---
title: State the manner in which the final consonant of "les" is pronounced… — Plurals: les, des and silent s · tree and pragmatics
description: State the manner in which the final consonant of "les" is pronounced when it precedes a word commencing with a vowel. Exam question 4 of lesson 26 «Plurals: les, des and silent s» of the French course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each optio
---

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# Exam question 4 · Plurals: les, des and silent s

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
State the manner in which the final consonant of "les" is pronounced when it precedes a word commencing with a vowel.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 4 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** you, consonant, word · **What happens:** state, pronounce, precede, commence · **To what, where:** manner, final consonant, word

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 4 of lesson 26 «Plurals: les, des and silent s» of the French course of Mova's primary school, asked in stiff, formal language. 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/26-plurals-les-des-and-silent-s/#e4).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:french:26-plurals-les-des-and-silent-s:e4:1
# text = State the manner in which the final consonant of "les" is pronounced when it precedes a word commencing with a vowel.
1	State	state	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	manner	manner	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
4	in	in	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	14	obl	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
7	final	final	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	amod	_	_
8	consonant	consonant	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	nsubj:pass	_	_
9	of	of	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
10	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	11	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	les	le	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	11	punct	_	_
13	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	14	aux:pass	_	_
14	pronounced	pronounce	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	3	acl:relcl	_	_
15	when	when	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	17	advmod	_	_
16	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	17	nsubj	_	_
17	precedes	precede	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	14	advcl	_	_
18	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	19	det	_	_
19	word	word	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	17	obj	_	_
20	commencing	commence	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	19	acl	_	_
21	with	with	ADP	IN	_	23	case	_	_
22	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	23	det	_	_
23	vowel	vowel	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	20	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
24	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **state** *speech: other* | imperative | you *not said here* | the manner |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V NP.topic»: agent=Agent manner=Topic |
| 2 | **pronounce** | present · passive |  | the final consonant of les |  | the manner |  |  | vn pronounce-29.3.1 «NP V NP PP.manner»: subject=Theme in which=Manner |
| 3 | **precede** | present | consonant | a word |  |  |  |  | vn contiguous\_location-47.8 «NP V NP»: agent=Theme word=Co-Theme |
| 4 | **commence** | gerund | a word *not said here* |  |  |  |  | with a vowel | vn begin-55.1-1-1 «NP V PP.subeventuality»: agent=Eventuality with vowel=Subeventuality |

<!-- .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.

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 · ← Mova's choice {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
As the sound t, sharply

```conllu
# sent_id = question:french:26-plurals-les-des-and-silent-s:e4:o1:1
# text = As the sound t, sharply
1	As	as	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
3	sound	sound	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	compound	_	_
4	t	t	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	4	punct	_	_
6	sharply	sharply	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .note -->
The frames reader finds no event or fact in this sentence.

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It remains entirely silent

```conllu
# sent_id = question:french:26-plurals-les-des-and-silent-s:e4:o2:1
# text = It remains entirely silent
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	remains	remain	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	entirely	entirely	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
4	silent	silent	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	xcomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **remain** | present | It |  |  |  |  | silent *property* | vn exist-47.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
As the sound s, as in English

```conllu
# sent_id = question:french:26-plurals-les-des-and-silent-s:e4:o3:1
# text = As the sound s, as in English
1	As	as	ADP	IN	_	3	case	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	sound	sound	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
4	s	's	PART	POS	Typo=Yes	3	case	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	8	punct	_	_
6	as	as	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	in	in	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
8	English	English	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	3	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .note -->
The frames reader finds no event or fact in this sentence.

### Option 4 · ✓ the right answer {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
As the sound z

```conllu
# sent_id = question:french:26-plurals-les-des-and-silent-s:e4:o4:1
# text = As the sound z
1	As	as	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
3	sound	sound	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	compound	_	_
4	z	z	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .note -->
The frames reader finds no event or fact in this sentence.

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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: [Plurals: les, des and silent s, exam 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/french/26-plurals-les-des-and-silent-s/e3/)
- next →: [Adjectives: after the noun, and agreeing, test 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/french/27-adjectives-after-the-noun-and-agreeing/t1/)
- ↑ back to [Plurals: les, des and silent s](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/french/26-plurals-les-des-and-silent-s/)