---
title: Select the response consistent with the established facts concerning… — Silent letters: why French doesn't say… · tree and pragmatics
description: Select the response consistent with the established facts concerning the initial letter h in the word hôtel. Exam question 3 of lesson 1 «Silent letters: why French doesn't say everything it writes» of the French course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the questio
---

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# Exam question 3 · Silent letters: why French doesn't say everything it writes

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Select the response consistent with the established facts concerning the initial letter h in the word hôtel.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 2 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** you, established facts · **What happens:** select, establish, concern · **To what, where:** response, initial letter h, word hôtel

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 3 of lesson 1 «Silent letters: why French doesn't say everything it writes» of the French 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/french/1-silent-letters-why-french-doesnt-say-everything-it-writes/#e3).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:french:1-silent-letters-why-french-doesnt-say-everything-it-writes:e3:1
# text = Select the response consistent with the established facts concerning the initial letter h in the word hôtel.
1	Select	select	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	response	response	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
4	consistent	consistent	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	1	xcomp	_	_
5	with	with	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
7	established	establish	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	8	amod	_	_
8	facts	fact	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obl	_	_
9	concerning	concern	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	8	acl	_	_
10	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
11	initial	initial	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	13	amod	_	_
12	letter	letter	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	compound	_	_
13	h	H	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obj	_	_
14	in	in	ADP	IN	_	17	case	_	_
15	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	17	det	_	_
16	word	word	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	17	compound	_	_
17	hôtel	hôtel	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
18	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **select** | imperative | you *not said here* | the response |  |  |  | consistent *property* | vn obtain-13.5.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent response=Theme |
| 2 | **establish** | participle |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn indicate-78-1-1 «NP V NP to be NP»: agent=Pivot |
| 3 | **concern** | gerund | the established facts *not said here* | the initial letter h |  | the word hôtel |  |  | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Stimulus h=Experiencer |

<!-- .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 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It is pronounced as a scraping sound in the throat

```conllu
# sent_id = question:french:1-silent-letters-why-french-doesnt-say-everything-it-writes:e3:o1:1
# text = It is pronounced as a scraping sound in the throat
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj:pass	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux:pass	_	_
3	pronounced	pronounce	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
4	as	as	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
5	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
6	scraping	scrape	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	7	amod	_	_
7	sound	sound	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
8	in	in	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	throat	throat	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **pronounce** | present · passive |  | It |  | the throat |  | as a scraping sound | vn pronounce-29.3.1 «NP V NP PP.manner»: subject=Theme in throat=Manner |
| 2 | **scrape** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn cut-21.1-1 «NP V ADVP-Middle»: agent=Patient |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It is never aspirated, so the word commences upon its vowel

```conllu
# sent_id = question:french:1-silent-letters-why-french-doesnt-say-everything-it-writes:e3:o2:1
# text = It is never aspirated, so the word commences upon its vowel
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj:pass	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux:pass	_	_
3	never	never	ADV	RB	PronType=Neg	4	advmod	_	_
4	aspirated	aspirate	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	9	punct	_	_
6	so	so	ADV	RB	_	9	advmod	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	word	word	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	nsubj	_	_
9	commences	commence	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	conj	_	_
10	upon	upon	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
11	its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	12	nmod:poss	_	_
12	vowel	vowel	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **aspirate** | present · passive |  | It |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **commence** | present | the word |  |  |  |  | upon word's vowel | vn begin-55.1-1-1 «NP.eventuality V»: agent=Eventuality |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It is pronounced solely when the word appears in capitals

```conllu
# sent_id = question:french:1-silent-letters-why-french-doesnt-say-everything-it-writes:e3:o3:1
# text = It is pronounced solely when the word appears in capitals
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj:pass	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux:pass	_	_
3	pronounced	pronounce	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
4	solely	solely	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	_
5	when	when	SCONJ	WRB	_	8	mark	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	word	word	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nsubj	_	_
8	appears	appear	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	advcl	_	_
9	in	in	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
10	capitals	capital	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **pronounce** | present · passive |  | It |  |  |  | solely *property* | vn dub-29.3.2 «NP V NP»: subject=Theme |
| 2 | **appear** | present | the word |  |  | capitals |  |  | vn appear-48.1.1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme in capital=Location |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It is aspirated vigorously, after the English manner

```conllu
# sent_id = question:french:1-silent-letters-why-french-doesnt-say-everything-it-writes:e3:o4:1
# text = It is aspirated vigorously, after the English manner
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj:pass	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux:pass	_	_
3	aspirated	aspirate	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
4	vigorously	vigorously	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	9	punct	_	_
6	after	after	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
8	English	English	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	amod	_	_
9	manner	manner	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **aspirate** | present · passive |  | It |  |  | after the English manner | vigorously *property* | tree rules |

<!-- 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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