---
title: Emily is cross: "Where's the z in les amis? There isn't one!" What w… — Silent letters: why French doesn't say… · tree and pragmatics
description: Emily is cross: "Where's the z in les amis? There isn't one!" What would happen if the teacher kept the s silent? Test 8 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 an
---

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# Test 8 · Silent letters: why French doesn't say everything it writes

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Emily is cross: "Where's the z in les amis? There isn't one!" What would happen if the teacher kept the s silent?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 3 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** Emily, one, teacher · **What happens:** be, not be, happen, keep · **To what, where:** z, amis

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 8 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/#t8).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* Emily is cross: "Where's the z in les amis?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:french:1-silent-letters-why-french-doesnt-say-everything-it-writes:t8:1
# text = Emily is cross: "Where's the z in les amis?
1	Emily	Emily	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	cop	_	_
3	cross	cross	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	:	:	PUNCT	:	_	9	punct	_	_
5	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	9	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	Where	where	ADV	WRB	PronType=Rel	9	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	's	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	9	cop	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	z	z	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
10	in	in	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
11	les	les	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
12	amis	ami	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	9	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | Emily |  |  |  |  | cross *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **is a** *in a quote* | present |  | the z |  | les amis |  |  | 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:* There isn't one!"

```conllu
# sent_id = question:french:1-silent-letters-why-french-doesnt-say-everything-it-writes:t8:2
# text = There isn't one!"
1	There	there	PRON	EX	PronType=Dem	2	expl	_	_
2	is	be	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	n't	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	2	advmod	_	_
4	one	one	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	2	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	!	!	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **be** | present | one |  |  | there |  |  | vn exist-47.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 3:* What would happen if the teacher kept the s silent?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:french:1-silent-letters-why-french-doesnt-say-everything-it-writes:t8:3
# text = What would happen if the teacher kept the s silent?
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	3	nsubj	_	_
2	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	3	aux	_	_
3	happen	happen	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
4	if	if	SCONJ	IN	_	7	mark	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	teacher	teacher	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nsubj	_	_
7	kept	keep	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	advcl	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
9	s	s	X	AFX	_	10	advmod	_	_
10	silent	silent	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	xcomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **happen** | would |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn occur-48.3-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 2 | **keep** *a condition, not said to happen* | past | the teacher |  |  |  |  | silent *property* | vn keep-15.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent |

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 · ← Mova's choice {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The word amis would lose its first letter too

```conllu
# sent_id = question:french:1-silent-letters-why-french-doesnt-say-everything-it-writes:t8:o1:1
# text = The word amis would lose its first letter too
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	word	word	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	compound	_	_
3	amis	ami	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	nsubj	_	_
4	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	5	aux	_	_
5	lose	lose	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
6	its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	8	nmod:poss	_	_
7	first	first	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos|NumForm=Word|NumType=Ord	8	amod	_	_
8	letter	letter	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obj	_	_
9	too	too	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **lose** | would | the word amis | its first letter |  |  |  |  | vn succeed-74-3-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent letter=Eventuality |
| 2 | **letter** |  | its *= it* |  |  |  |  |  | nom letter «communication transitive»: poss=agent |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It would turn into a different word meaning "the enemies"

```conllu
# sent_id = question:french:1-silent-letters-why-french-doesnt-say-everything-it-writes:t8:o2:1
# text = It would turn into a different word meaning "the enemies"
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	3	aux	_	_
3	turn	turn	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
4	into	into	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
5	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
6	different	different	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
7	word	word	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
8	meaning	mean	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	7	acl	_	_
9	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	11	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	enemies	enemy	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	11	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **turn** | would | It |  |  | a different word |  |  | vn roll-51.3.1 «NP V PP.trajectory»: agent=Theme into word=Trajectory |
| 2 | **mean** | gerund | a different word *not said here* | the enemies |  |  |  |  | vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V S»: agent=Agent |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It would sound like "lay a-MEE", which is not how French people say it

<!-- fold The tree, 15 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:french:1-silent-letters-why-french-doesnt-say-everything-it-writes:t8:o3:1
# text = It would sound like "lay a-MEE", which is not how French people say it
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	3	aux	_	_
3	sound	sound	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
4	like	like	SCONJ	IN	_	6	mark	_	_
5	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	6	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	lay	lay	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	advcl	_	_
7	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	9	det	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	9	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	MEE	MEE	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	6	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	3	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	16	punct	_	_
12	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	16	nsubj	_	_
13	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	16	cop	_	_
14	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	16	advmod	_	_
15	how	how	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	16	advmod	_	_
16	French	French	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	conj	_	_
17	people	people	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	18	nsubj	_	_
18	say	say	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	16	conj	_	_
19	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	18	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **sound** | would | It |  |  |  |  |  | vn stimulus\_subject-30.4 «NP V PP.attribute»: agent=Stimulus |
| 2 | **lay** *in a quote* | infinitive |  | a MEE |  |  |  |  | vn create-26.4 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent mee=Result |
| 3 | **not** **is** | present |  |  |  |  |  | french *property* | tree rules |
| 4 | **say** *speech: assert* | present | people | MEE |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V NP.topic»: agent=Agent it=Topic |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Nothing, the French never join words together

```conllu
# sent_id = question:french:1-silent-letters-why-french-doesnt-say-everything-it-writes:t8:o4:1
# text = Nothing, the French never join words together
1	Nothing	nothing	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Neg	6	advcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	1	punct	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	French	French	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	_
5	never	never	ADV	RB	PronType=Neg	6	advmod	_	_
6	join	join	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
7	words	word	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	obj	_	_
8	together	together	ADV	RB	_	6	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **join** | present | the French | words |  |  |  | together *property* | vn mix-22.1-2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent word=Patient |

<!-- 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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