---
title: Leo from Brisbane asks, "So is it je suis neuf ans, mate?" What do y… — Être: to be · tree and pragmatics
description: Leo from Brisbane asks, "So is it je suis neuf ans, mate?" What do you tell him? Test 6 of lesson 28 «Être: to be» 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 6 · Être: to be

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Leo from Brisbane asks, "So is it je suis neuf ans, mate?" What do you tell him?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 3 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** Leo, you · **What happens:** ask, tell · **To what, where:** je ans, Leo · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 6 of lesson 28 «Être: to be» 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/28-etre-to-be/#t6).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* Leo from Brisbane asks, "So is it je suis neuf ans, mate?"

```conllu
# sent_id = question:french:28-etre-to-be:t6:1
# text = Leo from Brisbane asks, "So is it je suis neuf ans, mate?"
1	Leo	Leo	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
2	from	from	ADP	IN	_	3	case	_	_
3	Brisbane	Brisbane	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	1	nmod	_	_
4	asks	ask	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	4	punct	_	_
6	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	10	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	So	so	ADV	RB	_	10	advmod	_	_
8	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	10	cop	_	_
9	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	10	nsubj	_	_
10	je	je	X	FW	Foreign=Yes	13	compound	_	_
11	suis	suis	X	FW	Foreign=Yes	10	flat:foreign	_	_
12	neuf	neuf	X	FW	_	10	flat:foreign	_	_
13	ans	an	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	15	punct	_	_
15	mate	mate	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **ask** *speech: ask* | present | Leo from Brisbane | je ans and mate |  |  |  |  | vn inquire-37.1.2 «NP V NP.recipient»: agent=Agent an=Recipient |

<!-- .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 do you tell him?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:french:28-etre-to-be:t6:2
# text = What do you tell him?
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	4	obj	_	_
2	do	do	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=2|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
3	you	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Person=2|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
4	tell	tell	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
5	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	iobj	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **tell** *speech: assert* | present · do-support | you |  | Leo |  |  |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP-Dative NP»: agent=Agent he=Recipient what=Topic |

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 · ← Mova's choice {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It's je suis neuf, no ans

```conllu
# sent_id = question:french:28-etre-to-be:t6:o1:1
# text = It's je suis neuf, no ans
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	's	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	cop	_	_
3	je	je	X	FW	Foreign=Yes	4	nsubj	_	_
4	suis	sui	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	neuf	neuf	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	8	punct	_	_
7	no	no	DET	DT	PronType=Neg	8	det	_	_
8	ans	an	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **sui** | present | je | neuf |  |  |  | no ans *obl* | tree rules |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It's je es neuf ans

```conllu
# sent_id = question:french:28-etre-to-be:t6:o2:1
# text = It's je es neuf ans
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	's	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
3	je	je	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	amod	_	_
4	es	e	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	0	root	_	_
5	neuf	neuf	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	ans	an	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | It | je es and neuf ans |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Age uses avoir: j'ai neuf ans

```conllu
# sent_id = question:french:28-etre-to-be:t6:o3:1
# text = Age uses avoir: j'ai neuf ans
1	Age	age	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nsubj	_	_
2	uses	use	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	avoir	avoir	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	:	:	PUNCT	:	_	5	punct	_	_
5	j'ai	j'ai	X	FW	Foreign=Yes	2	obj	_	_
6	neuf	neuf	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	7	nummod	_	_
7	ans	an	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	flat	_	_
```

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

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Yes, je suis neuf ans is right

```conllu
# sent_id = question:french:28-etre-to-be:t6:o4:1
# text = Yes, je suis neuf ans is right
1	Yes	yes	INTJ	UH	Polarity=Pos	3	discourse	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	3	punct	_	_
3	je	je	X	FW	Foreign=Yes	8	nsubj	_	_
4	suis	suis	X	FW	Foreign=Yes	3	flat:foreign	_	_
5	neuf	neuf	X	FW	_	3	flat:foreign	_	_
6	ans	ans	X	FW	Foreign=Yes	3	flat:foreign	_	_
7	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	8	cop	_	_
8	right	right	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
```

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

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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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