---
title: Emily asks, "Why's only the first one special?" What's the rule? — Dates and birthdays · tree and pragmatics
description: Emily asks, "Why's only the first one special?" What's the rule? Test 1 · ★ of lesson 11 «Dates and birthdays» 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 wrong.
---

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# Test 1 · ★ · Dates and birthdays

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Emily asks, "Why's only the first one special?" What's the rule?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 3 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** Emily, rule · **What happens:** ask, be · **To what, where:** first one · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 1 · ★ of lesson 11 «Dates and birthdays» 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/11-dates-and-birthdays/#t1).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* Emily asks, "Why's only the first one special?"

```conllu
# sent_id = question:french:11-dates-and-birthdays:t1:1
# text = Emily asks, "Why's only the first one special?"
1	Emily	Emily	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	2	nsubj	_	_
2	asks	ask	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	2	punct	_	_
4	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	10	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	Why	why	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	10	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	's	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	10	cop	_	_
7	only	only	ADV	RB	_	10	advmod	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
9	first	first	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos|NumForm=Word|NumType=Ord	10	amod	_	_
10	one	one	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	parataxis	_	_
11	special	special	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	10	amod	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	10	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	10	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **ask** *speech: ask* | present | Emily |  |  |  |  |  | vn inquire-37.1.2 «NP V how S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 2 | **is a** *in a quote* | present |  | the first one |  |  |  |  | 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 rule?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:french:11-dates-and-birthdays:t1:2
# text = What's the rule?
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	rule	rule	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 rule |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 · ← Mova's choice {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The 1st uses une because the month is feminine

```conllu
# sent_id = question:french:11-dates-and-birthdays:t1:o1:1
# text = The 1st uses une because the month is feminine
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	1st	1st	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos|NumForm=Combi|NumType=Ord	3	nsubj	_	_
3	uses	use	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	une	une	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
5	because	because	SCONJ	IN	_	9	mark	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	month	month	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	nsubj	_	_
8	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	9	cop	_	_
9	feminine	feminine	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	advcl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **use** | present | the 1st | une |  |  |  |  | vn eat-39.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent une=Patient |
| 2 | **is** | present | the month |  |  |  |  | feminine *property* | tree rules |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Only the last day of a month is special

```conllu
# sent_id = question:french:11-dates-and-birthdays:t1:o2:1
# text = Only the last day of a month is special
1	Only	only	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
3	last	last	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	amod	_	_
4	day	day	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	nsubj	_	_
5	of	of	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	month	month	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nmod	_	_
8	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	9	cop	_	_
9	special	special	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | the last day of a month |  |  |  |  | special *property* | tree rules |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The 1st uses premier; all others use plain numbers

```conllu
# sent_id = question:french:11-dates-and-birthdays:t1:o3:1
# text = The 1st uses premier; all others use plain numbers
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	1st	1st	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing|NumForm=Combi|NumType=Ord	3	nsubj	_	_
3	uses	use	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	premier	premier	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	;	;	PUNCT	,	_	8	punct	_	_
6	all	all	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	7	det	_	_
7	others	other	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	nsubj	_	_
8	use	use	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	parataxis	_	_
9	plain	plain	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	10	amod	_	_
10	numbers	number	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **use** | present | the 1st | premier |  |  |  |  | vn eat-39.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent premier=Patient |
| 2 | **use** | present | all others | plain numbers |  |  |  |  | vn eat-39.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent number=Patient |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Every date uses premier, deuxième, troisième

```conllu
# sent_id = question:french:11-dates-and-birthdays:t1:o4:1
# text = Every date uses premier, deuxième, troisième
1	Every	every	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	2	det	_	_
2	date	date	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	uses	use	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	premier	premier	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	6	punct	_	_
6	deuxième	deuxième	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	8	punct	_	_
8	troisième	troisième	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **use** | present | every date | premier and deuxième and troisième |  |  |  |  | vn eat-39.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent premier=Patient |

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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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- ← previous: [Days of the week and months, exam 4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/french/10-days-of-the-week-and-months/e4/)
- next →: [Dates and birthdays, test 2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/french/11-dates-and-birthdays/t2/)
- ↑ back to [Dates and birthdays](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/french/11-dates-and-birthdays/)