---
title: Ascertain the meaning of the expression "prête-moi ta plume" in the… — Songs and rhymes · tree and pragmatics
description: Ascertain the meaning of the expression "prête-moi ta plume" in the song "Au clair de la lune". Exam question 2 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 right.
---

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# Exam question 2 · Songs and rhymes

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Ascertain the meaning of the expression "prête-moi ta plume" in the song "Au clair de la lune".

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 1 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** you, prête · **What happens:** ascertain, plume, mean · **To what, where:** meaning, song, expression

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This is exam question 2 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/#e2).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:french:31-songs-and-rhymes:e2:1
# text = Ascertain the meaning of the expression "prête-moi ta plume" in the song "Au clair de la lune".
1	Ascertain	ascertain	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	meaning	meaning	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
4	of	of	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	expression	expression	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nmod	_	_
7	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	12	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	prête	prête	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	10	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	moi	MoI	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	12	compound	_	_
11	ta	ta	X	FW	Foreign=Yes	12	compound	_	_
12	plume	plume	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	appos	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	12	punct	_	_
14	in	in	ADP	IN	_	16	case	_	_
15	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	16	det	_	_
16	song	song	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	nmod	_	_
17	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	18	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
18	Au	Au	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	16	appos	_	_
19	clair	Clair	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	18	flat	_	_
20	de	de	X	FW	Foreign=Yes	18	flat	_	_
21	la	la	X	FW	Foreign=Yes	22	compound	_	_
22	lune	lune	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	18	appos	_	SpaceAfter=No
23	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	18	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
24	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **ascertain** | imperative | you *not said here* | the meaning of the expression |  |  |  |  | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent meaning=Topic |
| 2 | **plume** *in a quote* |  | prête |  |  | the song |  |  | tree rules |
| 3 | **mean** |  |  | the expression |  |  |  |  | nom meaning «communication transitive»: of=patient |

<!-- .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 -->
Lend me your pen

```conllu
# sent_id = question:french:31-songs-and-rhymes:e2:o1:1
# text = Lend me your pen
1	Lend	lend	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	me	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	1	iobj	_	_
3	your	your	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Person=2|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	4	nmod:poss	_	_
4	pen	pen	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **lend** | imperative | you *not said here* | your pen | me |  |  |  | vn give-13.1 «NP V NP-Dative NP»: agent=Agent i=Recipient pen=Theme |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Show me your hat

```conllu
# sent_id = question:french:31-songs-and-rhymes:e2:o2:1
# text = Show me your hat
1	Show	show	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	me	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	1	iobj	_	_
3	your	your	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Person=2|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	4	nmod:poss	_	_
4	hat	hat	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **show** | imperative | you *not said here* | your hat | me |  |  |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP-Dative NP»: agent=Agent i=Recipient hat=Topic |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Pass me your plum

```conllu
# sent_id = question:french:31-songs-and-rhymes:e2:o3:1
# text = Pass me your plum
1	Pass	pass	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	me	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	1	obj	_	_
3	your	your	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Person=2|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	4	nmod:poss	_	_
4	plum	plum	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **pass** | imperative | you *not said here* | your plum | me |  |  |  | vn give-13.1 «NP V NP-Dative NP»: agent=Agent i=Recipient plum=Theme |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Give me your feather pillow

```conllu
# sent_id = question:french:31-songs-and-rhymes:e2:o4:1
# text = Give me your feather pillow
1	Give	give	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	me	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	1	iobj	_	_
3	your	your	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Person=2|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	5	nmod:poss	_	_
4	feather	feather	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	compound	_	_
5	pillow	pillow	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **give** | imperative | you *not said here* | your feather pillow | me |  |  |  | vn give-13.1-1 «NP V NP-Dative NP»: agent=Agent i=Recipient pillow=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.

<!-- /div -->

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- ← previous: [Songs and rhymes, exam 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/french/31-songs-and-rhymes/e1/)
- next →: [Songs and rhymes, exam 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/french/31-songs-and-rhymes/e3/)
- ↑ back to [Songs and rhymes](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/french/31-songs-and-rhymes/)