---
title: Identify the principal distinction between «ai» and «ay» as represen… — Vowel teams, split digraphs and choosi… · tree and pragmatics
description: Identify the principal distinction between «ai» and «ay» as representations of the same sound. Exam question 3 of lesson 4 «Vowel teams, split digraphs and choosing the spelling» of the English course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each optio
---

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# Exam question 3 · Vowel teams, split digraphs and choosing the spelling

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Identify the principal distinction between «ai» and «ay» as representations of the same sound.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 2 · **The right answer:** option 3 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** you · **What happens:** identify, represent · **To what, where:** principal distinction, same sound

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 3 of lesson 4 «Vowel teams, split digraphs and choosing the spelling» 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/4-vowel-teams-split-digraphs-and-choosing-the-spelling/#e3).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:4-vowel-teams-split-digraphs-and-choosing-the-spelling:e3:1
# text = Identify the principal distinction between «ai» and «ay» as representations of the same sound.
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	distinction	distinction	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
5	between	between	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	7	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	ai	ai	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	7	punct	_	_
9	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	11	cc	_	_
10	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	11	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	ay	ay	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	11	punct	_	_
13	as	as	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
14	representations	representation	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	11	nmod	_	_
15	of	of	ADP	IN	_	18	case	_	_
16	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	18	det	_	_
17	same	same	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	18	amod	_	_
18	sound	sound	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
19	.	.	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 distinction |  |  |  | between ai and ay as representations of the same sound | vn characterize-29.2-1-1 «NP V NP S\_ING»: agent=Agent distinction=Theme |
| 2 | **represent** |  |  | the same sound |  |  |  |  | nom representation «cognition transitive»: of=patient |

<!-- .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 -->
There is no distinction of any kind, the two being interchangeable in all words

<!-- fold The tree, 14 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:4-vowel-teams-split-digraphs-and-choosing-the-spelling:e3:o1:1
# text = There is no distinction of any kind, the two being interchangeable in all words
1	There	there	PRON	EX	PronType=Dem	2	expl	_	_
2	is	be	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	no	no	DET	DT	PronType=Neg	4	det	_	_
4	distinction	distinction	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nsubj	_	_
5	of	of	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	any	any	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	7	det	_	_
7	kind	kind	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	12	punct	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
10	two	two	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	12	nsubj	_	_
11	being	be	AUX	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	12	cop	_	_
12	interchangeable	interchangeable	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	conj	_	_
13	in	in	ADP	IN	_	15	case	_	_
14	all	all	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	15	det	_	_
15	words	word	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	12	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **be** | present | no distinction of any kind |  |  | there |  |  | vn exist-47.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 2 | **is** | gerund | two |  |  | all words |  | interchangeable *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **distinguish** |  |  | any kind |  |  |  |  | nom distinction «cognition transitive»: of=patient |

### Option 2 · ← Mova's choice {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
«ai» occurs exclusively in nouns, whereas «ay» occurs exclusively in verbs

<!-- fold The tree, 11 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:4-vowel-teams-split-digraphs-and-choosing-the-spelling:e3:o2:1
# text = «ai» occurs exclusively in nouns, whereas «ay» occurs exclusively in verbs
1	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	2	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	ai	ai	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	2	punct	_	_
4	occurs	occur	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	exclusively	exclusively	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
6	in	in	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	nouns	noun	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	13	punct	_	_
9	whereas	whereas	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	13	advmod	_	_
10	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	11	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	ay	ay	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	11	punct	_	_
13	occurs	occur	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	conj	_	_
14	exclusively	exclusively	ADV	RB	_	13	advmod	_	_
15	in	in	ADP	IN	_	16	case	_	_
16	verbs	verb	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	13	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **occur** | present | ai |  |  | nouns |  | exclusively *property* | vn occur-48.3-1 «NP V PP»: agent=Theme in noun=Location |
| 2 | **occur** | present | ay |  |  | verbs |  | exclusively, whereas *property* | vn occur-48.3-1 «NP V PP»: agent=Theme in verb=Location |

### Option 3 · ✓ the right answer {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
«ai» generally occurs within a word, whereas «ay» generally occurs at its end

<!-- fold The tree, 13 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:4-vowel-teams-split-digraphs-and-choosing-the-spelling:e3:o3:1
# text = «ai» generally occurs within a word, whereas «ay» generally occurs at its end
1	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	2	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	ai	ai	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	2	punct	_	_
4	generally	generally	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
5	occurs	occur	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
6	within	within	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	word	word	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	15	punct	_	_
10	whereas	whereas	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	15	advmod	_	_
11	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	12	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	ay	ay	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	15	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	12	punct	_	_
14	generally	generally	ADV	RB	_	15	advmod	_	_
15	occurs	occur	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	conj	_	_
16	at	at	ADP	IN	_	18	case	_	_
17	its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	18	nmod:poss	_	_
18	end	end	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	15	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **occur** | present | ai |  |  |  |  | within a word; generally *property* | vn occur-48.3-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 2 | **occur** | present | ay |  |  |  | at ay's end | generally, whereas *property* | vn occur-48.3-1 «NP V PP»: agent=Theme at end=Location |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
«ay» is the American form and «ai» the British form of the same spelling

<!-- fold The tree, 14 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:4-vowel-teams-split-digraphs-and-choosing-the-spelling:e3:o4:1
# text = «ay» is the American form and «ai» the British form of the same spelling
1	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	2	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	ay	ay	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	2	punct	_	_
4	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	7	cop	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
6	American	American	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
7	form	form	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
8	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	10	cc	_	_
9	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	10	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	ai	ai	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	10	punct	_	_
12	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	14	det	_	_
13	British	British	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	14	amod	_	_
14	form	form	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nsubj	_	_
15	of	of	ADP	IN	_	18	case	_	_
16	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	18	det	_	_
17	same	same	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	18	amod	_	_
18	spelling	spelling	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | ay | the American form and ai |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **form** |  |  | the same spelling |  |  |  |  | nom form «communication transitive»: of=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.

<!-- /div -->

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- ← previous: [Vowel teams, split digraphs and choosi…, exam 2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/english/4-vowel-teams-split-digraphs-and-choosing-the-spelling/e2/)
- next →: [Vowel teams, split digraphs and choosi…, exam 4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/english/4-vowel-teams-split-digraphs-and-choosing-the-spelling/e4/)
- ↑ back to [Vowel teams, split digraphs and choosing the spelling](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/english/4-vowel-teams-split-digraphs-and-choosing-the-spelling/)