---
title: «can or not, teacher, I write bird as burd, same sound one». What is… — Vowel teams, split digraphs and choosi… · tree and pragmatics
description: «can or not, teacher, I write bird as burd, same sound one». What is the answer? Test 9 · ★ 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 option; Mova's choice wa
---

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# Test 9 · ★ · Vowel teams, split digraphs and choosing the spelling

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
«can or not, teacher, I write bird as burd, same sound one». What is the answer?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 1 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** I, answer · **What happens:** write, be · **To what, where:** bird

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 9 · ★ of lesson 4 «Vowel teams, split digraphs and choosing the spelling» 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/4-vowel-teams-split-digraphs-and-choosing-the-spelling/#t9).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* «can or not, teacher, I write bird as burd, same sound one».

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:4-vowel-teams-split-digraphs-and-choosing-the-spelling:t9:1
# text = «can or not, teacher, I write bird as burd, same sound one».
1	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	2	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	can	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	6	aux	_	_
3	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	4	cc	_	_
4	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	2	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	6	punct	_	_
6	teacher	teacher	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	vocative	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	6	punct	_	_
8	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	9	nsubj	_	_
9	write	write	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
10	bird	bird	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obj	_	_
11	as	as	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
12	burd	burd	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	15	punct	_	_
14	same	same	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	15	amod	_	_
15	sound	sound	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	conj	_	_
16	one	one	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	15	flat	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	16	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
18	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	9	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **write** *in a quote* | present | I | bird |  |  |  | as burd and same sound; teacher *vocative* | vn create-26.4-1 «NP V NP PP.attribute»: agent=Agent bird=Result as burd=Attribute |

<!-- .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:* What is the answer?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:4-vowel-teams-split-digraphs-and-choosing-the-spelling:t9:2
# text = What is the answer?
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	0	root	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	1	cop	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	answer	answer	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | the answer |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Not allowed: «bird» uses «ir», and each word has its usual spelling

<!-- fold The tree, 12 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:4-vowel-teams-split-digraphs-and-choosing-the-spelling:t9:o1:1
# text = Not allowed: «bird» uses «ir», and each word has its usual spelling
1	Not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	2	advmod	_	_
2	allowed	allow	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	:	:	PUNCT	:	_	7	punct	_	_
4	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	5	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	bird	bird	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	5	punct	_	_
7	uses	use	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	2	advcl	_	_
8	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	9	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	ir	ir	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	9	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	15	punct	_	_
12	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	15	cc	_	_
13	each	each	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	14	det	_	_
14	word	word	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	15	nsubj	_	_
15	has	have	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	7	conj	_	_
16	its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	18	nmod:poss	_	_
17	usual	usual	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	18	amod	_	_
18	spelling	spelling	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	15	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **allow** | participle |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn allow-64.1-1 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Causer |
| 2 | **use** | present | bird | ir |  |  |  |  | vn eat-39.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent ir=Patient |
| 3 | **have** | present | each word | word's usual spelling |  |  |  |  | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent spelling=Patient |
| 4 | **spell** |  | word |  |  |  |  |  | nom spelling «communication transitive»: poss=agent |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Not allowed: «bird» is spelled «berd»

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:4-vowel-teams-split-digraphs-and-choosing-the-spelling:t9:o2:1
# text = Not allowed: «bird» is spelled «berd»
1	Not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	2	advmod	_	_
2	allowed	allow	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	8	advcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	:	:	PUNCT	:	_	2	punct	_	_
4	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	5	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	bird	bird	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nsubj:pass	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	5	punct	_	_
7	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	8	aux:pass	_	_
8	spelled	spell	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
9	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	10	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	berd	berd	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	10	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **allow** | participle |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn allow-64.1-1 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Causer |
| 2 | **spell** | present · passive |  | bird |  |  |  |  | vn pronounce-29.3.1 «NP V NP NP»: subject=Theme berd=Manner |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Can, because all three spellings are the same

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:4-vowel-teams-split-digraphs-and-choosing-the-spelling:t9:o3:1
# text = Can, because all three spellings are the same
1	Can	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	9	aux	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	9	punct	_	_
3	because	because	SCONJ	IN	_	9	mark	_	_
4	all	all	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	6	det	_	_
5	three	three	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	6	nummod	_	_
6	spellings	spelling	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	9	nsubj	_	_
7	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	9	cop	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	same	same	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | can | all three spellings |  |  |  |  | same *property* | tree rules |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Can, but only in Singapore English

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:4-vowel-teams-split-digraphs-and-choosing-the-spelling:t9:o4:1
# text = Can, but only in Singapore English
1	Can	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	7	aux	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	7	punct	_	_
3	but	but	CCONJ	CC	_	7	cc	_	_
4	only	only	ADV	RB	_	7	advmod	_	_
5	in	in	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	Singapore	Singapore	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	7	compound	_	_
7	English	English	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
```

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

<!-- 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…, test 8](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/english/4-vowel-teams-split-digraphs-and-choosing-the-spelling/t8/)
- next →: [Vowel teams, split digraphs and choosi…, test 10](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/english/4-vowel-teams-split-digraphs-and-choosing-the-spelling/t10/)
- ↑ 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/)