---
title: Grace in Texas goes, "y'all, where's the t at in et?" What's the ans… — Silent letters: why French doesn't say… · tree and pragmatics
description: Grace in Texas goes, "y'all, where's the t at in et?" What's the answer? Test 4 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 each option; Mova's choice was right
---

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# Test 4 · Silent letters: why French doesn't say everything it writes

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Grace in Texas goes, "y'all, where's the t at in et?" What's the answer?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 1 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** Grace, answer · **What happens:** go, be · **To what, where:** y'all, t, et

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 4 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/#t4).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* Grace in Texas goes, "y'all, where's the t at in et?"

```conllu
# sent_id = question:french:1-silent-letters-why-french-doesnt-say-everything-it-writes:t4:1
# text = Grace in Texas goes, "y'all, where's the t at in et?"
1	Grace	Grace	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
2	in	in	ADP	IN	_	3	case	_	_
3	Texas	Texas	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	1	nmod	_	_
4	goes	go	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	7	punct	_	_
6	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	7	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	y'all	y'all	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	12	punct	_	_
9	where	where	ADV	WRB	PronType=Rel	12	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	's	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	12	cop	_	_
11	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
12	t	t	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	appos	_	_
13	at	at	ADP	IN	_	15	case	_	_
14	in	in	ADP	IN	_	15	case	_	_
15	et	ET	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **go** | present | Grace in Texas | y'all |  |  |  |  | vn disappearance-48.2-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 2 | **is a** *in a quote* | present |  | the t |  | et |  |  | 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:* What's the answer?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:french:1-silent-letters-why-french-doesnt-say-everything-it-writes:t4:2
# text = What's the answer?
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	's	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 -->
It's silent: et always sounds like "ay"

```conllu
# sent_id = question:french:1-silent-letters-why-french-doesnt-say-everything-it-writes:t4:o1:1
# text = It's silent: et always sounds like "ay"
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	's	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	cop	_	_
3	silent	silent	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	:	:	PUNCT	:	_	7	punct	_	_
5	et	ET	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nsubj	_	_
6	always	always	ADV	RB	PronType=Tot	7	advmod	_	_
7	sounds	sound	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	parataxis	_	_
8	like	like	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	10	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	ay	ay	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | It |  |  |  |  | silent *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **sound** | present | et |  |  |  |  | like ay; always *property* | vn stimulus\_subject-30.4 «NP V PP.attribute»: agent=Stimulus |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The app is broken, et has no t at all

```conllu
# sent_id = question:french:1-silent-letters-why-french-doesnt-say-everything-it-writes:t4:o2:1
# text = The app is broken, et has no t at all
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	app	app	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj:pass	_	_
3	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux:pass	_	_
4	broken	break	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	7	punct	_	_
6	et	ET	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nsubj	_	_
7	has	have	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	parataxis	_	_
8	no	no	DET	DT	PronType=Neg	9	det	_	_
9	t	t	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obj	_	_
10	at	at	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
11	all	all	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	9	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **break** | present · passive |  | the app |  |  |  |  | vn hurt-40.8.3-1-1 «NP V NP»: subject=Patient |
| 2 | **have** | present | et | no t |  | all |  |  | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent t=Patient |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It's said loud, as in "Ethan"

```conllu
# sent_id = question:french:1-silent-letters-why-french-doesnt-say-everything-it-writes:t4:o3:1
# text = It's said loud, as in "Ethan"
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	's	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux:pass	_	_
3	said	say	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
4	loud	loud	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	xcomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	9	punct	_	_
6	as	as	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
7	in	in	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	9	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	Ethan	Ethan	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	3	parataxis	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	9	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **say** *speech: assert* | present · passive |  | It |  |  |  | loud *property* | tree rules |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It's said only at the end of a sentence

```conllu
# sent_id = question:french:1-silent-letters-why-french-doesnt-say-everything-it-writes:t4:o4:1
# text = It's said only at the end of a sentence
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	's	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux:pass	_	_
3	said	say	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
4	only	only	ADV	RB	_	7	advmod	_	_
5	at	at	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	end	end	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	ccomp	_	_
8	of	of	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	sentence	sentence	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **say** *speech: assert* | present · passive |  | It |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V NP.topic»: subject=Topic |

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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.

<!-- /div -->

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