--- title: Ascertain which of the following constitutes understatement rather t… — Olympiad: the euphemism detective ★★★ · tree and pragmatics description: Ascertain which of the following constitutes understatement rather than hyperbole. Exam question 4 of lesson 41 «Olympiad: the euphemism detective ★★★» of the euphemisms course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each option; Mova's choice was wro --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/euphemisms/41-olympiad-euphemism-detective/e4/) [home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/) / [questions](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/) / [Euphemisms](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/euphemisms/) / [Olympiad: the euphemism detective ★★★](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/euphemisms/41-olympiad-euphemism-detective/) / e4 # Exam question 4 · Olympiad: the euphemism detective ★★★ Ascertain which of the following constitutes understatement rather than hyperbole. **Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 2 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** you · **What happens:** ascertain, follow, constitute · **To what, where:** understatement This is exam question 4 of lesson 41 «Olympiad: the euphemism detective ★★★» 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/41-olympiad-euphemism-detective/#e4). ## The question {#question} ```conllu # sent_id = question:euphemisms:41-olympiad-euphemism-detective:e4:1 # text = Ascertain which of the following constitutes understatement rather than hyperbole. 1 Ascertain ascertain VERB VB Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin 0 root _ _ 2 which which PRON WDT PronType=Rel 1 obj _ _ 3 of of ADP IN _ 4 case _ _ 4 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 2 nmod _ _ 5 following follow VERB VBG VerbForm=Ger 6 nsubj _ _ 6 constitutes constitute VERB VBZ Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 4 acl:relcl _ _ 7 understatement understatement NOUN NN Number=Sing 6 obj _ _ 8 rather rather ADV RB ExtPos=CCONJ 10 cc _ _ 9 than than ADP IN _ 8 fixed _ _ 10 hyperbole hyperbole NOUN NN Number=Sing 7 conj _ SpaceAfter=No 11 . . PUNCT . _ 1 punct _ _ ``` | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **ascertain** | imperative | you *not said here* | | | | | | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent which=Topic | | 2 | **follow** | gerund | | | | | | | vn occur-48.3-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme | | 3 | **constitute** | present | | understatement rather hyperbole | | | | | vn comprise-107.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Theme understatement=Pivot | 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} Claiming to have waited "forever" ```conllu # sent_id = question:euphemisms:41-olympiad-euphemism-detective:e4:o1:1 # text = Claiming to have waited "forever" 1 Claiming claim VERB VBG Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part 4 mark _ _ 2 to to PART TO _ 4 mark _ _ 3 have have AUX VB VerbForm=Inf 4 aux _ _ 4 waited wait VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part 0 root _ _ 5 " " PUNCT `` _ 6 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 6 forever forever ADV RB _ 4 advmod _ SpaceAfter=No 7 " " PUNCT '' _ 4 punct _ _ ``` | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **claim** *speech: other* | gerund | | | | | | | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent | | 2 | **wait** | to-infinitive · perfect | | | | | | forever *property* | vn exist-47.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme | ### Option 2 · ✓ the right answer {#o2} Describing a deep cut as "a scratch" ```conllu # sent_id = question:euphemisms:41-olympiad-euphemism-detective:e4:o2:1 # text = Describing a deep cut as "a scratch" 1 Describing describe VERB VBG Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part 0 root _ _ 2 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 4 det _ _ 3 deep deep ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 4 amod _ _ 4 cut cut NOUN NN Number=Sing 1 obj _ _ 5 as as ADP IN _ 8 case _ _ 6 " " PUNCT `` _ 8 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 7 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 8 det _ _ 8 scratch scratch NOUN NN Number=Sing 1 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 9 " " PUNCT '' _ 8 punct _ _ ``` | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **describe** | gerund | | a deep cut | | | | as a scratch | vn characterize-29.2-1-1 «NP V NP S\_ING»: agent=Agent cut=Theme as scratch=Attribute | ### Option 3 {#o3} Claiming to have told someone "a million times" ```conllu # sent_id = question:euphemisms:41-olympiad-euphemism-detective:e4:o3:1 # text = Claiming to have told someone "a million times" 1 Claiming claim VERB VBG Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part 4 csubj:pass _ _ 2 to to PART TO _ 1 fixed _ _ 3 have have AUX VB VerbForm=Inf 4 aux _ _ 4 told tell VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass 0 root _ _ 5 someone someone PRON NN Number=Sing|PronType=Ind 4 obj _ _ 6 " " PUNCT `` _ 9 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 7 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 8 det _ _ 8 million million NUM CD NumForm=Word|NumType=Card 9 nummod _ _ 9 times time NOUN NNS Number=Plur 5 appos _ SpaceAfter=No 10 " " PUNCT '' _ 9 punct _ _ ``` | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **claim** *speech: other* | gerund | | | | | | | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent | | 2 | **tell** *speech: assert* | infinitive · perfect | Claiming | | someone | | | | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP.recipient»: agent=Agent someone=Recipient | ### Option 4 {#o4} Describing a bag as weighing "a ton" ```conllu # sent_id = question:euphemisms:41-olympiad-euphemism-detective:e4:o4:1 # text = Describing a bag as weighing "a ton" 1 Describing describe VERB VBG Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part 0 root _ _ 2 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 3 det _ _ 3 bag bag NOUN NN Number=Sing 1 obj _ _ 4 as as SCONJ IN _ 5 mark _ _ 5 weighing weigh VERB VBG VerbForm=Ger 1 advcl _ _ 6 " " PUNCT `` _ 8 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 7 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 8 det _ _ 8 ton ton NOUN NN Number=Sing 5 obj _ SpaceAfter=No 9 " " PUNCT '' _ 8 punct _ _ ``` | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **describe** | gerund | | a bag | | | | | vn characterize-29.2-1-1 «NP V NP S\_ING»: agent=Agent bag=Theme | | 2 | **weigh** | gerund | | a ton | | | | | vn register-54.1-2-1 «NP V NP.value»: agent=Theme ton=Value | **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. - ← previous: [Olympiad: the euphemism detective ★★★, exam 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/euphemisms/41-olympiad-euphemism-detective/e3/) - next →: [Olympiad: reading between the lines ★★★, test 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/euphemisms/42-olympiad-reading-between-the-lines/t1/) - ↑ back to [Olympiad: the euphemism detective ★★★](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/euphemisms/41-olympiad-euphemism-detective/)