---
title: Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the… — Silent letters and the mystery of -ough · tree and pragmatics
description: Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the majority of silent letters in English? Exam question 1 of lesson 13 «Silent letters and the mystery of -ough» of the language course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each optio
---

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# Exam question 1 · Silent letters and the mystery of -ough

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the majority of silent letters in English?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 2 · **The right answer:** option 2 · right ✓ · **What happens:** follow, characteris · **To what, where:** majority

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 1 of lesson 13 «Silent letters and the mystery of -ough» of the language 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/language/13-silent-letters-and-the-mystery-of-ough/#e1).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:13-silent-letters-and-the-mystery-of-ough:e1:1
# text = Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the majority of silent letters in English?
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	majority	majority	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obj	_	_
11	of	of	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
12	silent	silent	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	13	amod	_	_
13	letters	letter	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	10	nmod	_	_
14	in	in	ADP	IN	_	15	case	_	_
15	English	English	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	13	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 majority of silent letters in English |  |  |  | of the following statements; accurately *property* | tree rules |

<!-- .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 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
They are pronounced in all formal registers

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:13-silent-letters-and-the-mystery-of-ough:e1:o1:1
# text = They are pronounced in all formal registers
1	They	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux:pass	_	_
3	pronounced	pronounce	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
4	in	in	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
5	all	all	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	7	det	_	_
6	formal	formal	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
7	registers	register	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **pronounce** | present · passive |  | They |  | all formal registers |  |  | vn pronounce-29.3.1 «NP V NP PP.manner»: subject=Theme in register=Manner |

### Option 2 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
They are vestiges of sounds formerly pronounced, retained in spelling after the sounds were lost

<!-- fold The tree, 15 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:13-silent-letters-and-the-mystery-of-ough:e1:o2:1
# text = They are vestiges of sounds formerly pronounced, retained in spelling after the sounds were lost
1	They	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	cop	_	_
3	vestiges	vestige	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	16	nsubj:pass	_	_
4	of	of	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	sounds	sound	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	acl:relcl	_	_
6	formerly	formerly	ADV	RB	_	7	advmod	_	_
7	pronounced	pronounce	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	3	acl:relcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	9	punct	_	_
9	retained	retain	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	3	acl	_	_
10	in	in	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
11	spelling	spelling	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obl	_	_
12	after	after	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
13	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	14	det	_	_
14	sounds	sound	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	9	obl	_	_
15	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	16	aux:pass	_	_
16	lost	lose	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | They | vestiges |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **sound** | present | vestiges *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn stimulus\_subject-30.4 «NP V PP.attribute»: agent=Stimulus |
| 3 | **pronounce** | participle |  | vestiges *not said here* |  |  |  | formerly *property* | vn dub-29.3.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent |
| 4 | **retain** | participle |  | vestiges *not said here* |  | spelling | after the sounds |  | tree rules |
| 5 | **lose** | past · passive |  | vestiges |  |  |  |  | vn succeed-74-3-1 «NP V NP»: subject=Eventuality |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
They are errors of contemporary printers

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:13-silent-letters-and-the-mystery-of-ough:e1:o3:1
# text = They are errors of contemporary printers
1	They	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	cop	_	_
3	errors	error	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	0	root	_	_
4	of	of	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	contemporary	contemporary	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	printers	printer	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nmod	_	_
```

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

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
They were introduced in order to render instruction more difficult

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:13-silent-letters-and-the-mystery-of-ough:e1:o4:1
# text = They were introduced in order to render instruction more difficult
1	They	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj:pass	_	_
2	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux:pass	_	_
3	introduced	introduce	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
4	in	in	SCONJ	IN	ExtPos=SCONJ	7	mark	_	_
5	order	order	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	fixed	_	_
6	to	to	PART	TO	_	7	mark	_	_
7	render	render	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	advcl	_	_
8	instruction	instruction	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obj	_	_
9	more	more	ADV	RBR	Degree=Cmp	10	advmod	_	_
10	difficult	difficult	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	xcomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **introduce** | past · passive |  | They |  |  |  |  | vn amalgamate-22.2-3-1 «NP V NP»: subject=Patient |
| 2 | **render** | to-infinitive |  | instruction |  |  |  | difficult *property* | vn give-13.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent instruction=Theme |

<!-- div src -->

**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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<!-- pn -->
- ← previous: [Silent letters and the mystery of -ough, test 11](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/language/13-silent-letters-and-the-mystery-of-ough/t11/)
- next →: [Silent letters and the mystery of -ough, exam 2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/language/13-silent-letters-and-the-mystery-of-ough/e2/)
- ↑ back to [Silent letters and the mystery of -ough](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/language/13-silent-letters-and-the-mystery-of-ough/)