---
title: Harvey moans, "Tamping, all them silent letters!" ("Tamping" means f… — My family · tree and pragmatics
description: Harvey moans, "Tamping, all them silent letters!" ("Tamping" means fuming.) What is odd about fils? Test 8 of lesson 14 «My family» 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.
---

<!-- md -->
[Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/french/14-my-family/t8/)

<!-- crumbs -->
[home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/) / [questions](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/) / [French](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/french/) / [My family](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/french/14-my-family/) / t8

# Test 8 · My family

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Harvey moans, "Tamping, all them silent letters!" ("Tamping" means fuming.) What is odd about fils?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 1 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** Harvey, all, Tamping · **What happens:** moan, letter, mean, fume, be · **To what, where:** Tamping · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 8 of lesson 14 «My family» 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/14-my-family/#t8).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* Harvey moans, "Tamping, all them silent letters!"

```conllu
# sent_id = question:french:14-my-family:t8:1
# text = Harvey moans, "Tamping, all them silent letters!"
1	Harvey	Harvey	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	2	nsubj	_	_
2	moans	moan	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	5	punct	_	_
4	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	5	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	Tamping	tamping	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	10	punct	_	_
7	all	all	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	10	nsubj	_	_
8	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	7	nmod	_	_
9	silent	silent	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	10	amod	_	_
10	letters	letter	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	parataxis	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	!	!	PUNCT	.	_	10	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **moan** | present | Harvey | Tamping |  |  |  |  | vn complain-37.8 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 2 | **letter** *in a quote* |  | all |  |  |  |  |  | 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:* ("Tamping" means fuming.)

```conllu
# sent_id = question:french:14-my-family:t8:2
# text = ("Tamping" means fuming.)
1	(	(	PUNCT	-LRB-	_	5	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	3	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	Tamping	tamping	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	3	punct	_	_
5	means	mean	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
6	fuming	fume	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	5	xcomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	)	)	PUNCT	-RRB-	_	5	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **mean** | present | Tamping |  |  |  |  |  | vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 2 | **fume** *not said to happen* | gerund | Tamping *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn marvel-31.3 «NP V»: agent=Experiencer |

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 3:* What is odd about fils?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:french:14-my-family:t8:3
# text = What is odd about fils?
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	odd	odd	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
4	about	about	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	fils	fil	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

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

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The l is silent and the s is said

```conllu
# sent_id = question:french:14-my-family:t8:o1:1
# text = The l is silent and the s is said
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	l	l	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
3	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
4	silent	silent	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
5	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	9	cc	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	s	s	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	nsubj:pass	_	_
8	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	9	aux:pass	_	_
9	said	say	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	4	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | the l |  |  |  |  | silent *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **say** *speech: assert* | present · passive |  | the s |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V NP.topic»: subject=Topic |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Only the f is said

```conllu
# sent_id = question:french:14-my-family:t8:o2:1
# text = Only the f is said
1	Only	only	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	f	f	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj:pass	_	_
4	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	aux:pass	_	_
5	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 | **say** *speech: assert* | present · passive |  | the f |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V NP.topic»: subject=Topic |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Both the l and s are silent, like in many French words

```conllu
# sent_id = question:french:14-my-family:t8:o3:1
# text = Both the l and s are silent, like in many French words
1	Both	both	CCONJ	CC	_	3	cc:preconj	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	l	l	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nsubj	_	_
4	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	5	cc	_	_
5	s	s	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	conj	_	_
6	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	7	cop	_	_
7	silent	silent	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	13	punct	_	_
9	like	like	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
10	in	in	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
11	many	many	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	13	amod	_	_
12	French	French	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	13	amod	_	_
13	words	word	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | the l and s |  |  |  |  | like many French words; silent *property* | tree rules |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Both the l and s are said

```conllu
# sent_id = question:french:14-my-family:t8:o4:1
# text = Both the l and s are said
1	Both	both	CCONJ	CC	_	3	cc:preconj	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	l	l	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nsubj:pass	_	_
4	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	5	cc	_	_
5	s	s	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	conj	_	_
6	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	7	aux:pass	_	_
7	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 | **say** *speech: assert* | present · passive |  | the l and s |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V NP.topic»: subject=Topic |

<!-- 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 -->

<!-- pn -->
- ← previous: [My family, test 7](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/french/14-my-family/t7/)
- next →: [My family, test 9](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/french/14-my-family/t9/)
- ↑ back to [My family](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/french/14-my-family/)