---
title: Ava says "sure that's like half and quarter, grand," then writes "de… — Telling the time · tree and pragmatics
description: Ava says "sure that's like half and quarter, grand," then writes "deux heures et demi". What's the mistake? Test 4 · ★★ of lesson 12 «Telling the time» 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 · ★★ · Telling the time

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Ava says "sure that's like half and quarter, grand," then writes "deux heures et demi". What's the mistake?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 2 · **The right answer:** option 2 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** Ava, that, mistake · **What happens:** say, be, write · **To what, where:** deux heures · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 4 · ★★ of lesson 12 «Telling the time» 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/12-telling-the-time/#t4).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* Ava says "sure that's like half and quarter, grand," then writes "deux heures et demi".

```conllu
# sent_id = question:french:12-telling-the-time:t4:1
# text = Ava says "sure that's like half and quarter, grand," then writes "deux heures et demi".
1	Ava	Ava	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	2	nsubj	_	_
2	says	say	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	4	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	sure	sure	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	ccomp	_	_
5	that	that	PRON	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	8	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	's	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	8	cop	_	_
7	like	like	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
8	half	half	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing|NumForm=Word|NumType=Frac	4	ccomp	_	_
9	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	10	cc	_	_
10	quarter	quarter	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	12	punct	_	_
12	grand	grand	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	8	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	4	punct	_	_
15	then	then	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	16	advmod	_	_
16	writes	write	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	2	conj	_	_
17	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	19	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
18	deux	deux	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	19	compound	_	_
19	heures	heure	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	16	obj	_	_
20	et	et	CCONJ	CC	_	21	cc	_	_
21	demi	demi	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	19	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
22	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	19	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
23	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **say** *speech: assert* | present | Ava |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **is** *in a quote* | present | that |  |  |  |  | like half and quarter | tree rules |
| 3 | **be** *in a quote* |  | that *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 4 | **write** | present | Ava *not said here* | deux heures et demi |  |  | then |  | vn scribble-25.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent heure=Theme |

<!-- .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 mistake?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:french:12-telling-the-time:t4:2
# text = What's the mistake?
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	mistake	mistake	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 mistake |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Half past is et quart, not et demi

```conllu
# sent_id = question:french:12-telling-the-time:t4:o1:1
# text = Half past is et quart, not et demi
1	Half	half	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing|NumForm=Word|NumType=Frac	2	compound	_	_
2	past	past	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
3	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
4	et	et	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	quart	quart	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	8	punct	_	_
7	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	8	advmod	_	_
8	et	et	X	FW	Foreign=Yes	5	appos	_	_
9	demi	demi	X	FW	Foreign=Yes	8	flat:foreign	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | Half past | et quart |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

### Option 2 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
After heures, half is written demie with an e

```conllu
# sent_id = question:french:12-telling-the-time:t4:o2:1
# text = After heures, half is written demie with an e
1	After	after	ADP	IN	_	2	case	_	_
2	heures	heure	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	2	punct	_	_
4	half	half	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing|NumForm=Word|NumType=Frac	6	nsubj:pass	_	_
5	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	aux:pass	_	_
6	written	write	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
7	demie	demie	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obj	_	_
8	with	with	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	e	e	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **write** | present · passive |  | half |  |  | after heures | with a e | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP-Dative NP»: subject=Recipient demie=Topic |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
There is no mistake at all

```conllu
# sent_id = question:french:12-telling-the-time:t4:o3:1
# text = There is no mistake at all
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	_	_
3	no	no	DET	DT	PronType=Neg	4	det	_	_
4	mistake	mistake	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nsubj	_	_
5	at	at	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	all	all	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	4	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **be** | present | no mistake at all |  |  | there |  |  | vn exist-47.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Demi must always go before heures

```conllu
# sent_id = question:french:12-telling-the-time:t4:o4:1
# text = Demi must always go before heures
1	Demi	Demi	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
2	must	must	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
3	always	always	ADV	RB	PronType=Tot	4	advmod	_	_
4	go	go	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
5	before	before	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	heures	heure	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **go** | must | Demi |  |  | heures |  | always *property* | vn occur-48.3-2 «NP V PP»: agent=Theme before heure=Location |

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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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