---
title: Identify the principal origin of most silent letters in English words. — i before e, silent letters and other f… · tree and pragmatics
description: Identify the principal origin of most silent letters in English words. Exam question 2 of lesson 10 «i before e, silent letters and other famous traps» 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 right.
---

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# Exam question 2 · i before e, silent letters and other famous traps

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Identify the principal origin of most silent letters in English words.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 1 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** you · **What happens:** identify · **To what, where:** principal origin

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 2 of lesson 10 «i before e, silent letters and other famous traps» of the English 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/english/10-i-before-e-silent-letters-and-famous-traps/#e2).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:10-i-before-e-silent-letters-and-famous-traps:e2:1
# text = Identify the principal origin of most silent letters in English words.
1	Identify	identify	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
3	principal	principal	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	amod	_	_
4	origin	origin	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
5	of	of	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
6	most	most	ADJ	JJS	Degree=Sup	8	amod	_	_
7	silent	silent	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	amod	_	_
8	letters	letter	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nmod	_	_
9	in	in	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
10	English	English	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	11	amod	_	_
11	words	word	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	.	.	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 principal origin of most silent letters in English words |  |  |  |  | vn characterize-29.2-1-1 «NP V NP S\_ING»: agent=Agent origin=Theme |

<!-- .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 · ✓ the right answer {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
They represent sounds formerly pronounced, which the spelling has preserved

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:10-i-before-e-silent-letters-and-famous-traps:e2:o1:1
# text = They represent sounds formerly pronounced, which the spelling has preserved
1	They	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	5	nsubj	_	_
2	represent	represent	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	aux	_	_
3	sounds	sound	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	aux	_	_
4	formerly	formerly	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
5	pronounced	pronounce	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	11	punct	_	_
7	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	11	nsubj:pass	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	spelling	spelling	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	nsubj:pass	_	_
10	has	have	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	11	aux	_	_
11	preserved	preserve	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	5	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **pronounce** | present | They |  |  |  |  | formerly *property* | vn dub-29.3.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **preserve** | present · perfect · passive |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn defend-72.3 «NP V NP»: subject=Beneficiary |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
They were introduced in order to render spelling more difficult for pupils

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:10-i-before-e-silent-letters-and-famous-traps:e2:o2:1
# text = They were introduced in order to render spelling more difficult for pupils
1	They	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj:pass	_	_
2	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux:pass	_	_
3	introduced	introduce	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
4	in	in	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	order	order	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
6	to	to	PART	TO	_	7	mark	_	_
7	render	render	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	advcl	_	_
8	spelling	spelling	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obj	_	_
9	more	more	ADV	RBR	Degree=Cmp	10	advmod	_	_
10	difficult	difficult	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	ccomp	_	_
11	for	for	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
12	pupils	pupil	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	10	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **introduce** | past · passive |  | They |  | order |  |  | vn amalgamate-22.2-3-1 «NP V NP»: subject=Patient |
| 2 | **render** | to-infinitive |  | spelling |  |  |  |  | vn give-13.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent spelling=Theme |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
They represent sounds that will be pronounced in future

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:10-i-before-e-silent-letters-and-famous-traps:e2:o3:1
# text = They represent sounds that will be pronounced in future
1	They	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	represent	represent	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	sounds	sound	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obj	_	_
4	that	that	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	7	obj	_	_
5	will	will	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	7	aux	_	_
6	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	7	aux:pass	_	_
7	pronounced	pronounce	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	3	acl:relcl	_	_
8	in	in	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
9	future	future	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **represent** | present | They | sounds |  |  |  |  | vn representation-110.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Pivot sound=Theme |
| 2 | **pronounce** | future · passive |  | sounds |  | future |  |  | vn pronounce-29.3.1 «NP V NP PP.manner»: that=Theme in future=Manner |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
They were inserted by printers in order to fill the line

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:10-i-before-e-silent-letters-and-famous-traps:e2:o4:1
# text = They were inserted by printers in order to fill the line
1	They	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux:pass	_	_
3	inserted	insert	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
4	by	by	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	printers	printer	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obl	_	_
6	in	in	SCONJ	IN	ExtPos=SCONJ	9	mark	_	_
7	order	order	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	fixed	_	_
8	to	to	PART	TO	_	9	mark	_	_
9	fill	fill	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	advcl	_	_
10	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	line	line	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **insert** | past · passive |  | They |  |  |  | by printers | vn put-9.1-1 «NP V NP PP.destination»: subject=Theme by printer=Destination |
| 2 | **fill** | to-infinitive |  | the line |  |  |  |  | vn other\_cos-45.4 «NP V NP.patient»: agent=Agent line=Patient |

<!-- 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.

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- ↑ back to [i before e, silent letters and other famous traps](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/english/10-i-before-e-silent-letters-and-famous-traps/)