---
title: Whereas a notice prohibits persons from "relieving themselves" in a… — Soft words for hard things: the toilet… · tree and pragmatics
description: Whereas a notice prohibits persons from "relieving themselves" in a public place, determine the conduct thereby prohibited. Exam question 4 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 dependen
---

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# Exam question 4 · Soft words for hard things: the toilet and bodily function…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Whereas a notice prohibits persons from "relieving themselves" in a public place, determine the conduct thereby prohibited.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 4 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** notice, persons, you, conduct · **What happens:** prohibit, relieve, determine · **To what, where:** persons, public place, conduct

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This is exam question 4 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/#e4).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:8-toilets-and-getting-older:e4:1
# text = Whereas a notice prohibits persons from "relieving themselves" in a public place, determine the conduct thereby prohibited.
1	Whereas	whereas	SCONJ	IN	_	4	mark	_	_
2	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	notice	notice	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
4	prohibits	prohibit	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	16	advcl	_	_
5	persons	person	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obj	_	_
6	from	from	SCONJ	IN	_	8	mark	_	_
7	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	8	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	relieving	relieve	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	5	acl	_	_
9	themselves	themselves	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs|Reflex=Yes	8	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	8	punct	_	_
11	in	in	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
12	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	14	det	_	_
13	public	public	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	14	amod	_	_
14	place	place	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	16	punct	_	_
16	determine	determine	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
17	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	18	det	_	_
18	conduct	conduct	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	16	obj	_	_
19	thereby	thereby	ADV	RB	_	20	advmod	_	_
20	prohibited	prohibit	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	18	acl:relcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
21	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	16	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **prohibit** | present | a notice | persons |  |  |  |  | vn forbid-64.4-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Causer person=Theme |
| 2 | **relieve** *in a quote* | gerund | persons *not said here* | persons *= person* |  | a public place |  |  | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Stimulus themselves=Experiencer |
| 3 | **determine** | imperative | you *not said here* | the conduct |  |  |  |  | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent conduct=Topic |
| 4 | **prohibit** | past | the conduct *not said here* |  |  |  |  | thereby *property* | vn forbid-64.4-1 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Causer |

<!-- .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 -->
Removing items of clothing

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:8-toilets-and-getting-older:e4:o1:1
# text = Removing items of clothing
1	Removing	remove	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	2	amod	_	_
2	items	item	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	0	root	_	_
3	of	of	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
4	clothing	clothing	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **remove** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn fire-10.10 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Resting upon public benches

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:8-toilets-and-getting-older:e4:o2:1
# text = Resting upon public benches
1	Resting	rest	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
2	upon	upon	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
3	public	public	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	amod	_	_
4	benches	bench	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	1	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **rest** | gerund |  |  |  | public benches |  |  | vn spatial\_configuration-47.6-1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme upon bench=Location |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Consuming food and drink

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:8-toilets-and-getting-older:e4:o3:1
# text = Consuming food and drink
1	Consuming	consume	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
2	food	food	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
3	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	4	cc	_	_
4	drink	drink	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **consume** | gerund |  | food and drink |  |  |  |  | vn consume-66 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent food=Asset |

### Option 4 · ✓ the right answer {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Urinating or defecating

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:8-toilets-and-getting-older:e4:o4:1
# text = Urinating or defecating
1	Urinating	urinate	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
2	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	3	cc	_	_
3	defecating	defecate	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	1	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **urinate** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn breathe-40.1.2-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **defecate** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn breathe-40.1.2-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

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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 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/euphemisms/8-toilets-and-getting-older/e3/)
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