---
title: Auntie: «if Amira keeps chattin' Arabic at home she'll never read En… — Sounds and letters: how phonics starts · tree and pragmatics
description: Auntie: «if Amira keeps chattin' Arabic at home she'll never read English proper». What is true? Test 7 of lesson 1 «Sounds and letters: how phonics starts» of the English course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each option; Mova's choice was r
---

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# Test 7 · Sounds and letters: how phonics starts

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Auntie: «if Amira keeps chattin' Arabic at home she'll never read English proper». What is true?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 2 · **The right answer:** option 2 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** Auntie, Amira · **What happens:** keep, not read, be · **To what, where:** chattin, English, home

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 7 of lesson 1 «Sounds and letters: how phonics starts» of the English course of Mova's primary school. 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/english/1-sounds-and-letters-how-phonics-starts/#t7).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* Auntie: «if Amira keeps chattin' Arabic at home she'll never read English proper».

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:1-sounds-and-letters-how-phonics-starts:t7:1
# text = Auntie: «if Amira keeps chattin' Arabic at home she'll never read English proper».
1	Auntie	auntie	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	:	:	PUNCT	:	_	6	punct	_	_
3	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	6	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	if	if	SCONJ	IN	_	6	mark	_	_
5	Amira	Amira	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	_
6	keeps	keep	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
7	chattin	chattin	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	'	'	PUNCT	''	_	6	punct	_	_
9	Arabic	Arabic	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	6	obj	_	_
10	at	at	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
11	home	home	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	15	obl	_	_
12	she	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	15	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	'll	will	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	15	aux	_	_
14	never	never	ADV	RB	PronType=Neg	15	advmod	_	_
15	read	read	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	6	parataxis	_	_
16	English	English	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	15	obj	_	_
17	proper	properly	ADV	RB	_	15	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
18	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	15	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
19	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	6	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **keep** *in a quote* | present | Auntie | chattin |  |  |  |  | vn sustain-55.6-1 «NP V NP ADJ»: agent=Agent chattin=Theme arabic=Attribute |
| 2 | **not** **read** *in a quote* | future | Amira | English |  | home |  | properly *property* | vn register-54.1-2-1 «NP V NP PP.value»: agent=Agent english=Theme at home=Value |

<!-- .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.

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 2:* What is true?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:1-sounds-and-letters-how-phonics-starts:t7:2
# text = What is true?
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	3	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	cop	_	_
3	true	true	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

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

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
She's right, children can only learn one language

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:1-sounds-and-letters-how-phonics-starts:t7:o1:1
# text = She's right, children can only learn one language
1	She	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	's	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	cop	_	_
3	right	right	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	8	punct	_	_
5	children	child	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	nsubj	_	_
6	can	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	8	aux	_	_
7	only	only	ADV	RB	_	8	advmod	_	_
8	learn	learn	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	conj	_	_
9	one	one	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	10	nummod	_	_
10	language	language	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | She |  |  |  |  | right *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **learn** | can | children | one language |  |  |  |  | vn learn-14-2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent language=Topic |

### Option 2 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Speaking a home language does not hold back English reading

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:1-sounds-and-letters-how-phonics-starts:t7:o2:1
# text = Speaking a home language does not hold back English reading
1	Speaking	speak	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	7	csubj	_	_
2	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
3	home	home	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	compound	_	_
4	language	language	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
5	does	do	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	7	aux	_	_
6	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	7	advmod	_	_
7	hold	hold	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
8	back	back	ADP	RP	_	7	compound:prt	_	_
9	English	English	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	10	amod	_	_
10	reading	reading	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **speak** *speech: other* | gerund |  | a home language |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **not** **hold back** | present · do-support | Speaking | English reading |  |  |  |  | vn keep-15.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent reading=Theme |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Amira will read English but never be able to spell it

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:1-sounds-and-letters-how-phonics-starts:t7:o3:1
# text = Amira will read English but never be able to spell it
1	Amira	Amira	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
2	will	will	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	3	aux	_	_
3	read	read	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
4	English	English	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
5	but	but	CCONJ	CC	_	8	cc	_	_
6	never	never	ADV	RB	PronType=Neg	8	advmod	_	_
7	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	8	cop	_	_
8	able	able	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	conj	_	_
9	to	to	PART	TO	_	10	mark	_	_
10	spell	spell	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	8	xcomp	_	_
11	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	10	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **read** | future | Amira | English |  |  |  |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent english=Topic |
| 2 | **not** **is** | infinitive | Amira *not said here* |  |  |  |  | able *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **spell** | to-infinitive | Amira *not said here* | it |  |  |  |  | vn pronounce-29.3.1 «NP V NP ADVP»: agent=Agent it=Theme |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Amira must stop speaking Arabic before she reads

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:1-sounds-and-letters-how-phonics-starts:t7:o4:1
# text = Amira must stop speaking Arabic before she reads
1	Amira	Amira	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
2	must	must	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	3	aux	_	_
3	stop	stop	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
4	speaking	speak	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	5	amod	_	_
5	Arabic	Arabic	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
6	before	before	SCONJ	IN	_	8	mark	_	_
7	she	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	8	nsubj	_	_
8	reads	read	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	advcl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **stop** | must | Amira | speaking Arabic |  |  |  |  | vn stop-55.4-1-1 «NP V NP.eventuality»: agent=Affector arabic=Eventuality |
| 2 | **speak** *speech: other* | gerund |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn talk-37.5 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **read** | present | Amira |  |  |  |  |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

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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.

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