---
title: Bro: "dad's going a bit thin on top lol, nearly a cue ball." What's… — Soft words for hard things: age and lo… · tree and pragmatics
description: Bro: "dad's going a bit thin on top lol, nearly a cue ball." What's happening to Dad? Test 3 of lesson 9 «Soft words for hard things: age and looks and weight» 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
---

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# Test 3 · Soft words for hard things: age and looks and weight

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Bro: "dad's going a bit thin on top lol, nearly a cue ball." What's happening to Dad?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 4 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** dad · **What happens:** go, happen · **To what, where:** top, Dad

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 3 of lesson 9 «Soft words for hard things: age and looks and weight» of the euphemisms course of Mova's primary school. 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/9-age-looks-and-size/#t3).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* Bro: "dad's going a bit thin on top lol, nearly a cue ball."

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:9-age-looks-and-size:t3:1
# text = Bro: "dad's going a bit thin on top lol, nearly a cue ball."
1	Bro	bro	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	:	:	PUNCT	:	_	6	punct	_	_
3	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	6	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	dad	dad	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	's	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	aux	_	_
6	going	go	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	1	conj	_	_
7	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	bit	bit	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obl:unmarked	_	_
9	thin	thin	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	xcomp	_	_
10	on	on	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
11	top	top	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obl	_	_
12	lol	lol	INTJ	UH	_	6	discourse	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	17	punct	_	_
14	nearly	nearly	ADV	RB	_	17	advmod	_	_
15	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	17	det	_	_
16	cue	cue	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	17	compound	_	_
17	ball	ball	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	appos	_	SpaceAfter=No
18	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	17	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
19	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	17	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **go** *in a quote* | present · progressive | dad |  |  | top |  | thin *property* | vn occur-48.3-2 «NP V PP»: agent=Theme on top=Location |

<!-- .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:* What's happening to Dad?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:9-age-looks-and-size:t3:2
# text = What's happening to Dad?
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	3	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	's	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux	_	_
3	happening	happen	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
4	to	to	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	Dad	Dad	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **happen** | present · progressive |  |  | Dad |  |  |  | vn occur-48.3-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 · ← Mova's choice {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
He fell on his head

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:9-age-looks-and-size:t3:o1:1
# text = He fell on his head
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	fell	fall	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	on	on	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
4	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	5	nmod:poss	_	_
5	head	head	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **fall** | past | He |  |  | his head |  |  | vn occur-48.3 «NP V PP»: agent=Theme on head=Location |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
He is getting thin

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:9-age-looks-and-size:t3:o2:1
# text = He is getting thin
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux	_	_
3	getting	get	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
4	thin	thin	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	xcomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **get** | present · progressive | He |  |  |  |  | thin *property* | vn comprehend-87.2-1 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Experiencer |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
He plays snooker

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:9-age-looks-and-size:t3:o3:1
# text = He plays snooker
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	plays	play	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	snooker	snooker	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **play** | present | He | snooker |  |  |  |  | vn use-105.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent snooker=Theme |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
He is going bald

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:9-age-looks-and-size:t3:o4:1
# text = He is going bald
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux	_	_
3	going	go	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
4	bald	bald	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	xcomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **go** | present · progressive | He |  |  |  |  | bald *property* | vn disappearance-48.2-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

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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: age and lo…, test 2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/euphemisms/9-age-looks-and-size/t2/)
- next →: [Soft words for hard things: age and lo…, test 4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/euphemisms/9-age-looks-and-size/t4/)
- ↑ back to [Soft words for hard things: age and looks and weight](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/euphemisms/9-age-looks-and-size/)