---
title: Dad, plunger in hand: «Who broke the flush?» The boy did and is emba… — Accidents told too late · tree and pragmatics
description: Dad, plunger in hand: «Who broke the flush?» The boy did and is embarrassed. What should he do? Test 9 · ★ of lesson 343 «Accidents told too late» of the everyday course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each option; Mova's choice was wrong.
---

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# Test 9 · ★ · Accidents told too late

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Dad, plunger in hand: «Who broke the flush?» The boy did and is embarrassed. What should he do?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 4 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** Dad, boy · **What happens:** break, do, be · **To what, where:** flush

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 9 · ★ of lesson 343 «Accidents told too late» of the everyday 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/everyday/343-accidents-told-too-late/#t9).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* Dad, plunger in hand: «Who broke the flush?»

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:343-accidents-told-too-late:t9:1
# text = Dad, plunger in hand: «Who broke the flush?»
1	Dad	dad	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	3	punct	_	_
3	plunger	plunger	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	appos	_	_
4	in	in	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	hand	hand	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	:	:	PUNCT	:	_	9	punct	_	_
7	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	9	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	Who	who	PRON	WP	PronType=Rel	9	nsubj	_	_
9	broke	break	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
10	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	flush	flush	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	9	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	9	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **break** *in a quote* | past | Dad | the flush |  |  |  |  | vn hurt-40.8.3-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer flush=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.

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 2:* The boy did and is embarrassed.

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:343-accidents-told-too-late:t9:2
# text = The boy did and is embarrassed.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	boy	boy	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	did	do	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	6	cc	_	_
5	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	cop	_	_
6	embarrassed	embarrassed	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **do** | past | the boy |  |  |  |  |  | vn act-114-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **is** | present | the boy *not said here* |  |  |  |  | embarrassed *property* | tree rules |

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 3:* What should he do?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:343-accidents-told-too-late:t9:3
# text = What should he do?
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	4	obj	_	_
2	should	should	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
3	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
4	do	do	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **do** | should | boy |  |  |  |  |  | vn act-114-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent what=Eventuality |

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 · ← Mova's choice {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Pretend to be asleep

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:343-accidents-told-too-late:t9:o1:1
# text = Pretend to be asleep
1	Pretend	pretend	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	to	to	PART	TO	_	4	mark	_	_
3	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	cop	_	_
4	asleep	asleep	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	1	xcomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **pretend** | imperative | you *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **is** | to-infinitive | you *not said here* |  |  |  |  | asleep *property* | tree rules |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Say it was the plumber who broke it last time

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:343-accidents-told-too-late:t9:o2:1
# text = Say it was the plumber who broke it last time
1	Say	say	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	5	nsubj	_	_
3	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	plumber	plumber	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	ccomp	_	_
6	who	who	PRON	WP	PronType=Rel	7	nsubj	_	_
7	broke	break	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	acl:relcl	_	_
8	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	7	obj	_	_
9	last	last	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	10	amod	_	_
10	time	time	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obl:unmarked	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **say** *speech: assert* | imperative | you *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **is a** | past | it | the plumber |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 3 | **break** | past | the plumber | plumber |  |  | time |  | vn hurt-40.8.3-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer it=Patient |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Say it broke by itself

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:343-accidents-told-too-late:t9:o3:1
# text = Say it broke by itself
1	Say	say	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
3	broke	break	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	1	ccomp	_	_
4	by	by	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	itself	itself	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs|Reflex=Yes	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **say** *speech: assert* | imperative | you *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 2 | **break** | past | it |  |  |  |  | by itself *= it* | vn appear-48.1.1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme by itself=Location |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Own up; embarrassing things are still better told

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:343-accidents-told-too-late:t9:o4:1
# text = Own up; embarrassing things are still better told
1	Own	own	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	up	up	ADP	RP	_	1	compound:prt	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	;	;	PUNCT	:	_	8	punct	_	_
4	embarrassing	embarrassing	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	things	thing	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	nsubj	_	_
6	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	8	cop	_	_
7	still	still	ADV	RB	_	8	advmod	_	_
8	better	good	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	1	parataxis	_	_
9	told	tell	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	8	cop	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **own up** | imperative | you *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn own-100.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Pivot |
| 2 | **is** | present | embarrassing things |  |  |  | still | good *property* | tree rules |

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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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