--- title: When things break: boilers, plumbers and paint — a lesson of Mova's school · trees and pragmatics description: «When things break: boilers, plumbers and paint», a lesson of the adult life course of Mova's primary school, sentence by sentence with dependency trees and pragmatics. It begins: A home is like a big machine with lots of parts: pipes, wires, a boiler, walls, a roof and bins that need emptying, and --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/adult-life/11-when-things-break/) [home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/) / [school](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/) / [Adult life](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/adult-life/) / When things break: boilers, plumbers a… # When things break: boilers, plumbers and paint Lesson 11 of the adult life course of Mova's primary school: 17 sentences, each with its syntax tree and pragmatics. The lessons are written for Mova, and their agreed trees are part of Mova corpus 0.4 (CC BY-SA 4.0). How Mova does on its tests: [the lesson at school](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/school-run/adult-life/11-when-things-break/). - [0](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/adult-life/11-when-things-break/0/) — A home is like a big machine with lots of parts: pipes, wires, a boiler, walls, a roof and bins that need emptying, and every part breaks or wears out sooner or later. - [1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/adult-life/11-when-things-break/1/) — Some jobs grown-ups do themselves, which is called DIY, and some need a trained person like a plumber or an electrician, who is busy and costs a lot. - [2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/adult-life/11-when-things-break/2/) — In a rented home the landlord owns the house and must fix the big things, but tenants often have to ask again and again before anything happens. - [3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/adult-life/11-when-things-break/3/) — Picture a cold January evening in Manchester: Mum bangs the boiler and says "It's packed in again", Dad sighs "the plumber can't come till Thursday, and it'll cost an arm and a leg", and everyone boils the kettle for a wash. - [4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/adult-life/11-when-things-break/4/) — That is why grown-ups sound cross about houses: repairs cost money, take time and turn the home upside down, but the trouble is almost always fixed in the end. - [5](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/adult-life/11-when-things-break/5/) — The boiler heats the water and the radiators, and "packed in" means it has stopped working. - [6](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/adult-life/11-when-things-break/6/) — A plumber fixes pipes, taps and toilets; "it'll cost an arm and a leg" only means it will be very expensive. - [7](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/adult-life/11-when-things-break/7/) — DIY means "do it yourself": fixing or building things at home instead of paying someone, which saves money but sometimes goes wrong and costs more. - [8](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/adult-life/11-when-things-break/8/) — Wiring must be done by a trained electrician, because mistakes with electricity can cause fires and shocks, and there are laws about it. - [9](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/adult-life/11-when-things-break/9/) — Having the kitchen redone means builders take the old one out and put a new one in, so for a while there is nowhere to cook and families eat takeaway. - [10](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/adult-life/11-when-things-break/10/) — Big building jobs often take longer and cost more than planned. - [11](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/adult-life/11-when-things-break/11/) — Damp is when walls get wet inside and grow black mould; in a rented home the landlord is supposed to fix it, and some are slow to do so. - [12](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/adult-life/11-when-things-break/12/) — Tenants who cannot get a repair done may complain more than once or ask the council for help. - [13](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/adult-life/11-when-things-break/13/) — One coat of paint often looks patchy, so a second coat is painted on once the first is dry. - [14](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/adult-life/11-when-things-break/14/) — Arguing over paint colours like "Magnolia" or "Duck Egg Blue" is a small disagreement about taste, not a real fight, and it ends with a choice or a compromise. - [15](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/adult-life/11-when-things-break/15/) — In houses joined together, sound travels through the walls, so grown-ups first knock and ask politely and only later complain to the landlord or the council. - [16](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/adult-life/11-when-things-break/16/) — The council collects rubbish on set days, with separate bins for general rubbish and recycling, and a missed bin day means rubbish piles up for a week or two. - ← previous: [Moving house and renting a home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/adult-life/10-moving-house-and-renting-a-home/) - next →: [Cars, chores and the shopping list](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/adult-life/12-cars-chores-and-the-shopping-list/) - ↑ back to [Adult life](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/adult-life/)