---
title: Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the… — Accents: é, è, ê, ç and friends · tree and pragmatics
description: Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the function of accents in written French? Exam question 1 of lesson 3 «Accents: é, è, ê, ç and friends» of the French course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each option; Mova's c
---

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# Exam question 1 · Accents: é, è, ê, ç and friends

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the function of accents in written French?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 3 · wrong ✗ · **What happens:** follow, characteris, write · **To what, where:** function

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 1 of lesson 3 «Accents: é, è, ê, ç and friends» 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/3-accents-e-e-e-c-and-friends/#e1).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:french:3-accents-e-e-e-c-and-friends:e1:1
# text = Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the function of accents in written French?
1	Which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	8	nsubj	_	_
2	of	of	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	following	follow	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	5	amod	_	_
5	statements	statement	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	obl	_	_
6	most	most	ADV	RBS	Degree=Sup	7	advmod	_	_
7	accurately	accurately	ADV	RB	_	8	advmod	_	_
8	characterises	characteris	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	function	function	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obj	_	_
11	of	of	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
12	accents	accent	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	10	nmod	_	_
13	in	in	ADP	IN	_	15	case	_	_
14	written	write	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	15	amod	_	_
15	French	French	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	12	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	8	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **follow** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn occur-48.3-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 2 | **characteris** | present |  | the function of accents in written French |  |  |  | of the following statements; accurately *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **write** | participle |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn scribble-25.2-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

<!-- .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 -->
They are employed solely upon words borrowed from English

```conllu
# sent_id = question:french:3-accents-e-e-e-c-and-friends:e1:o1:1
# text = They are employed solely upon words borrowed from English
1	They	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj:pass	_	_
2	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux:pass	_	_
3	employed	employ	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
4	solely	solely	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	_
5	upon	upon	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	words	word	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obl	_	_
7	borrowed	borrow	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	6	acl	_	_
8	from	from	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
9	English	English	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	7	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **employ** | present · passive |  | They |  |  |  | upon words; solely *property* | vn hire-13.5.3 «NP V NP»: subject=Theme |
| 2 | **borrow** | participle |  | words *not said here* |  | English |  |  | vn obtain-13.5.2 «NP V NP PP.source»: agent=Agent from english=Source |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
They indicate exclusively that a syllable is to be stressed

```conllu
# sent_id = question:french:3-accents-e-e-e-c-and-friends:e1:o2:1
# text = They indicate exclusively that a syllable is to be stressed
1	They	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	indicate	indicate	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	exclusively	exclusively	ADV	RB	_	2	advmod	_	_
4	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	10	mark	_	_
5	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	syllable	syllable	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	nsubj:pass	_	_
7	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	10	aux:pass	_	_
8	to	to	PART	TO	_	10	mark	_	_
9	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	10	aux:pass	_	_
10	stressed	stress	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	2	advcl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **indicate** | present | They |  |  |  |  | exclusively *property* | vn indicate-78-1 «NP V how S»: agent=Pivot |
| 2 | **stress** | present · passive |  | a syllable |  |  |  |  | vn butter-9.9 «NP V NP.destination»: subject=Destination |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
They form an integral part of the spelling and may alter sound or meaning

```conllu
# sent_id = question:french:3-accents-e-e-e-c-and-friends:e1:o3:1
# text = They form an integral part of the spelling and may alter sound or meaning
1	They	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	form	form	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	integral	integral	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	part	part	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
6	of	of	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	spelling	spelling	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nmod	_	_
9	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	11	cc	_	_
10	may	may	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	11	aux	_	_
11	alter	alter	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	2	conj	_	_
12	sound	sound	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	obj	_	_
13	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	14	cc	_	_
14	meaning	meaning	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **form** | present | They | a integral part of the spelling |  |  |  |  | vn appear-48.1.1 «PP.location V NP»: agent=Location part=Theme |
| 2 | **alter** | may | They *not said here* | sound or meaning |  |  |  |  | vn other\_cos-45.4 «NP V NP.patient»: agent=Agent sound=Patient |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
They are purely decorative and may be omitted without consequence

```conllu
# sent_id = question:french:3-accents-e-e-e-c-and-friends:e1:o4:1
# text = They are purely decorative and may be omitted without consequence
1	They	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
2	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
3	purely	purely	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
4	decorative	decorative	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
5	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	8	cc	_	_
6	may	may	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	8	aux	_	_
7	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	8	aux:pass	_	_
8	omitted	omit	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	4	conj	_	_
9	without	without	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
10	consequence	consequence	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | They |  |  |  |  | decorative, purely *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **omit** | may · passive | They *not said here* |  |  |  |  | without consequence | vn neglect-75.1-1 «NP V S\_INF» |

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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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- ← previous: [Accents: é, è, ê, ç and friends, test 12](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/french/3-accents-e-e-e-c-and-friends/t12/)
- next →: [Accents: é, è, ê, ç and friends, exam 2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/french/3-accents-e-e-e-c-and-friends/e2/)
- ↑ back to [Accents: é, è, ê, ç and friends](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/french/3-accents-e-e-e-c-and-friends/)