---
title: Ascertain the meaning of the expression "self-medicating" when appli… — Soft words for hard things: illness, d… · tree and pragmatics
description: Ascertain the meaning of the expression "self-medicating" when applied to a person's consumption of alcohol. Exam question 4 of lesson 5 «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 qu
---

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# Exam question 4 · Soft words for hard things: illness, disability and the body

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Ascertain the meaning of the expression "self-medicating" when applied to a person's consumption of alcohol.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 2 · **The right answer:** option 2 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** you, person · **What happens:** ascertain, apply, mean, consume · **To what, where:** meaning, expression, alcohol

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 4 of lesson 5 «Soft words for hard things: illness, disability and the body» 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/5-drink-mind-and-body/#e4).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:5-drink-mind-and-body:e4:1
# text = Ascertain the meaning of the expression "self-medicating" when applied to a person's consumption of alcohol.
1	Ascertain	ascertain	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	meaning	meaning	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
4	of	of	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	expression	expression	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nmod	_	_
7	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	10	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	self	self	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	compound	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	10	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	medicating	medicating	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	appos	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	10	punct	_	_
12	when	when	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	13	advmod	_	_
13	applied	apply	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	10	acl	_	_
14	to	to	ADP	IN	_	18	case	_	_
15	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	16	det	_	_
16	person	person	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	18	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	's	's	PART	POS	_	16	case	_	_
18	consumption	consumption	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	obl	_	_
19	of	of	ADP	IN	_	20	case	_	_
20	alcohol	alcohol	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	18	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
21	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **ascertain** | imperative | you *not said here* | the meaning of the expression |  |  |  |  | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent meaning=Topic |
| 2 | **apply** | participle |  |  |  |  |  | to a person's consumption of alcohol | vn use-105.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **mean** |  |  | the expression |  |  |  |  | nom meaning «communication transitive»: of=patient |
| 4 | **consume** |  | a person | alcohol |  |  |  |  | nom consumption «act transitive»: poss=agent of=patient |

<!-- .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 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Taking prescribed medicine correctly and at the stated times

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:5-drink-mind-and-body:e4:o1:1
# text = Taking prescribed medicine correctly and at the stated times
1	Taking	take	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
2	prescribed	prescribe	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	3	amod	_	_
3	medicine	medicine	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
4	correctly	correctly	ADV	RB	_	1	advmod	_	_
5	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	9	cc	_	_
6	at	at	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
8	stated	state	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	9	amod	_	_
9	times	time	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	1	obl:unmarked	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **take** | gerund |  | prescribed medicine |  |  | time | correctly *property* | vn bring-11.3 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent medicine=Theme |
| 2 | **prescribe** | participle |  |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 3 | **state** *speech: other* | participle |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent |

### Option 2 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Drinking alcohol in order to cope with difficulties

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:5-drink-mind-and-body:e4:o2:1
# text = Drinking alcohol in order to cope with difficulties
1	Drinking	drink	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
2	alcohol	alcohol	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
3	in	in	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
4	order	order	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obl	_	_
5	to	to	PART	TO	_	6	mark	_	_
6	cope	cope	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	1	advcl	_	_
7	with	with	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
8	difficulties	difficulty	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **drink** | gerund |  | alcohol |  | order |  |  | vn eat-39.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent alcohol=Patient |
| 2 | **cope** | to-infinitive |  |  |  |  |  | with difficulties | vn cope-83-1 «NP V PP.theme»: agent=Agent with difficulty=Theme |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Manufacturing one's own medicine

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:5-drink-mind-and-body:e4:o3:1
# text = Manufacturing one's own medicine
1	Manufacturing	manufacture	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
2	one	one	PRON	PRP	Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	5	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	's	's	PART	POS	_	2	case	_	_
4	own	own	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	medicine	medicine	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **manufacture** | gerund |  | one's own medicine |  |  |  |  | vn create-26.4 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent medicine=Result |
| 2 | **medicine** |  | one |  |  |  |  |  | nom medicine «cognition transitive»: poss=agent |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Treating others without qualification

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:5-drink-mind-and-body:e4:o4:1
# text = Treating others without qualification
1	Treating	treat	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
2	others	other	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	1	obj	_	_
3	without	without	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
4	qualification	qualification	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **treat** | gerund |  | others |  |  |  | without qualification | vn equip-13.4.2-1 «NP V NP.recipient»: agent=Agent other=Recipient |

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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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