---
title: Select the response that is consistent with the established meaning… — Soft words for hard things: rudeness a… · tree and pragmatics
description: Select the response that is consistent with the established meaning of the expression "per my last email" in correspondence. Exam question 3 of lesson 40 «Soft words for hard things: rudeness and swearing» of the euphemisms course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of 
---

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# Exam question 3 · Soft words for hard things: rudeness and swearing

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Select the response that is consistent with the established meaning of the expression "per my last email" in correspondence.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 3 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** you, response, my · **What happens:** select, be, establish, mean, email · **To what, where:** response, expression, correspondence

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This is exam question 3 of lesson 40 «Soft words for hard things: 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/40-with-all-due-respect/#e3).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:40-with-all-due-respect:e3:1
# text = Select the response that is consistent with the established meaning of the expression "per my last email" in correspondence.
1	Select	select	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	response	response	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
4	that	that	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	6	nsubj	_	_
5	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	cop	_	_
6	consistent	consistent	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	acl:relcl	_	_
7	with	with	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
9	established	establish	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	10	amod	_	_
10	meaning	meaning	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obl	_	_
11	of	of	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
12	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
13	expression	expression	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	nmod	_	_
14	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	18	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	per	per	ADP	IN	_	18	case	_	_
16	my	my	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Sing|Person=1|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	18	nmod:poss	_	_
17	last	last	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	18	amod	_	_
18	email	email	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
19	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	18	punct	_	_
20	in	in	ADP	IN	_	21	case	_	_
21	correspondence	correspondence	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	18	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
22	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **select** | imperative | you *not said here* | the response |  |  |  |  | vn obtain-13.5.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent response=Theme |
| 2 | **is** | present | the response |  |  |  |  | with the established meaning of the expression per my last email in correspondence; consistent *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **establish** | participle |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn indicate-78-1-1 «NP V NP to be NP»: agent=Pivot |
| 4 | **mean** |  |  | the expression per my last email in correspondence |  |  |  |  | nom meaning «communication transitive»: of=patient |
| 5 | **email** *in a quote* |  | my |  |  | correspondence |  |  | nom email «communication transitive»: poss=agent in=place |

<!-- .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 sender requests a prompt reply by return

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:40-with-all-due-respect:e3:o1:1
# text = The sender requests a prompt reply by return
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	sender	sender	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	requests	request	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
5	prompt	prompt	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	reply	reply	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
7	by	by	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
8	return	return	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **request** | present | the sender | a prompt reply |  |  |  | by return | vn beg-58.2 «NP V NP S\_INF»: agent=Agent reply=Recipient |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The sender intends to cease all correspondence forthwith

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:40-with-all-due-respect:e3:o2:1
# text = The sender intends to cease all correspondence forthwith
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	sender	sender	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	intends	intend	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	to	to	PART	TO	_	5	mark	_	_
5	cease	cease	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	xcomp	_	_
6	all	all	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	7	det	_	_
7	correspondence	correspondence	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obj	_	_
8	forthwith	forthwith	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	xcomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **intend** | present | the sender |  |  |  |  |  | vn intend-61.2-1-1 «NP V S\_INF»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 2 | **cease** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive | the sender *not said here* | all correspondence |  |  |  | forthwith *property* | vn stop-55.4-1-1 «NP V NP.eventuality»: agent=Subeventuality correspondence=Eventuality |

### Option 3 · ✓ the right answer {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The recipient has failed to read prior correspondence attentively

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:40-with-all-due-respect:e3:o3:1
# text = The recipient has failed to read prior correspondence attentively
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	recipient	recipient	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
3	has	have	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
4	failed	fail	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
5	to	to	PART	TO	_	6	mark	_	_
6	read	read	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	xcomp	_	_
7	prior	prior	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	amod	_	_
8	correspondence	correspondence	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obj	_	_
9	attentively	attentively	ADV	RB	_	6	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **fail** | present · perfect | the recipient |  |  |  |  |  | vn succeed-74-3-1-1 «NP V S\_INF»: agent=Agent clause=Eventuality |
| 2 | **not** **read** | to-infinitive | the recipient *not said here* | prior correspondence |  |  |  | attentively *property* | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent correspondence=Topic |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The previous correspondence was lost in transmission

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:40-with-all-due-respect:e3:o4:1
# text = The previous correspondence was lost in transmission
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	previous	previous	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	correspondence	correspondence	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj:pass	_	_
4	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	aux:pass	_	_
5	lost	lose	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
6	in	in	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	transmission	transmission	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **lose** | past · passive |  | the previous correspondence |  | transmission |  |  | vn succeed-74-3-1 «NP V NP»: subject=Eventuality |

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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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- ← previous: [Soft words for hard things: rudeness a…, exam 2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/euphemisms/40-with-all-due-respect/e2/)
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