---
title: A cartoon cat says "Je m'appelle Jam" with a hard "j", as in "jam".… — Funny French sounds: nasal vowels, the… · tree and pragmatics
description: A cartoon cat says "Je m'appelle Jam" with a hard "j", as in "jam". What is wrong? Test 4 · ★ of lesson 2 «Funny French sounds: nasal vowels, the French r and u» 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 w
---

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# Test 4 · ★ · Funny French sounds: nasal vowels, the French r and u

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A cartoon cat says "Je m'appelle Jam" with a hard "j", as in "jam". What is wrong?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 3 · **The right answer:** option 3 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** cartoon cat · **What happens:** say, be · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 4 · ★ of lesson 2 «Funny French sounds: nasal vowels, the French r and u» 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/2-funny-french-sounds-nasal-vowels-the-french-r-and-u/#t4).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* A cartoon cat says "Je m'appelle Jam" with a hard "j", as in "jam".

```conllu
# sent_id = question:french:2-funny-french-sounds-nasal-vowels-the-french-r-and-u:t4:1
# text = A cartoon cat says "Je m'appelle Jam" with a hard "j", as in "jam".
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	cartoon	cartoon	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	compound	_	_
3	cat	cat	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
4	says	say	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	8	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	Je	Je	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	7	compound	_	_
7	m'appelle	m'appelle	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nmod:desc	_	_
8	Jam	Jam	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	4	ccomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	8	punct	_	_
10	with	with	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
11	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	14	det	_	_
12	hard	hard	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	14	amod	_	_
13	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	14	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	j	J	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	14	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	20	punct	_	_
17	as	as	ADP	IN	_	20	case	_	_
18	in	in	ADP	IN	_	20	case	_	_
19	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	20	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
20	jam	jam	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	parataxis	_	SpaceAfter=No
21	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	20	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
22	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **say** *speech: assert* | present | a cartoon cat |  |  |  |  | with a hard j | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |

<!-- .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 is wrong?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:french:2-funny-french-sounds-nasal-vowels-the-french-r-and-u:t4:2
# text = What is wrong?
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	wrong	wrong	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

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

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
French j is silent at the start of words

```conllu
# sent_id = question:french:2-funny-french-sounds-nasal-vowels-the-french-r-and-u:t4:o1:1
# text = French j is silent at the start of words
1	French	French	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	amod	_	_
2	j	J	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	at	at	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	start	start	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
8	of	of	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
9	words	word	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | French j |  |  | the start of words |  | silent *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **start** |  |  | words |  |  |  |  | nom start «event transitive»: of=patient |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Nothing, j is said the same in both languages

```conllu
# sent_id = question:french:2-funny-french-sounds-nasal-vowels-the-french-r-and-u:t4:o2:1
# text = Nothing, j is said the same in both languages
1	Nothing	nothing	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Neg	3	compound	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	1	punct	_	_
3	j	J	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	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	same	same	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	obj	_	_
8	in	in	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	both	both	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	10	det	_	_
10	languages	language	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **say** *speech: assert* | present · passive |  | Nothing j |  | both languages |  |  | vn pronounce-29.3.1 «NP V NP NP»: subject=Theme same=Manner |

### Option 3 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
French j is soft, like the "s" in "measure"

```conllu
# sent_id = question:french:2-funny-french-sounds-nasal-vowels-the-french-r-and-u:t4:o3:1
# text = French j is soft, like the "s" in "measure"
1	French	French	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	amod	_	_
2	j	J	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
3	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
4	soft	soft	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	9	punct	_	_
6	like	like	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
8	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	9	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	s	s	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	parataxis	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	9	punct	_	_
11	in	in	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
12	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	13	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	measure	measure	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	13	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | French j |  |  | measure |  | soft *property* | tree rules |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
French j is always said "y", as in "yes"

```conllu
# sent_id = question:french:2-funny-french-sounds-nasal-vowels-the-french-r-and-u:t4:o4:1
# text = French j is always said "y", as in "yes"
1	French	French	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	amod	_	_
2	j	J	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj:pass	_	_
3	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	aux:pass	_	_
4	always	always	ADV	RB	PronType=Tot	5	advmod	_	_
5	said	say	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
6	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	7	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	y	y	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	ccomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	7	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	13	punct	_	_
10	as	as	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
11	in	in	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
12	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	13	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	yes	yes	INTJ	UH	Polarity=Pos	5	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	13	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **say** *speech: assert* | present · passive |  | French j |  |  |  | always *property* | vn pronounce-29.3.1 «NP V NP NP»: subject=Theme yes=Manner |

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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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- ↑ back to [Funny French sounds: nasal vowels, the French r and u](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/french/2-funny-french-sounds-nasal-vowels-the-french-r-and-u/)