---
title: It is stated that a gentleman is "long in the tooth". Ascertain the… — Soft words for hard things: the toilet… · tree and pragmatics
description: It is stated that a gentleman is "long in the tooth". Ascertain the characteristic thereby attributed to him. Exam question 2 of lesson 8 «Soft words for hard things: the toilet and bodily functions and age and looks» of the euphemisms course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pr
---

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# Exam question 2 · Soft words for hard things: the toilet and bodily function…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It is stated that a gentleman is "long in the tooth". Ascertain the characteristic thereby attributed to him.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 1 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** gentleman, you, characteristic · **What happens:** state, be, ascertain, attribute · **To what, where:** It, tooth, characteristic, gentleman · **Speech:** someone speaks here

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This is exam question 2 of lesson 8 «Soft words for hard things: the toilet and bodily functions and age and looks» 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/8-toilets-and-getting-older/#e2).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* It is stated that a gentleman is "long in the tooth".

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:8-toilets-and-getting-older:e2:1
# text = It is stated that a gentleman is "long in the tooth".
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj:pass	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux:pass	_	_
3	stated	state	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
4	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	9	mark	_	_
5	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	gentleman	gentleman	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	nsubj	_	_
7	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	9	cop	_	_
8	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	9	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	long	long	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	advcl	_	_
10	in	in	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
11	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
12	tooth	tooth	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	12	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **state** *speech: other* | present · passive |  | It |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V NP.topic»: subject=Topic |
| 2 | **is** *in a quote* | present | a gentleman |  |  | the tooth |  | long *property* | tree rules |

<!-- .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:* Ascertain the characteristic thereby attributed to him.

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:8-toilets-and-getting-older:e2:2
# text = Ascertain the characteristic thereby attributed to him.
1	Ascertain	ascertain	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	characteristic	characteristic	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
4	thereby	thereby	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
5	attributed	attribute	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	acl:relcl	_	_
6	to	to	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	5	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	.	.	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 characteristic |  |  |  |  | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent characteristic=Topic |
| 2 | **attribute** | past | the characteristic *not said here* |  | gentleman |  |  | thereby *property* | tree rules |

## The options {#options}

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Advanced age

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:8-toilets-and-getting-older:e2:o1:1
# text = Advanced age
1	Advanced	advanced	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	amod	_	_
2	age	age	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .note -->
The frames reader finds no event or fact in this sentence.

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Large teeth

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:8-toilets-and-getting-older:e2:o2:1
# text = Large teeth
1	Large	large	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	amod	_	_
2	teeth	tooth	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .note -->
The frames reader finds no event or fact in this sentence.

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
An aggressive temperament

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:8-toilets-and-getting-older:e2:o3:1
# text = An aggressive temperament
1	An	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	aggressive	aggressive	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	temperament	temperament	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .note -->
The frames reader finds no event or fact in this sentence.

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Dental ill health

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:8-toilets-and-getting-older:e2:o4:1
# text = Dental ill health
1	Dental	dental	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
2	ill	ill	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	health	health	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .note -->
The frames reader finds no event or fact in this sentence.

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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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- ← previous: [Soft words for hard things: the toilet…, exam 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/euphemisms/8-toilets-and-getting-older/e1/)
- next →: [Soft words for hard things: the toilet…, exam 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/euphemisms/8-toilets-and-getting-older/e3/)
- ↑ back to [Soft words for hard things: the toilet and bodily functions and age and looks](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/euphemisms/8-toilets-and-getting-older/)