--- title: Your brother says "every silent letter was once spoken." Which word… — Silent letters and the mystery of -ough · tree and pragmatics description: Your brother says "every silent letter was once spoken." Which word proves him wrong? Test 7 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 option; Mova's choice was right. --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/language/13-silent-letters-and-the-mystery-of-ough/t7/) [home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/) / [questions](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/) / [Language](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/language/) / [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/) / t7 # Test 7 · Silent letters and the mystery of -ough Your brother says "every silent letter was once spoken." Which word proves him wrong? **Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 1 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** brother, word · **What happens:** say, speak, prove · **To what, where:** silent letter, letter · **Speech:** someone speaks here This is test 7 of lesson 13 «Silent letters and the mystery of -ough» of the language course of Mova's primary school. 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/#t7). ## The question {#question} *Sentence 1:* Your brother says "every silent letter was once spoken." ```conllu # sent_id = question:language:13-silent-letters-and-the-mystery-of-ough:t7:1 # text = Your brother says "every silent letter was once spoken." 1 Your your PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Person=2|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 2 nmod:poss _ _ 2 brother brother NOUN NN Number=Sing 3 nsubj _ _ 3 says say VERB VBZ Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 0 root _ _ 4 " " PUNCT `` _ 10 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 5 every every DET DT PronType=Tot 7 det _ _ 6 silent silent ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 7 amod _ _ 7 letter letter NOUN NN Number=Sing 10 nsubj:pass _ _ 8 was be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 10 aux:pass _ _ 9 once once ADV RB NumForm=Word|NumType=Mult 10 advmod _ _ 10 spoken speak VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass 3 ccomp _ SpaceAfter=No 11 . . PUNCT . _ 10 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 12 " " PUNCT '' _ 10 punct _ _ ``` | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **say** *speech: assert* | present | Your brother | | | | | | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic | | 2 | **speak** *speech: other* *in a quote* | past · passive | | every silent letter | | | | once *property* | tree rules | 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. *Sentence 2:* Which word proves him wrong? ```conllu # sent_id = question:language:13-silent-letters-and-the-mystery-of-ough:t7:2 # text = Which word proves him wrong? 1 Which which DET WDT PronType=Int 2 det _ _ 2 word word NOUN NN Number=Sing 3 nsubj _ _ 3 proves prove VERB VBZ Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 0 root _ _ 4 him he PRON PRP Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 3 obj _ _ 5 wrong wrong ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 3 xcomp _ SpaceAfter=No 6 ? ? PUNCT . _ 3 punct _ _ ``` | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **prove** | present | which word | letter | | | | wrong *property* | vn deduce-97.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent he=Theme | ## The options {#options} ### Option 1 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer {#o1} island ```conllu # sent_id = question:language:13-silent-letters-and-the-mystery-of-ough:t7:o1:1 # text = island 1 island island NOUN NN Number=Sing 0 root _ _ ``` The frames reader finds no event or fact in this sentence. ### Option 2 {#o2} knight ```conllu # sent_id = question:language:13-silent-letters-and-the-mystery-of-ough:t7:o2:1 # text = knight 1 knight knight NOUN NN Number=Sing 0 root _ _ ``` The frames reader finds no event or fact in this sentence. ### Option 3 {#o3} knee ```conllu # sent_id = question:language:13-silent-letters-and-the-mystery-of-ough:t7:o3:1 # text = knee 1 knee knee NOUN NN Number=Sing 0 root _ _ ``` The frames reader finds no event or fact in this sentence. ### Option 4 {#o4} write ```conllu # sent_id = question:language:13-silent-letters-and-the-mystery-of-ough:t7:o4:1 # text = write 1 write write VERB VB Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin 0 root _ _ ``` | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **write** | imperative | you *not said here* | | | | | | vn scribble-25.2-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent | **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. - ← previous: [Silent letters and the mystery of -ough, test 6](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/language/13-silent-letters-and-the-mystery-of-ough/t6/) - next →: [Silent letters and the mystery of -ough, test 8](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/language/13-silent-letters-and-the-mystery-of-ough/t8/) - ↑ 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/)