---
title: What would happen if you said "Ils sont deux chats" to a French frie… — Avoir: to have · tree and pragmatics
description: What would happen if you said "Ils sont deux chats" to a French friend? Test 3 of lesson 29 «Avoir: to have» 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 3 · Avoir: to have

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
What would happen if you said "Ils sont deux chats" to a French friend?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 1 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** you, Ils · **What happens:** happen, say, chat · **To what, where:** French friend · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 3 of lesson 29 «Avoir: to have» 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/29-avoir-to-have/#t3).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:french:29-avoir-to-have:t3:1
# text = What would happen if you said "Ils sont deux chats" to a French friend?
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	3	nsubj	_	_
2	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	3	aux	_	_
3	happen	happen	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
4	if	if	SCONJ	IN	_	6	mark	_	_
5	you	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Person=2|PronType=Prs	6	nsubj	_	_
6	said	say	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=2|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	advcl	_	_
7	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	11	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	Ils	Il	PROPN	NNPS	Number=Plur	11	nsubj	_	_
9	sont	sont	X	FW	Foreign=Yes	11	compound	_	_
10	deux	deux	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	compound	_	_
11	chats	chat	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	ccomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	11	punct	_	_
13	to	to	ADP	IN	_	16	case	_	_
14	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	16	det	_	_
15	French	French	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	16	amod	_	_
16	friend	friend	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **happen** | would |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn occur-48.3-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 2 | **say** *speech: assert* *a condition, not said to happen* | past | you |  | a French friend |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V PP.recipient S-Quote»: agent=Agent to friend=Recipient |
| 3 | **chat** *speech: other* *in a quote* |  | Ils |  |  |  |  |  | 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.

## The options {#options}

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
They'd hear "they are two cats", not "they have"

<!-- fold The tree, 10 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:french:29-avoir-to-have:t3:o1:1
# text = They'd hear "they are two cats", not "they have"
1	They	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	'd	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	3	aux	_	_
3	hear	hear	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
4	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	8	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	8	nsubj	_	_
6	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	8	cop	_	_
7	two	two	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	8	nummod	_	_
8	cats	cat	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	parataxis	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	8	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	14	punct	_	_
11	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	14	advmod	_	_
12	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	14	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	14	nsubj	_	_
14	have	have	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	parataxis	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	14	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **hear** | would | They |  |  |  |  |  | vn see-30.1-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Experiencer clause=Stimulus |
| 2 | **is a** *in a quote* | present | they | two cats |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 3 | **not** **have** *in a quote* | present | cats *= cat* |  |  |  |  |  | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
They'd hear "they have two cats" perfectly

```conllu
# sent_id = question:french:29-avoir-to-have:t3:o2:1
# text = They'd hear "they have two cats" perfectly
1	They	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	'd	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	3	aux	_	_
3	hear	hear	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
4	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	6	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	6	nsubj	_	_
6	have	have	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	ccomp	_	_
7	two	two	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	8	nummod	_	_
8	cats	cat	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	6	punct	_	_
10	perfectly	perfectly	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **hear** | would | They |  |  |  |  | perfectly *property* | vn see-30.1-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Experiencer clause=Stimulus |
| 2 | **have** *in a quote* | present | they | two cats |  |  |  |  | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent cat=Patient |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
They'd think the cats were asleep

```conllu
# sent_id = question:french:29-avoir-to-have:t3:o3:1
# text = They'd think the cats were asleep
1	They	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	'd	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	3	aux	_	_
3	think	think	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	cats	cat	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	nsubj	_	_
6	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	7	cop	_	_
7	asleep	asleep	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	ccomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **think** *speech: other* | would | They |  |  |  |  |  | vn focus-87.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **is** | past | the cats |  |  |  |  | asleep *property* | tree rules |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
They'd think you were counting to two

```conllu
# sent_id = question:french:29-avoir-to-have:t3:o4:1
# text = They'd think you were counting to two
1	They	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	'd	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	3	aux	_	_
3	think	think	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
4	you	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Person=2|PronType=Prs	6	nsubj	_	_
5	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=2|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	6	aux	_	_
6	counting	count	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	3	ccomp	_	_
7	to	to	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
8	two	two	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	6	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **think** *speech: other* | would | They |  |  |  |  |  | vn consider-29.9-2 «NP V how S»: agent=Agent clause=Theme |
| 2 | **count** | past · progressive | you |  |  |  |  | to two | vn matter-91 «NP V PP.experiencer»: agent=Stimulus to two=Experiencer |

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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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