---
title: Identify the subject of the traditional French song "Frère Jacques". — Songs and rhymes · tree and pragmatics
description: Identify the subject of the traditional French song "Frère Jacques". Exam question 1 of lesson 31 «Songs and rhymes» 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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# Exam question 1 · Songs and rhymes

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Identify the subject of the traditional French song "Frère Jacques".

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 3 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** you · **What happens:** identify · **To what, where:** subject

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 1 of lesson 31 «Songs and rhymes» 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/31-songs-and-rhymes/#e1).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:french:31-songs-and-rhymes:e1:1
# text = Identify the subject of the traditional French song "Frère Jacques".
1	Identify	identify	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	subject	subject	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
4	of	of	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
6	traditional	traditional	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	amod	_	_
7	French	French	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	amod	_	_
8	song	song	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nmod	_	_
9	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	10	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	Frère	Frère	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	8	appos	_	_
11	Jacques	Jacques	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	10	flat	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	10	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **identify** | imperative | you *not said here* | the subject of the traditional French song |  |  |  |  | vn characterize-29.2-1-1 «NP V NP S\_ING»: agent=Agent subject=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.

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 · ← Mova's choice {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A clown in need of writing materials

```conllu
# sent_id = question:french:31-songs-and-rhymes:e1:o1:1
# text = A clown in need of writing materials
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	clown	clown	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	in	in	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
4	need	need	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	_
5	of	of	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	writing	writing	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	compound	_	_
7	materials	material	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nmod	_	_
```

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

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A shepherd in search of his sheep

```conllu
# sent_id = question:french:31-songs-and-rhymes:e1:o2:1
# text = A shepherd in search of his sheep
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	shepherd	shepherd	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	in	in	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
4	search	search	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	_
5	of	of	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	7	nmod:poss	_	_
7	sheep	sheep	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nmod	_	_
```

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

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A monk who has failed to wake in time

```conllu
# sent_id = question:french:31-songs-and-rhymes:e1:o3:1
# text = A monk who has failed to wake in time
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	monk	monk	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	who	who	PRON	WP	PronType=Rel	5	nsubj	_	_
4	has	have	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	aux	_	_
5	failed	fail	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	2	acl:relcl	_	_
6	to	to	PART	TO	_	7	mark	_	_
7	wake	wake	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	xcomp	_	_
8	in	in	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
9	time	time	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **fail** | present · perfect | a monk |  |  |  |  |  | vn succeed-74-3-1-1 «NP V S\_INF»: agent=Agent clause=Eventuality |
| 2 | **not** **wake** | to-infinitive | a monk *not said here* |  |  |  | time |  | vn other\_cos-45.4 «NP.patient V»: agent=Patient |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A miller whose mill has ceased to turn

```conllu
# sent_id = question:french:31-songs-and-rhymes:e1:o4:1
# text = A miller whose mill has ceased to turn
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	miller	miller	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nsubj:pass	_	_
3	whose	whose	PRON	WP$	Poss=Yes|PronType=Rel	4	nmod:poss	_	_
4	mill	mill	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nsubj:pass	_	_
5	has	have	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	aux	_	_
6	ceased	cease	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
7	to	to	PART	TO	_	8	mark	_	_
8	turn	turn	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	6	xcomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **cease** | present · perfect · passive |  | a miller |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **turn** | to-infinitive |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn roll-51.3.1 «NP.theme V»: agent=Theme |

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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: [Songs and rhymes, test 12](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/french/31-songs-and-rhymes/t12/)
- next →: [Songs and rhymes, exam 2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/french/31-songs-and-rhymes/e2/)
- ↑ back to [Songs and rhymes](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/french/31-songs-and-rhymes/)