16	advmod	_	_
16	keep	keep	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
17	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	18	det	_	_
18	job	job	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	16	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
19	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	16	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
20	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	16	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **get** *in a quote* | present · passive | Gossip | a drinking problem and poor sod |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer problem=Stimulus |
| 2 | **not** **keep** *in a quote* | can | Gossip | a job |  |  |  |  | vn keep-15.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent job=Theme |

<!-- .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 is wrong with him?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:4-illness-disability-and-babies:t7:2
# text = What is wrong with him?
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	3	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	cop	_	_
3	wrong	wrong	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
4	with	with	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present |  |  |  |  |  | with Gossip; wrong *property* | tree rules |

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
He is always thirsty, even at night

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:4-illness-disability-and-babies:t7:o1:1
# text = He is always thirsty, even at night
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
3	always	always	ADV	RB	PronType=Tot	4	advmod	_	_
4	thirsty	thirsty	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	8	punct	_	_
6	even	even	ADV	RB	_	8	advmod	_	_
7	at	at	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
8	night	night	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | He |  |  |  | night | always, thirsty *property* | tree rules |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
He cannot afford drinks

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:4-illness-disability-and-babies:t7:o2:1
# text = He cannot afford drinks
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
2	can	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	4	advmod	_	_
4	afford	afford	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
5	drinks	drink	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **afford** | can | He | drinks |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

### Option 3 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
He drinks too much alcohol

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:4-illness-disability-and-babies:t7:o3:1
# text = He drinks too much alcohol
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	drinks	drink	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	too	too	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
4	much	much	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	alcohol	alcohol	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **drink** | present | He | much alcohol |  |  |  |  | vn eat-39.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent alcohol=Patient |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
He drinks only water

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:4-illness-disability-and-babies:t7:o4:1
# text = He drinks only water
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	drinks	drink	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	only	only	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
4	water	water	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **drink** | present | He | water |  |  |  |  | vn eat-39.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent water=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.

<!-- /div -->

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