---
title: Identify the figure of speech employed in the utterance «I'm not unh… — Not unhappy and not half: litotes · tree and pragmatics
description: Identify the figure of speech employed in the utterance «I'm not unhappy with that», made by a parent upon reading an excellent report. Exam question 1 of lesson 50 «Not unhappy and not half: litotes» of the language course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the que
---

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# Exam question 1 · Not unhappy and not half: litotes

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Identify the figure of speech employed in the utterance «I'm not unhappy with that», made by a parent upon reading an excellent report.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 4 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** you, I · **What happens:** identify, employ, not be, make, read, figure · **To what, where:** figure, speech, utterance, excellent report · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 1 of lesson 50 «Not unhappy and not half: litotes» 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/50-not-unhappy-and-not-half-litotes/#e1).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:50-not-unhappy-and-not-half-litotes:e1:1
# text = Identify the figure of speech employed in the utterance «I'm not unhappy with that», made by a parent upon reading an excellent report.
1	Identify	identify	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	figure	figure	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
4	of	of	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	speech	speech	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nmod	_	_
6	employed	employ	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	5	acl	_	_
7	in	in	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	utterance	utterance	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obl	_	_
10	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	14	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	14	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	'm	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	14	cop	_	_
13	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	14	advmod	_	_
14	unhappy	unhappy	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	parataxis	_	_
15	with	with	ADP	IN	_	16	case	_	_
16	that	that	PRON	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	14	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	14	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
18	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	19	punct	_	_
19	made	make	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	3	acl	_	_
20	by	by	ADP	IN	_	22	case	_	_
21	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	22	det	_	_
22	parent	parent	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	19	obl	_	_
23	upon	upon	SCONJ	IN	_	24	mark	_	_
24	reading	read	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	19	advcl	_	_
25	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	27	det	_	_
26	excellent	excellent	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	27	amod	_	_
27	report	report	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	24	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
28	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **identify** | imperative | you *not said here* | the figure of speech |  |  |  |  | vn characterize-29.2-1-1 «NP V NP S\_ING»: agent=Agent figure=Theme |
| 2 | **employ** | participle |  | speech *not said here* |  | the utterance |  |  | vn hire-13.5.3 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **not** **is** *in a quote* | present | I |  |  |  |  | with that; unhappy *property* | tree rules |
| 4 | **make** | participle |  | the figure of speech *not said here* |  |  |  | by a parent | vn build-26.1-1 «NP.asset V NP»: agent=Asset |
| 5 | **read** | gerund |  | a excellent report |  |  |  |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent report=Topic |
| 6 | **figure** |  |  | speech |  |  |  |  | nom figure «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 -->
Sarcasm, an expression of the opposite meaning in mockery

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:50-not-unhappy-and-not-half-litotes:e1:o1:1
# text = Sarcasm, an expression of the opposite meaning in mockery
1	Sarcasm	sarcasm	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	4	punct	_	_
3	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	expression	expression	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	appos	_	_
5	of	of	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
7	opposite	opposite	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	amod	_	_
8	meaning	meaning	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nmod	_	_
9	in	in	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
10	mockery	mockery	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .note -->
The frames reader finds no event or fact in this sentence.

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A literal statement of indifference

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:50-not-unhappy-and-not-half-litotes:e1:o2:1
# text = A literal statement of indifference
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	literal	literal	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	statement	statement	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
4	of	of	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	indifference	indifference	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **state** |  |  | indifference |  |  |  |  | nom statement «communication transitive»: of=patient |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Hyperbole, an exaggeration for effect

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:50-not-unhappy-and-not-half-litotes:e1:o3:1
# text = Hyperbole, an exaggeration for effect
1	Hyperbole	hyperbole	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	4	punct	_	_
3	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	exaggeration	exaggeration	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	conj	_	_
5	for	for	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	effect	effect	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .note -->
The frames reader finds no event or fact in this sentence.

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Litotes, an affirmation expressed by the negation of its opposite

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:50-not-unhappy-and-not-half-litotes:e1:o4:1
# text = Litotes, an affirmation expressed by the negation of its opposite
1	Litotes	litote	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	4	punct	_	_
3	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	affirmation	affirmation	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	appos	_	_
5	expressed	express	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	4	acl	_	_
6	by	by	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	negation	negation	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	_
9	of	of	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
10	its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	11	nmod:poss	_	_
11	opposite	opposite	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **express** | participle |  | a affirmation *not said here* |  |  |  | by the negation of negation's opposite | vn reflexive\_appearance-48.1.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **negate** |  |  | negation's opposite |  |  |  |  | nom negation «communication transitive»: of=patient |

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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: [Not unhappy and not half: litotes, test 10](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/language/50-not-unhappy-and-not-half-litotes/t10/)
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