---
title: What would happen if we spelled «there», «their» and «they're» all t… — Homophones and near-homophones · tree and pragmatics
description: What would happen if we spelled «there», «their» and «they're» all the same? Test 3 of lesson 11 «Homophones and near-homophones» 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 wrong.
---

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# Test 3 · Homophones and near-homophones

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
What would happen if we spelled «there», «their» and «they're» all the same?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 3 · **The right answer:** option 2 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** we, they · **What happens:** happen, spell, be

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 3 of lesson 11 «Homophones and near-homophones» 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/11-homophones-and-near-homophones/#t3).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:11-homophones-and-near-homophones:t3:1
# text = What would happen if we spelled «there», «their» and «they're» all the same?
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	3	nsubj	_	_
2	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	3	aux	_	_
3	happen	happen	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
4	if	if	SCONJ	IN	_	6	mark	_	_
5	we	we	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=1|PronType=Prs	6	nsubj	_	_
6	spelled	spell	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	3	advcl	_	_
7	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	8	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	there	there	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	6	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	8	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	12	punct	_	_
11	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	12	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	3	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	3	punct	_	_
14	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	21	cc	_	_
15	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	21	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	21	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	're	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	21	cop	_	SpaceAfter=No
18	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	17	punct	_	_
19	all	all	DET	PDT	PronType=Tot	21	det:predet	_	_
20	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	21	det	_	_
21	same	same	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
22	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **happen** | would |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn occur-48.3-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 2 | **spell** *a condition, not said to happen* | participle | we |  |  | there |  |  | vn pronounce-29.3.1 «NP V NP ADVP»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **is** | present | they |  |  |  |  | same *property* | tree rules |

<!-- .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 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Nothing, nobody ever needs the spelling

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:11-homophones-and-near-homophones:t3:o1:1
# text = Nothing, nobody ever needs the spelling
1	Nothing	nothing	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Neg	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	5	punct	_	_
3	nobody	nobody	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Neg	5	nsubj	_	_
4	ever	ever	ADV	RB	PronType=Ind	5	advmod	_	_
5	needs	need	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	1	acl:relcl	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	spelling	spelling	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **need** | present | nobody | the spelling |  |  | ever |  | vn want-32.1-1-1 «NP V NP ADV»: agent=Pivot spelling=Theme |

### Option 2 · ✓ the right answer {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Readers would have to guess the meaning from the sentence

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:11-homophones-and-near-homophones:t3:o2:1
# text = Readers would have to guess the meaning from the sentence
1	Readers	reader	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj	_	_
2	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	3	aux	_	_
3	have	have	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
4	to	to	PART	TO	_	5	mark	_	_
5	guess	guess	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	xcomp	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	meaning	meaning	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obj	_	_
8	from	from	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	sentence	sentence	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **have** | would | Readers |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **guess** | to-infinitive | Readers *not said here* | the meaning |  | the sentence |  |  | vn conjecture-29.5-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent meaning=Theme |

### Option 3 · ← Mova's choice {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
All three words would mean «a place»

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:11-homophones-and-near-homophones:t3:o3:1
# text = All three words would mean «a place»
1	All	all	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	3	det	_	_
2	three	three	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	3	nummod	_	_
3	words	word	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	nsubj	_	_
4	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	5	aux	_	_
5	mean	mean	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
6	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	8	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	place	place	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	8	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **mean** | would | all three words | a place |  |  |  |  | vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent place=Topic |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
People would stop using them and say «they are» every time

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:11-homophones-and-near-homophones:t3:o4:1
# text = People would stop using them and say «they are» every time
1	People	people	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj	_	_
2	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	3	aux	_	_
3	stop	stop	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
4	using	use	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	3	xcomp	_	_
5	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	obj	_	_
6	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	7	cc	_	_
7	say	say	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	conj	_	_
8	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	10	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	10	nsubj	_	_
10	are	be	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	7	ccomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	3	punct	_	_
12	every	every	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	13	det	_	_
13	time	time	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl:unmarked	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **stop** | would | People |  |  |  | time |  | vn stop-55.4-1-1 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Affector clause=Eventuality |
| 2 | **use** | gerund | People *not said here* | People |  |  |  |  | vn eat-39.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent they=Patient |
| 3 | **say** *speech: assert* | infinitive | People *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 4 | **does** *in a quote* | present | People |  |  |  |  |  | vn exist-47.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

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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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