Exam question 4 · Accents: é, è, ê, ç and friends
It is given that a circumflex accent frequently occupies the position of a letter lost from an older spelling. Determine the letter most commonly so replaced.
Mova's choice: option 1 · The right answer: option 3 · wrong ✗ · Who acts: circumflex accent, you · What happens: give, occupy, lose, determine, replace · To what, where: It, position, letter, older spelling
This is exam question 4 of lesson 3 «Accents: é, è, ê, ç and friends» 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.
The question
Sentence 1: It is given that a circumflex accent frequently occupies the position of a letter lost from an older spelling.
The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)
| # | word | lemma | UPOS | features | head | relation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | It | it | PRON | Case=Nom Gender=Neut Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 3 given | nsubj:pass |
| 2 | is | be | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | 3 given | aux:pass |
| 3 | given | give | VERB | Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass | root | root |
| 4 | that | that | SCONJ | _ | 9 occupies | mark |
| 5 | a | a | DET | Definite=Ind PronType=Art | 7 accent | det |
| 6 | circumflex | circumflex | NOUN | Number=Sing | 7 accent | compound |
| 7 | accent | accent | NOUN | Number=Sing | 9 occupies | nsubj |
| 8 | frequently | frequently | ADV | _ | 9 occupies | advmod |
| 9 | occupies | occupy | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | 3 given | advcl |
| 10 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 11 position | det |
| 11 | position | position | NOUN | Number=Sing | 9 occupies | obj |
| 12 | of | of | ADP | _ | 14 letter | case |
| 13 | a | a | DET | Definite=Ind PronType=Art | 14 letter | det |
| 14 | letter | letter | NOUN | Number=Sing | 11 position | nmod |
| 15 | lost | lose | VERB | Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass | 14 letter | acl |
| 16 | from | from | ADP | _ | 19 spelling | case |
| 17 | an | a | DET | Definite=Ind PronType=Art | 19 spelling | det |
| 18 | older | old | ADJ | Degree=Cmp | 19 spelling | amod |
| 19 | spelling | spelling | NOUN | Number=Sing | 15 lost | obl |
| 20 | . | . | PUNCT | _ | 3 given | punct |
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | give | present · passive | It | vn give-13.1-1 «NP V NP»: subject=Theme | |||||
| 2 | occupy | present | a circumflex accent | the position of a letter | frequently property | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Stimulus position=Experiencer | |||
| 3 | lose | participle | a letter not said here | a older spelling | vn remove-10.1 «NP V NP PP»: agent=Agent from spelling=Initial_Location |
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: Determine the letter most commonly so replaced.
The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)
| # | word | lemma | UPOS | features | head | relation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Determine | determine | VERB | Mood=Imp VerbForm=Fin | root | root |
| 2 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 3 letter | det |
| 3 | letter | letter | NOUN | Number=Sing | 1 Determine | obj |
| 4 | most | most | ADV | Degree=Sup | 5 commonly | advmod |
| 5 | commonly | commonly | ADV | _ | 1 Determine | advmod |
| 6 | so | so | ADV | _ | 7 replaced | advmod |
| 7 | replaced | replace | VERB | Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass | 1 Determine | advcl |
| 8 | . | . | PUNCT | _ | 1 Determine | punct |
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | determine | imperative | you not said here | the letter | commonly property | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent letter=Topic | |||
| 2 | replace | participle | you not said here | vn substitute-13.6.2-1 «NP V PP.co-theme»: agent=Theme |
The options
Option 1 · ← Mova's choice
The letter n
The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)
| # | word | lemma | UPOS | features | head | relation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 3 n | det |
| 2 | letter | letter | NOUN | Number=Sing | 3 n | compound |
| 3 | n | n | NOUN | Number=Sing | root | root |
The frames reader finds no event or fact in this sentence.
Option 2
The letter e
The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)
| # | word | lemma | UPOS | features | head | relation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 3 e | det |
| 2 | letter | letter | NOUN | Number=Sing | 3 e | compound |
| 3 | e | e | NOUN | Number=Sing | root | root |
The frames reader finds no event or fact in this sentence.
Option 3 · ✓ the right answer
The letter s
The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)
| # | word | lemma | UPOS | features | head | relation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 2 letter | det |
| 2 | letter | letter | NOUN | Number=Sing | root | root |
| 3 | s | 's | PART | Typo=Yes | 2 letter | case |
The frames reader finds no event or fact in this sentence.
Option 4
The letter h
The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)
| # | word | lemma | UPOS | features | head | relation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 2 letter | det |
| 2 | letter | letter | NOUN | Number=Sing | root | root |
| 3 | h | H | NOUN | Number=Sing | 2 letter | appos |
The frames reader finds no event or fact in this sentence.
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/french/3-accents-e-e-e-c-and-friends/e4/