Test 2 · Sounds and letters: how phonics starts

Big sis: «phonics is so mid, real readers don't use it, they just know the words». Put her right.

Mova's choice: option 4 · The right answer: option 4 · right ✓ · Who acts: Big sis, real readers, readers, you · What happens: be, not use, know, put · To what, where: phonics, words, her

This is test 2 of lesson 1 «Sounds and letters: how phonics starts» of the English 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.

The question

Sentence 1: Big sis: «phonics is so mid, real readers don't use it, they just know the words».

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	Big	big	ADJ	Degree=Pos	2 sis	amod
2	sis	sis	NOUN	Number=Sing	8 mid	nsubj
3	:	:	PUNCT	_	2 sis	punct
4	«	«	PUNCT	_	5 phonics	punct
5	phonics	phonics	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 sis	conj
6	is	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	8 mid	cop
7	so	so	ADV	_	8 mid	advmod
8	mid	mid	ADJ	Degree=Pos	root	root
9	,	,	PUNCT	_	14 use	punct
10	real	real	ADJ	Degree=Pos	11 readers	amod
11	readers	reader	NOUN	Number=Plur	14 use	nsubj
12	do	do	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	14 use	aux
13	n't	not	PART	Polarity=Neg	14 use	advmod
14	use	use	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	8 mid	parataxis
15	it	it	PRON	Case=Acc Gender=Neut Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	14 use	obj
16	,	,	PUNCT	_	19 know	punct
17	they	they	PRON	Case=Nom Number=Plur Person=3 PronType=Prs	19 know	nsubj
18	just	just	ADV	_	19 know	advmod
19	know	know	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	14 use	parataxis
20	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	21 words	det
21	words	word	NOUN	Number=Plur	19 know	obj
22	»	»	PUNCT	_	19 know	punct
23	.	.	PUNCT	_	8 mid	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	other	roles by
1	is in a quote	present	Big sis and phonics		mid property	tree rules
2	not use in a quote	present · do-support	real readers	phonics		vn eat-39.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent it=Patient
3	know in a quote	present	readers = reader	the words		vn comprehend-87.2-1-1-1 «NP V NP PP.attribute»: agent=Experiencer word=Stimulus

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: Put her right.

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	Put	put	VERB	Mood=Imp VerbForm=Fin	root	root
2	her	she	PRON	Case=Acc Gender=Fem Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	1 Put	obj
3	right	right	ADV	_	1 Put	advmod
4	.	.	PUNCT	_	1 Put	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	put	imperative	you not said here		her = she			right property	vn invest-13.5.4-1 «NP V PP»: agent=Agent she=Goal

The options

Option 1

She's right, grown-up readers have never used phonics in their lives

The tree, 13 words

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	She	she	PRON	Case=Nom Gender=Fem Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	3 right	nsubj
2	's	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	3 right	cop
3	right	right	ADJ	Degree=Pos	root	root
4	,	,	PUNCT	_	3 right	punct
5	grown	grow	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	8 readers	amod
6	-	-	PUNCT	_	7 up	punct
7	up	up	ADP	_	5 grown	compound:prt
8	readers	reader	NOUN	Number=Plur	11 used	nsubj:pass
9	have	have	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	11 used	aux
10	never	never	ADV	PronType=Neg	11 used	advmod
11	used	use	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	3 right	parataxis
12	phonics	phonic	NOUN	Number=Plur	11 used	obj
13	in	in	ADP	_	15 lives	case
14	their	their	PRON	Case=Gen Number=Plur Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs	15 lives	nmod:poss
15	lives	life	NOUN	Number=Plur	11 used	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	where	other	roles by
1	is	present	She			right property	tree rules
2	grow up	participle					vn appear-48.1.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme
3	not use	present · perfect · passive		grown readers	readers's lives		tree rules

Option 2

Real readers only use phonics when they read out loud to a class, never in their heads

The tree, 17 words

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	Real	real	ADJ	Degree=Pos	2 readers	amod
2	readers	reader	NOUN	Number=Plur	4 use	nsubj
3	only	only	ADV	_	4 use	advmod
4	use	use	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
5	phonics	phonic	NOUN	Number=Plur	4 use	obj
6	when	when	ADV	PronType=Int	8 read	advmod
7	they	they	PRON	Case=Nom Number=Plur Person=3 PronType=Prs	8 read	nsubj
8	read	read	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	4 use	advcl
9	out	out	ADV	_	8 read	advmod
10	loud	loud	ADV	_	8 read	advmod
11	to	to	ADP	_	13 class	case
12	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	13 class	det
13	class	class	NOUN	Number=Sing	8 read	obl
14	,	,	PUNCT	_	18 heads	punct
15	never	never	ADV	PronType=Neg	18 heads	advmod
16	in	in	ADP	_	18 heads	case
17	their	their	PRON	Case=Gen Number=Plur Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs	18 heads	nmod:poss
18	heads	head	NOUN	Number=Plur	4 use	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	use	present	Real readers	phonics		readers's heads			vn eat-39.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent phonic=Patient
2	read out	past	readers = reader		a class			loud, out property	vn transfer_mesg-37.1.1-1 «NP V PP.recipient how S»: agent=Agent to class=Recipient

Option 3

She's right, phonics only works for words with three letters

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	She	she	PRON	Case=Nom Gender=Fem Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	3 right	nsubj
2	's	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	3 right	cop
3	right	right	ADJ	Degree=Pos	5 phonics	amod
4	,	,	PUNCT	_	5 phonics	punct
5	phonics	phonic	NOUN	Number=Plur	7 works	nsubj
6	only	only	ADV	_	7 works	advmod
7	works	work	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
8	for	for	ADP	_	9 words	case
9	words	word	NOUN	Number=Plur	7 works	obl
10	with	with	ADP	_	12 letters	case
11	three	three	NUM	NumForm=Word NumType=Card	12 letters	nummod
12	letters	letter	NOUN	Number=Plur	9 words	nmod

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	is	present	She					right property	tree rules
2	work	present	right phonics					for words with three letters	vn employment-95.3 «NP V PP.beneficiary»: agent=Agent for word=Beneficiary

Option 4 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer

Real readers use phonics fast and silently, and slow down to it on new words

The tree, 15 words

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	Real	real	ADJ	Degree=Pos	2 readers	amod
2	readers	reader	NOUN	Number=Plur	3 use	nsubj
3	use	use	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
4	phonics	phonic	NOUN	Number=Plur	3 use	obj
5	fast	fast	ADV	Degree=Pos	3 use	advmod
6	and	and	CCONJ	_	7 silently	cc
7	silently	silently	ADV	_	5 fast	conj
8	,	,	PUNCT	_	10 slow	punct
9	and	and	CCONJ	_	10 slow	cc
10	slow	slow	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	3 use	advcl
11	down	down	ADP	_	10 slow	compound:prt
12	to	to	ADP	_	13 it	case
13	it	it	PRON	Case=Acc Gender=Neut Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	10 slow	obl
14	on	on	ADP	_	16 words	case
15	new	new	ADJ	Degree=Pos	16 words	amod
16	words	word	NOUN	Number=Plur	10 slow	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	use	present	Real readers	phonics				fast property	vn eat-39.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent phonic=Patient
2	slow down	infinitive	Real readers not said here		it	new words			vn other_cos-45.4 «NP.patient V»: agent=Patient

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.

This page in Markdown → https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/english/1-sounds-and-letters-how-phonics-starts/t2/