---
title: ★★★ In which word do the letters «ai» make the same odd /e/ sound as… — Tricky words and common exception words · tree and pragmatics
description: ★★★ In which word do the letters «ai» make the same odd /e/ sound as in «said»? Test 12 · ★ of lesson 3 «Tricky words and common exception words» 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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# Test 12 · ★ · Tricky words and common exception words

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
★★★ In which word do the letters «ai» make the same odd /e/ sound as in «said»?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 1 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** letters, sound · **What happens:** make, say · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 12 · ★ of lesson 3 «Tricky words and common exception words» 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/3-tricky-words-and-common-exception-words/#t12).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:3-tricky-words-and-common-exception-words:t12:1
# text = ★★★ In which word do the letters «ai» make the same odd /e/ sound as in «said»?
1	★	★	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	3	compound	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	★	★	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	compound	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	★	★	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nsubj	_	_
4	In	in	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	which	which	DET	WDT	PronType=Int	6	det	_	_
6	word	word	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nmod	_	_
7	do	do	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	13	aux	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	letters	letter	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	13	nsubj	_	_
10	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	11	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	ai	ai	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	appos	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	11	punct	_	_
13	make	make	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
14	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	16	det	_	_
15	same	same	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	16	amod	_	_
16	odd	odd	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	13	xcomp	_	_
17	/	/	PUNCT	,	_	18	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
18	e	e	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	16	appos	_	SpaceAfter=No
19	/	/	PUNCT	,	_	20	punct	_	_
20	sound	sound	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	18	conj	_	_
21	as	as	SCONJ	IN	_	24	mark	_	_
22	in	in	SCONJ	IN	_	24	mark	_	_
23	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	24	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
24	said	say	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	20	acl	_	SpaceAfter=No
25	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	18	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
26	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	13	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **make** | present · do-support | the letters |  |  |  |  | odd *property* | vn build-26.1-1 «NP.asset V NP»: agent=Asset |
| 2 | **say** *speech: assert* *in a quote* | past | sound *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent |

<!-- .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 -->
again, as most British people say it

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:3-tricky-words-and-common-exception-words:t12:o1:1
# text = again, as most British people say it
1	again	again	ADV	RB	_	7	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	1	punct	_	_
3	as	as	SCONJ	IN	_	7	mark	_	_
4	most	most	ADJ	JJS	Degree=Sup	6	amod	_	_
5	British	British	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	people	people	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	nsubj	_	_
7	say	say	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
8	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	7	obj	_	_
```

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

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
paid, as in «I paid for it»

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:3-tricky-words-and-common-exception-words:t12:o2:1
# text = paid, as in «I paid for it»
1	paid	pay	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	7	punct	_	_
3	as	as	SCONJ	IN	_	7	mark	_	_
4	in	in	ADP	IN	_	3	fixed	_	_
5	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	7	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	7	nsubj	_	_
7	paid	pay	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	1	conj	_	_
8	for	for	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
9	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	7	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **pay** | participle |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn pay-68-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **pay** *in a quote* | past | I |  |  |  |  | for it | vn pay-68-1 «NP V NP PP.theme»: agent=Agent for it=Theme |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
sail, as in «a boat's sail»

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:3-tricky-words-and-common-exception-words:t12:o3:1
# text = sail, as in «a boat's sail»
1	sail	sail	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	9	punct	_	_
3	as	as	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
4	in	in	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
5	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	9	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	boat	boat	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	's	's	PART	POS	_	7	case	_	_
9	sail	sail	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	appos	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	9	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .note -->
The frames reader finds no event or fact in this sentence.

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
rain, as in «it's raining»

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:3-tricky-words-and-common-exception-words:t12:o4:1
# text = rain, as in «it's raining»
1	rain	rain	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	8	punct	_	_
3	as	as	SCONJ	IN	_	8	mark	_	_
4	in	in	SCONJ	IN	_	8	mark	_	_
5	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	8	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	8	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	's	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	8	aux	_	_
8	raining	rain	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	1	parataxis	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	8	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **rain** *in a quote* | present · progressive | it |  |  |  |  |  | vn weather-57 «It V PP.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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