---
title: Ava in Auckland thinks deux sounds like "dukes" with no k, "sweet as… — Silent letters: why French doesn't say… · tree and pragmatics
description: Ava in Auckland thinks deux sounds like "dukes" with no k, "sweet as". Which mistake is she still making? Test 11 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 question and of ea
---

<!-- md -->
[Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/french/1-silent-letters-why-french-doesnt-say-everything-it-writes/t11/)

<!-- crumbs -->
[home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/) / [questions](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/) / [French](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/french/) / [Silent letters: why French doesn't say…](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/french/1-silent-letters-why-french-doesnt-say-everything-it-writes/) / t11

# Test 11 · Silent letters: why French doesn't say everything it writes

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Ava in Auckland thinks deux sounds like "dukes" with no k, "sweet as". Which mistake is she still making?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 3 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** Ava, deux, mistake · **What happens:** think, sound, be · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 11 of lesson 1 «Silent letters: why French doesn't say everything it writes» of the French 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/french/1-silent-letters-why-french-doesnt-say-everything-it-writes/#t11).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* Ava in Auckland thinks deux sounds like "dukes" with no k, "sweet as".

```conllu
# sent_id = question:french:1-silent-letters-why-french-doesnt-say-everything-it-writes:t11:1
# text = Ava in Auckland thinks deux sounds like "dukes" with no k, "sweet as".
1	Ava	Ava	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
2	in	in	ADP	IN	_	3	case	_	_
3	Auckland	Auckland	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	1	nmod	_	_
4	thinks	think	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	deux	deux	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	_
6	sounds	sound	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	ccomp	_	_
7	like	like	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	9	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	dukes	duke	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	9	punct	_	_
11	with	with	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
12	no	no	DET	DT	PronType=Neg	13	det	_	_
13	k	k	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	16	punct	_	_
15	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	16	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	sweet	sweet	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	parataxis	_	_
17	as	as	ADP	IN	_	16	fixed	_	SpaceAfter=No
18	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	16	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
19	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **think** *speech: other* | present | Ava in Auckland |  |  |  |  |  | vn consider-29.9-2 «NP V how S»: agent=Agent clause=Theme |
| 2 | **sound** | present | deux |  |  |  |  | like dukes; with no k | 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.

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 2:* Which mistake is she still making?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:french:1-silent-letters-why-french-doesnt-say-everything-it-writes:t11:2
# text = Which mistake is she still making?
1	Which	which	DET	WDT	PronType=Int	2	det	_	_
2	mistake	mistake	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	_
3	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	cop	_	_
4	she	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	6	nsubj	_	_
5	still	still	ADV	RB	_	6	advmod	_	_
6	making	make	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	6	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | which mistake |  |  |  | still | make *property* | tree rules |

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 · ← Mova's choice {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
She is saying the d, which is silent

```conllu
# sent_id = question:french:1-silent-letters-why-french-doesnt-say-everything-it-writes:t11:o1:1
# text = She is saying the d, which is silent
1	She	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux	_	_
3	saying	say	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	d	D	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	9	punct	_	_
7	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	9	nsubj	_	_
8	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	9	cop	_	_
9	silent	silent	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	parataxis	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **say** *speech: assert* | present · progressive | She | the d |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V NP.topic»: agent=Agent d=Topic |
| 2 | **is** | present | the d |  |  |  |  | silent *property* | tree rules |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
She is saying the word too slowly

```conllu
# sent_id = question:french:1-silent-letters-why-french-doesnt-say-everything-it-writes:t11:o2:1
# text = She is saying the word too slowly
1	She	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux	_	_
3	saying	say	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	word	word	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
6	too	too	ADV	RB	_	7	advmod	_	_
7	slowly	slowly	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **say** *speech: assert* | present · progressive | She | the word |  |  |  | slowly *property* | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V NP.topic»: agent=Agent word=Topic |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
She is saying an s sound for the silent x

```conllu
# sent_id = question:french:1-silent-letters-why-french-doesnt-say-everything-it-writes:t11:o3:1
# text = She is saying an s sound for the silent x
1	She	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux	_	_
3	saying	say	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
4	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
5	s	s	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	compound	_	_
6	sound	sound	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
7	for	for	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
9	silent	silent	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	10	amod	_	_
10	x	x	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **say** *speech: assert* | present · progressive | She | a s sound |  |  |  | for the silent x | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V NP.topic»: agent=Agent sound=Topic |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
She should say "dwa", like trois

```conllu
# sent_id = question:french:1-silent-letters-why-french-doesnt-say-everything-it-writes:t11:o4:1
# text = She should say "dwa", like trois
1	She	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	should	should	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	3	aux	_	_
3	say	say	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
4	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	5	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	dwa	dwa	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	5	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	9	punct	_	_
8	like	like	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
9	trois	trois	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	conj	_	_
```

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

<!-- 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 -->

<!-- pn -->
- ← previous: [Silent letters: why French doesn't say…, test 10](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/french/1-silent-letters-why-french-doesnt-say-everything-it-writes/t10/)
- next →: [Silent letters: why French doesn't say…, test 12](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/french/1-silent-letters-why-french-doesnt-say-everything-it-writes/t12/)
- ↑ back to [Silent letters: why French doesn't say everything it writes](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/french/1-silent-letters-why-french-doesnt-say-everything-it-writes/)