--- title: Ascertain the meaning of the British expression «Not half!», given i… — Not unhappy and not half: litotes · tree and pragmatics description: Ascertain the meaning of the British expression «Not half!», given in reply to an enquiry whether the speaker enjoyed a match. Exam question 2 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 question and --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/language/50-not-unhappy-and-not-half-litotes/e2/) [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/) / [Not unhappy and not half: litotes](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/language/50-not-unhappy-and-not-half-litotes/) / e2 # Exam question 2 · Not unhappy and not half: litotes Ascertain the meaning of the British expression «Not half!», given in reply to an enquiry whether the speaker enjoyed a match. **Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 2 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** you, speaker · **What happens:** ascertain, give, enjoy, mean · **To what, where:** meaning, enquiry, reply, match, British expression This is exam question 2 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/#e2). ## The question {#question} ```conllu # sent_id = question:language:50-not-unhappy-and-not-half-litotes:e2:1 # text = Ascertain the meaning of the British expression «Not half!», given in reply to an enquiry whether the speaker enjoyed a match. 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 British British ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 7 amod _ _ 7 expression expression NOUN NN Number=Sing 3 nmod _ _ 8 « « PUNCT `` _ 10 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 9 Not not PART RB Polarity=Neg 10 advmod _ _ 10 half half NOUN NN Number=Sing|NumForm=Word|NumType=Frac 7 appos _ SpaceAfter=No 11 ! ! PUNCT . _ 10 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 12 » » PUNCT '' _ 10 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 13 , , PUNCT , _ 14 punct _ _ 14 given give VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass 3 acl _ _ 15 in in ADP IN _ 16 case _ _ 16 reply reply NOUN NN Number=Sing 14 obl _ _ 17 to to ADP IN _ 19 case _ _ 18 an a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 19 det _ _ 19 enquiry enquiry NOUN NN Number=Sing 14 obl _ _ 20 whether whether SCONJ IN _ 23 mark _ _ 21 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 22 det _ _ 22 speaker speaker NOUN NN Number=Sing 23 nsubj _ _ 23 enjoyed enjoy VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 14 advcl _ _ 24 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 25 det _ _ 25 match match NOUN NN Number=Sing 23 obj _ SpaceAfter=No 26 . . PUNCT . _ 1 punct _ _ ``` | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **ascertain** | imperative | you *not said here* | the meaning of the British expression | | | | | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent meaning=Topic | | 2 | **give** | participle | | the meaning of the British expression *not said here* | a enquiry | reply | | | vn give-13.1-1 «NP V PP.recipient»: agent=Agent to enquiry=Recipient | | 3 | **enjoy** | past | the speaker | a match | | | | | vn admire-31.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer match=Stimulus | | 4 | **mean** | | | the British expression | | | | | nom meaning «communication transitive»: of=patient | 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} Departure at half time ```conllu # sent_id = question:language:50-not-unhappy-and-not-half-litotes:e2:o1:1 # text = Departure at half time 1 Departure departure NOUN NN Number=Sing 0 root _ _ 2 at at ADP IN _ 4 case _ _ 3 half half NOUN NN Number=Sing|NumForm=Word|NumType=Frac 4 compound _ _ 4 time time NOUN NN Number=Sing 1 nmod _ _ ``` The frames reader finds no event or fact in this sentence. ### Option 2 · ✓ the right answer {#o2} Emphatic agreement: yes, very much ```conllu # sent_id = question:language:50-not-unhappy-and-not-half-litotes:e2:o2:1 # text = Emphatic agreement: yes, very much 1 Emphatic emphatic ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 2 amod _ _ 2 agreement agreement NOUN NN Number=Sing 0 root _ SpaceAfter=No 3 : : PUNCT : _ 2 punct _ _ 4 yes yes INTJ UH Polarity=Pos 2 conj _ SpaceAfter=No 5 , , PUNCT , _ 4 punct _ _ 6 very very ADV RB _ 7 advmod _ _ 7 much much ADV RB _ 4 advmod _ _ ``` The frames reader finds no event or fact in this sentence. ### Option 3 {#o3} Complete disapproval of the match ```conllu # sent_id = question:language:50-not-unhappy-and-not-half-litotes:e2:o3:1 # text = Complete disapproval of the match 1 Complete complete ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 2 amod _ _ 2 disapproval disapproval NOUN NN Number=Sing 0 root _ _ 3 of of ADP IN _ 5 case _ _ 4 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 5 det _ _ 5 match match NOUN NN Number=Sing 2 nmod _ _ ``` | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **disapprove** | | | the match | | | | | nom disapproval «feeling transitive»: of=patient | ### Option 4 {#o4} Partial enjoyment confined to one half of the match ```conllu # sent_id = question:language:50-not-unhappy-and-not-half-litotes:e2:o4:1 # text = Partial enjoyment confined to one half of the match 1 Partial partial ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 2 amod _ _ 2 enjoyment enjoyment NOUN NN Number=Sing 0 root _ _ 3 confined confine VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass 2 acl _ _ 4 to to ADP IN _ 6 case _ _ 5 one one NUM CD NumForm=Word|NumType=Card 6 nummod _ _ 6 half half NOUN NN Number=Sing|NumForm=Word|NumType=Frac 3 obl _ _ 7 of of ADP IN _ 9 case _ _ 8 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 9 det _ _ 9 match match NOUN NN Number=Sing 6 nmod _ _ ``` | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **confine** | participle | | Partial enjoyment *not said here* | | one half of the match | | | vn confine-92-1 «NP V NP PP.destination»: agent=Agent to half=Destination | **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. - ← previous: [Not unhappy and not half: litotes, exam 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/language/50-not-unhappy-and-not-half-litotes/e1/) - next →: [Not unhappy and not half: litotes, exam 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/language/50-not-unhappy-and-not-half-litotes/e3/) - ↑ back to [Not unhappy and not half: litotes](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/language/50-not-unhappy-and-not-half-litotes/)