---
title: Ascertain the meaning of the Scots expression «a wee bit dreich the… — A bit nippy and not ideal: British und… · tree and pragmatics
description: Ascertain the meaning of the Scots expression «a wee bit dreich the day», uttered during a severe storm. Exam question 3 of lesson 49 «A bit nippy and not ideal: British understatement» of the language course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of ea
---

<!-- md -->
[Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/language/49-a-bit-nippy-and-not-ideal-british-understatement/e3/)

<!-- crumbs -->
[home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/) / [questions](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/) / [Language](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/language/) / [A bit nippy and not ideal: British und…](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/language/49-a-bit-nippy-and-not-ideal-british-understatement/) / e3

# Exam question 3 · A bit nippy and not ideal: British understatement

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Ascertain the meaning of the Scots expression «a wee bit dreich the day», uttered during a severe storm.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 2 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** you · **What happens:** ascertain, utter, mean · **To what, where:** meaning, Scots expression

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 3 of lesson 49 «A bit nippy and not ideal: British understatement» of the language 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/language/49-a-bit-nippy-and-not-ideal-british-understatement/#e3).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:49-a-bit-nippy-and-not-ideal-british-understatement:e3:1
# text = Ascertain the meaning of the Scots expression «a wee bit dreich the day», uttered during a severe storm.
1	Ascertain	ascertain	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	meaning	meaning	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
4	of	of	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
6	Scots	Scot	PROPN	NNPS	Number=Plur	7	compound	_	_
7	expression	expression	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nmod	_	_
8	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	11	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
10	wee	wee	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	11	amod	_	_
11	bit	bit	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	appos	_	_
12	dreich	dreich	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
13	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	14	det	_	_
14	day	day	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	11	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	17	punct	_	_
17	uttered	utter	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	7	conj	_	_
18	during	during	ADP	IN	_	21	case	_	_
19	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	21	det	_	_
20	severe	severe	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	21	amod	_	_
21	storm	storm	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	17	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
22	.	.	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 meaning of the Scots expression |  |  |  |  | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent meaning=Topic |
| 2 | **utter** *speech: other* | participle | you *not said here* |  |  |  | during a severe storm |  | vn say-37.7-1 «NP V how S»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **mean** |  |  | the Scots expression |  |  |  |  | nom meaning «communication transitive»: of=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.

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 · ← Mova's choice {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
That the weather today is slightly sunny

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:49-a-bit-nippy-and-not-ideal-british-understatement:e3:o1:1
# text = That the weather today is slightly sunny
1	That	that	PRON	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	7	nsubj	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	weather	weather	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	nmod	_	_
4	today	today	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nmod:unmarked	_	_
5	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	7	cop	_	_
6	slightly	slightly	ADV	RB	_	7	advmod	_	_
7	sunny	sunny	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | That |  |  |  |  | slightly, sunny *property* | tree rules |

### Option 2 · ✓ the right answer {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
That the weather today is extremely wet, grey and unpleasant

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:49-a-bit-nippy-and-not-ideal-british-understatement:e3:o2:1
# text = That the weather today is extremely wet, grey and unpleasant
1	That	that	DET	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	3	det	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	weather	weather	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nsubj	_	_
4	today	today	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nmod:unmarked	_	_
5	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	7	cop	_	_
6	extremely	extremely	ADV	RB	_	7	advmod	_	_
7	wet	wet	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	9	punct	_	_
9	grey	grey	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	conj	_	_
10	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	11	cc	_	_
11	unpleasant	unpleasant	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | that weather  today |  |  |  |  | extremely, wet *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **be** |  | that weather  today *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 3 | **be** |  | that weather  today *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
That the storm has passed entirely

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:49-a-bit-nippy-and-not-ideal-british-understatement:e3:o3:1
# text = That the storm has passed entirely
1	That	that	DET	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	3	det	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	storm	storm	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
4	has	have	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	aux	_	_
5	passed	pass	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
6	entirely	entirely	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
```

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

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
That the weather tomorrow will be dry

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:49-a-bit-nippy-and-not-ideal-british-understatement:e3:o4:1
# text = That the weather tomorrow will be dry
1	That	that	DET	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	4	det	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	weather	weather	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	compound	_	_
4	tomorrow	tomorrow	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nsubj	_	_
5	will	will	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	7	aux	_	_
6	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	7	cop	_	_
7	dry	dry	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | future | that weather tomorrow |  |  |  |  | dry *property* | tree rules |

<!-- 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 -->

<!-- pn -->
- ← previous: [A bit nippy and not ideal: British und…, exam 2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/language/49-a-bit-nippy-and-not-ideal-british-understatement/e2/)
- next →: [A bit nippy and not ideal: British und…, exam 4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/language/49-a-bit-nippy-and-not-ideal-british-understatement/e4/)
- ↑ back to [A bit nippy and not ideal: British understatement](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/language/49-a-bit-nippy-and-not-ideal-british-understatement/)