---
title: Ascertain the principal merit of a pupil substituting an invented an… — Toxic players, swearing and «fishcakes» · tree and pragmatics
description: Ascertain the principal merit of a pupil substituting an invented and inoffensive exclamation for profane language upon defeat. Exam question 4 of lesson 406 «Toxic players, swearing and «fishcakes»» of the everyday course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the ques
---

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# Exam question 4 · Toxic players, swearing and «fishcakes»

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Ascertain the principal merit of a pupil substituting an invented and inoffensive exclamation for profane language upon defeat.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 1 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** you, pupil · **What happens:** ascertain, substitute, invent · **To what, where:** principal merit, invented exclamation

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 4 of lesson 406 «Toxic players, swearing and «fishcakes»» of the everyday 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/everyday/406-toxic-players-and-swearing/#e4).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:406-toxic-players-and-swearing:e4:1
# text = Ascertain the principal merit of a pupil substituting an invented and inoffensive exclamation for profane language upon defeat.
1	Ascertain	ascertain	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
3	principal	principal	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	amod	_	_
4	merit	merit	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
5	of	of	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	pupil	pupil	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nmod	_	_
8	substituting	substitute	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	7	acl	_	_
9	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
10	invented	invent	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	13	amod	_	_
11	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	12	cc	_	_
12	inoffensive	inoffensive	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	10	conj	_	_
13	exclamation	exclamation	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obj	_	_
14	for	for	ADP	IN	_	16	case	_	_
15	profane	profane	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	16	amod	_	_
16	language	language	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	nmod	_	_
17	upon	upon	ADP	IN	_	18	case	_	_
18	defeat	defeat	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	16	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
19	.	.	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 principal merit of a pupil |  |  |  |  | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent merit=Topic |
| 2 | **substitute** | gerund | a pupil *not said here* | a invented exclamation |  |  |  | for profane language upon defeat | vn substitute-13.6.2 «NP V NP.location»: agent=Theme exclamation=Location |
| 3 | **invent** | participle |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn create-26.4-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

<!-- .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 · ✓ the right answer {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Frustration is expressed without injury to any other person

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:406-toxic-players-and-swearing:e4:o1:1
# text = Frustration is expressed without injury to any other person
1	Frustration	frustration	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj:pass	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux:pass	_	_
3	expressed	express	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
4	without	without	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	injury	injury	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
6	to	to	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
7	any	any	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	9	det	_	_
8	other	other	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	amod	_	_
9	person	person	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **express** | present · passive |  | Frustration | any other person |  |  | without injury | vn reflexive\_appearance-48.1.2 «NP V NP PP.recipient»: subject=Theme to person=Recipient |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The pupil is thereby exempted from household rules

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:406-toxic-players-and-swearing:e4:o2:1
# text = The pupil is thereby exempted from household rules
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	pupil	pupil	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj:pass	_	_
3	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	aux:pass	_	_
4	thereby	thereby	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
5	exempted	exempt	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
6	from	from	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	household	household	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	compound	_	_
8	rules	rule	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **exempt** | present · passive |  | the pupil |  | household rules |  | thereby *property* | tree rules |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Defeat is thereby converted into victory

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:406-toxic-players-and-swearing:e4:o3:1
# text = Defeat is thereby converted into victory
1	Defeat	defeat	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj:pass	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux:pass	_	_
3	thereby	thereby	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
4	converted	convert	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
5	into	into	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	victory	victory	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **convert** | present · passive |  | Defeat |  |  |  | into victory *result*; thereby *property* | vn turn-26.6.1-1 «NP V NP.patient PP.result»: subject=Patient into victory=Result |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The opponent is thereby compelled to withdraw from the game at once

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:406-toxic-players-and-swearing:e4:o4:1
# text = The opponent is thereby compelled to withdraw from the game at once
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	opponent	opponent	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj:pass	_	_
3	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	aux:pass	_	_
4	thereby	thereby	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
5	compelled	compel	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
6	to	to	PART	TO	_	7	mark	_	_
7	withdraw	withdraw	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	xcomp	_	_
8	from	from	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	game	game	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obl	_	_
11	at	at	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
12	once	once	ADV	RB	NumForm=Word|NumType=Mult	7	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **compel** | present · passive |  | the opponent |  |  |  | thereby *property* | vn compel-59.1-1 «NP V NP S\_INF»: subject=Patient clause=Result |
| 2 | **withdraw** | to-infinitive |  |  |  | the game |  |  | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V PP.initial\_location»: agent=Theme from game=Initial\_Location |

<!-- div src -->

**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: [Toxic players, swearing and «fishcakes», exam 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/everyday/406-toxic-players-and-swearing/e3/)
- next →: [Rage-quitting, ranked games and the ca…, test 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/everyday/407-rage-quitting-and-ranked/t1/)
- ↑ back to [Toxic players, swearing and «fishcakes»](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/everyday/406-toxic-players-and-swearing/)