---
title: Oliver goes, "why's she spelling careful with capitals, our kid?" ("… — Silent letters: why French doesn't say… · tree and pragmatics
description: Oliver goes, "why's she spelling careful with capitals, our kid?" ("Our kid" means my brother.) What is CaReFuL for? Test 2 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
---

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# Test 2 · Silent letters: why French doesn't say everything it writes

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Oliver goes, "why's she spelling careful with capitals, our kid?" ("Our kid" means my brother.) What is CaReFuL for?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 4 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** Oliver, kid · **What happens:** go, mean, be · **To what, where:** brother

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This is test 2 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/#t2).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* Oliver goes, "why's she spelling careful with capitals, our kid?"

```conllu
# sent_id = question:french:1-silent-letters-why-french-doesnt-say-everything-it-writes:t2:1
# text = Oliver goes, "why's she spelling careful with capitals, our kid?"
1	Oliver	Oliver	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	2	nsubj	_	_
2	goes	go	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	2	punct	_	_
4	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	9	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	why	why	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	9	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	's	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	9	aux	_	_
7	she	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	9	nsubj	_	_
8	spelling	spelling	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obl:unmarked	_	_
9	careful	careful	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	parataxis	_	_
10	with	with	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
11	capitals	capital	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	9	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	14	punct	_	_
13	our	our	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=1|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	14	nmod:poss	_	_
14	kid	kid	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	9	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **go** | present | Oliver |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7 «NP V S-Quote»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |

<!-- .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:* ("Our kid" means my brother.)

```conllu
# sent_id = question:french:1-silent-letters-why-french-doesnt-say-everything-it-writes:t2:2
# text = ("Our kid" means my brother.)
1	(	(	PUNCT	-LRB-	_	6	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	4	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	Our	our	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=1|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	4	nmod:poss	_	_
4	kid	kid	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	4	punct	_	_
6	means	mean	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
7	my	my	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Sing|Person=1|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	8	nmod:poss	_	_
8	brother	brother	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	6	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	)	)	PUNCT	-RRB-	_	6	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **mean** | present | Our kid | my brother |  |  |  |  | vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent brother=Topic |

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 3:* What is CaReFuL for?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:french:1-silent-letters-why-french-doesnt-say-everything-it-writes:t2:3
# text = What is CaReFuL for?
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	3	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	cop	_	_
3	CaReFuL	careful	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
4	for	for	ADP	IN	_	3	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

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

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 · ← Mova's choice {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Remembering which letters need capitals in French

```conllu
# sent_id = question:french:1-silent-letters-why-french-doesnt-say-everything-it-writes:t2:o1:1
# text = Remembering which letters need capitals in French
1	Remembering	remember	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	3	amod	_	_
2	which	which	DET	WDT	PronType=Int	3	det	_	_
3	letters	letter	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj	_	_
4	need	need	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	capitals	capital	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obj	_	_
6	in	in	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	French	French	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	5	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **remember** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn characterize-29.2-1-1 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **need** | present | which Remembering letters | capitals |  | French |  |  | vn want-32.1-1-1 «NP V NP ADV»: agent=Pivot capital=Theme |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Practising handwriting before the French test

```conllu
# sent_id = question:french:1-silent-letters-why-french-doesnt-say-everything-it-writes:t2:o2:1
# text = Practising handwriting before the French test
1	Practising	practise	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
2	handwriting	handwriting	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
3	before	before	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
5	French	French	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	test	test	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **practise** | gerund |  | handwriting |  |  | before the French test |  | tree rules |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Showing that "careful" is the same word in French

```conllu
# sent_id = question:french:1-silent-letters-why-french-doesnt-say-everything-it-writes:t2:o3:1
# text = Showing that "careful" is the same word in French
1	Showing	show	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	9	csubj	_	_
2	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	4	mark	_	_
3	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	4	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	careful	careful	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	1	ccomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	4	punct	_	_
6	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	9	cop	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
8	same	same	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	amod	_	_
9	word	word	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
10	in	in	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
11	French	French	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	9	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **show** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **is a** | present | Showing | the same word |  | French |  |  | tree rules |

### Option 4 · ✓ the right answer {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Remembering that final c, r, f, l are usually said

```conllu
# sent_id = question:french:1-silent-letters-why-french-doesnt-say-everything-it-writes:t2:o4:1
# text = Remembering that final c, r, f, l are usually said
1	Remembering	remember	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	13	csubj:pass	_	_
2	that	that	DET	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	4	det	_	_
3	final	final	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	amod	_	_
4	c	c	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	6	punct	_	_
6	r	r	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	8	punct	_	_
8	f	f	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	10	punct	_	_
10	l	l	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	conj	_	_
11	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	13	aux:pass	_	_
12	usually	usually	ADV	RB	_	13	advmod	_	_
13	said	say	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **remember** | gerund |  | that final c and r and f and l |  |  |  |  | vn characterize-29.2-1-1 «NP V NP S\_ING»: agent=Agent c=Theme |
| 2 | **say** *speech: assert* | present · passive | Remembering |  |  |  |  | usually *property* | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S» |

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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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