---
title: Ascertain the French expression from which the distress call "Mayday… — English words that came from French · tree and pragmatics
description: Ascertain the French expression from which the distress call "Mayday" is derived. Exam question 2 of lesson 36 «English words that came from French» 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 2 · English words that came from French

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Ascertain the French expression from which the distress call "Mayday" is derived.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 2 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** you · **What happens:** ascertain, derive · **To what, where:** French expression, distress call

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 2 of lesson 36 «English words that came from French» 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/36-english-words-that-came-from-french/#e2).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:french:36-english-words-that-came-from-french:e2:1
# text = Ascertain the French expression from which the distress call "Mayday" is derived.
1	Ascertain	ascertain	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
3	French	French	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	amod	_	_
4	expression	expression	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
5	from	from	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	14	obl	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
8	distress	distress	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	compound	_	_
9	call	call	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	nsubj:pass	_	_
10	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	11	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	Mayday	Mayday	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	9	appos	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	11	punct	_	_
13	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	14	aux:pass	_	_
14	derived	derive	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	4	acl:relcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	.	.	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 French expression |  |  |  |  | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent expression=Topic |
| 2 | **derive** | present · passive |  | the distress call |  | the French expression |  |  | vn create-26.4 «NP V NP PP.material»: subject=Result from which=Material |

<!-- .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 -->
médaille

```conllu
# sent_id = question:french:36-english-words-that-came-from-french:e2:o1:1
# text = médaille
1	médaille	médaille	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
```

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

### Option 2 · ✓ the right answer {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
m'aider

```conllu
# sent_id = question:french:36-english-words-that-came-from-french:e2:o2:1
# text = m'aider
1	m'aider	m'aider	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
```

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

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
mai

```conllu
# sent_id = question:french:36-english-words-that-came-from-french:e2:o3:1
# text = mai
1	mai	mai	X	FW	Foreign=Yes	0	root	_	_
```

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

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
maison

```conllu
# sent_id = question:french:36-english-words-that-came-from-french:e2:o4:1
# text = maison
1	maison	maison	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
```

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

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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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