---
title: «the s in island is cos they used to say iss-land back in the day».… — i before e, silent letters and other f… · tree and pragmatics
description: «the s in island is cos they used to say iss-land back in the day». Is that true? Test 5 · ★ 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 
---

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# Test 5 · ★ · i before e, silent letters and other famous traps

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
«the s in island is cos they used to say iss-land back in the day». Is that true?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 2 · **The right answer:** option 2 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** s, that · **What happens:** be, say · **To what, where:** iss land · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 5 · ★ of lesson 10 «i before e, silent letters and other famous traps» 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/10-i-before-e-silent-letters-and-famous-traps/#t5).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* «the s in island is cos they used to say iss-land back in the day».

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:10-i-before-e-silent-letters-and-famous-traps:t5:1
# text = «the s in island is cos they used to say iss-land back in the day».
1	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	9	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	s	s	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	nsubj	_	_
4	in	in	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	island	island	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nmod	_	_
6	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	9	cop	_	_
7	cos	cos	SCONJ	IN	_	9	mark	_	_
8	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	9	nsubj	_	_
9	used	use	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
10	to	to	PART	TO	_	11	mark	_	_
11	say	say	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	9	xcomp	_	_
12	iss	ISS	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	14	compound	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	12	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	land	land	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	obj	_	_
15	back	back	ADV	RB	_	11	advmod	_	_
16	in	in	ADP	IN	_	18	case	_	_
17	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	18	det	_	_
18	day	day	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
19	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	9	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
20	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	9	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** *in a quote* | present | the s in island |  |  |  |  | use *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **say** *speech: assert* *in a quote* | to-infinitive | the s in island *not said here* | iss land |  |  | day |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V NP.topic»: agent=Agent land=Topic |

<!-- .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:* Is that true?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:10-i-before-e-silent-letters-and-famous-traps:t5:2
# text = Is that true?
1	Is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	cop	_	_
2	that	that	PRON	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	3	nsubj	_	_
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 | that |  |  |  |  | true *property* | tree rules |

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Yes, everyone said «iss-land» until 1900

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:10-i-before-e-silent-letters-and-famous-traps:t5:o1:1
# text = Yes, everyone said «iss-land» until 1900
1	Yes	yes	INTJ	UH	Polarity=Pos	4	discourse	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	1	punct	_	_
3	everyone	everyone	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Tot	4	nsubj	_	_
4	said	say	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	8	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	iss	iss	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	amod	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	6	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	land	land	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	ccomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	8	punct	_	_
10	until	until	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
11	1900	1900	NUM	CD	NumForm=Digit|NumType=Card	4	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **say** *speech: assert* | past | everyone |  |  |  | until 1900 |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
No, the s was never said; scholars added it by mistake

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:10-i-before-e-silent-letters-and-famous-traps:t5:o2:1
# text = No, the s was never said; scholars added it by mistake
1	No	no	INTJ	UH	Polarity=Neg	7	discourse	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	1	punct	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	s	s	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nsubj:pass	_	_
5	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	7	aux:pass	_	_
6	never	never	ADV	RB	PronType=Neg	7	advmod	_	_
7	said	say	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	;	;	PUNCT	,	_	10	punct	_	_
9	scholars	scholar	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	10	nsubj	_	_
10	added	add	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	7	conj	_	_
11	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	10	obj	_	_
12	by	by	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
13	mistake	mistake	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **say** *speech: assert* | past · passive |  | the s |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V NP.topic»: subject=Topic |
| 2 | **add** *speech: assert* | past | scholars | s |  |  |  | by mistake | vn mix-22.1-2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent it=Patient |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
No, the s was added last year

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:10-i-before-e-silent-letters-and-famous-traps:t5:o3:1
# text = No, the s was added last year
1	No	no	INTJ	UH	Polarity=Neg	6	discourse	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	6	punct	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	s	s	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nsubj:pass	_	_
5	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	6	aux:pass	_	_
6	added	add	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
7	last	last	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	amod	_	_
8	year	year	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obl:unmarked	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **add** *speech: assert* | past · passive |  | the s |  |  | year |  | vn mix-22.1-2 «NP V NP»: subject=Patient |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Yes, and Americans still say it that way

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:10-i-before-e-silent-letters-and-famous-traps:t5:o4:1
# text = Yes, and Americans still say it that way
1	Yes	yes	INTJ	UH	Polarity=Pos	4	discourse	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	1	punct	_	_
3	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	4	cc	_	_
4	Americans	American	PROPN	NNPS	Number=Plur	6	nsubj	_	_
5	still	still	ADV	RB	_	6	advmod	_	_
6	say	say	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
7	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	6	obj	_	_
8	that	that	DET	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	9	det	_	_
9	way	way	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obl:unmarked	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **say** *speech: assert* | present | Americans | it |  |  | still | that way *obl:unmarked* | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V NP.topic»: agent=Agent it=Topic |

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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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