---
title: Ethan from Boston writes "Mon frère à un chien." He says, "Wicked co… — Avoir: to have · tree and pragmatics
description: Ethan from Boston writes "Mon frère à un chien." He says, "Wicked confusing, one tiny line." What's the fix? Test 7 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 wrong.
---

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# Test 7 · Avoir: to have

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Ethan from Boston writes "Mon frère à un chien." He says, "Wicked confusing, one tiny line." What's the fix?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 4 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** Ethan, fix · **What happens:** write, say, be · **To what, where:** Mon · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 7 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/#t7).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* Ethan from Boston writes "Mon frère à un chien."

```conllu
# sent_id = question:french:29-avoir-to-have:t7:1
# text = Ethan from Boston writes "Mon frère à un chien."
1	Ethan	Ethan	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
2	from	from	ADP	IN	_	3	case	_	_
3	Boston	Boston	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	1	nmod	_	_
4	writes	write	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	6	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	Mon	mon	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obj	_	_
7	frère	frère	X	FW	Foreign=Yes	6	conj	_	_
8	à	à	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	10	amod	_	_
9	un	un	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	compound	_	_
10	chien	chien	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	flat	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	6	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	6	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **write** | present | Ethan from Boston | Mon |  |  |  |  | vn scribble-25.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent mon=Theme |

<!-- .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:* He says, "Wicked confusing, one tiny line."

```conllu
# sent_id = question:french:29-avoir-to-have:t7:2
# text = He says, "Wicked confusing, one tiny line."
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	says	say	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	6	punct	_	_
4	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	6	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	Wicked	wicked	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	confusing	confusing	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	ccomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	10	punct	_	_
8	one	one	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	10	nummod	_	_
9	tiny	tiny	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	10	amod	_	_
10	line	line	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	6	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	6	punct	_	_
```

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

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 3:* What's the fix?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:french:29-avoir-to-have:t7:3
# text = What's the fix?
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	's	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	1	cop	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	fix	fix	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

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

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 · ← Mova's choice {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
est, because the dog is his

```conllu
# sent_id = question:french:29-avoir-to-have:t7:o1:1
# text = est, because the dog is his
1	est	EST	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	1	punct	_	_
3	because	because	ADP	IN	ExtPos=ADP	5	case	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	dog	dog	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	nmod	_	_
6	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	7	cop	_	_
7	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	1	acl:relcl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | est because the dog *not said here* | dog |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
as with an s, because it is il

```conllu
# sent_id = question:french:29-avoir-to-have:t7:o2:1
# text = as with an s, because it is il
1	as	as	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
2	with	with	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
3	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	s	s	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	9	punct	_	_
6	because	because	ADP	IN	ExtPos=ADP	9	case	_	_
7	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	9	nsubj	_	_
8	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	9	cop	_	_
9	il	IL	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	4	nmod:unmarked	_	_
```

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

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
à is right, because it means has

```conllu
# sent_id = question:french:29-avoir-to-have:t7:o3:1
# text = à is right, because it means has
1	à	à	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	cop	_	_
3	right	right	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	7	punct	_	_
5	because	because	SCONJ	IN	_	7	mark	_	_
6	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	7	nsubj	_	_
7	means	mean	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	conj	_	_
8	has	have	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	csubj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | à |  |  |  |  | right *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **mean** | present | it |  |  |  |  |  | vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V S»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **have** | present |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
a with no accent, because it means has

```conllu
# sent_id = question:french:29-avoir-to-have:t7:o4:1
# text = a with no accent, because it means has
1	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
2	with	with	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
3	no	no	DET	DT	PronType=Neg	4	det	_	_
4	accent	accent	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	8	punct	_	_
6	because	because	SCONJ	IN	_	8	mark	_	_
7	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	8	nsubj	_	_
8	means	mean	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	acl:relcl	_	_
9	has	have	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **mean** | present | accent | a accent *not said here* |  |  |  |  | vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent accent=Topic |
| 2 | **have** | present | a accent |  |  |  |  |  | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent |

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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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