---
title: Why is it so hard to swat a fly? — Insects: butterflies, beetles, flies,… · tree and pragmatics
description: Why is it so hard to swat a fly? Test 8 · ★ of lesson 37 «Insects: butterflies, beetles, flies, mosquitoes, grasshoppers» of the biology course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each option; Mova's choice was right.
---

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# Test 8 · ★ · Insects: butterflies, beetles, flies, mosquitoes, grasshop…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Why is it so hard to swat a fly?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 1 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** it · **What happens:** be

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 8 · ★ of lesson 37 «Insects: butterflies, beetles, flies, mosquitoes, grasshoppers» of the biology 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/biology/37-butterflies-beetles-flies-mosquitoes-grasshoppers/#t8).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:37-butterflies-beetles-flies-mosquitoes-grasshoppers:t8:1
# text = Why is it so hard to swat a fly?
1	Why	why	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	7	advmod	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	7	cop	_	_
3	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	7	nsubj	_	_
4	so	so	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
5	hard	hard	ADV	RB	Degree=Pos	7	advmod	_	_
6	to	to	PART	TO	_	7	mark	_	_
7	swat	swat	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
8	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	fly	fly	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	7	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | it |  |  |  |  | hard, swat *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 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Its eyes see movement very fast

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:37-butterflies-beetles-flies-mosquitoes-grasshoppers:t8:o1:1
# text = Its eyes see movement very fast
1	Its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	2	nmod:poss	_	_
2	eyes	eye	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj	_	_
3	see	see	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	movement	movement	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
5	very	very	ADV	RB	_	6	advmod	_	_
6	fast	fast	ADV	RB	Degree=Pos	3	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **see** | present | Its eyes | movement |  |  |  | fast *property* | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer movement=Stimulus |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It can turn invisible for a moment

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:37-butterflies-beetles-flies-mosquitoes-grasshoppers:t8:o2:1
# text = It can turn invisible for a moment
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	can	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	3	aux	_	_
3	turn	turn	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
4	invisible	invisible	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	xcomp	_	_
5	for	for	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	moment	moment	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **turn** | can | It |  |  |  | moment | invisible *property* | vn roll-51.3.1 «NP.theme V»: agent=Theme |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It can hear your thoughts before you move

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:37-butterflies-beetles-flies-mosquitoes-grasshoppers:t8:o3:1
# text = It can hear your thoughts before you move
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	can	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	3	aux	_	_
3	hear	hear	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
4	your	your	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Person=2|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	5	nmod:poss	_	_
5	thoughts	thought	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obj	_	_
6	before	before	SCONJ	IN	_	8	mark	_	_
7	you	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Person=2|PronType=Prs	8	nsubj	_	_
8	move	move	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=2|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	advcl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **hear** | can | It | your thoughts |  |  |  |  | vn see-30.1-1-1 «NP V S»: agent=Experiencer thought=Stimulus |
| 2 | **move** | present | you |  |  |  |  |  | vn roll-51.3.1 «NP.theme V»: agent=Theme |
| 3 | **think** |  | your |  |  |  |  |  | nom thought «cognition transitive»: poss=agent |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It has extra eyes on its feet and wings

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:37-butterflies-beetles-flies-mosquitoes-grasshoppers:t8:o4:1
# text = It has extra eyes on its feet and wings
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	has	have	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	extra	extra	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	amod	_	_
4	eyes	eye	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obj	_	_
5	on	on	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	7	nmod:poss	_	_
7	feet	foot	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nmod	_	_
8	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	9	cc	_	_
9	wings	wing	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **have** | present | It | extra eyes |  | its feet and wings |  |  | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent eye=Patient |

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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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