---
title: Your mate says octopuses are colour-blind so they can't match colour… — Octopuses, squid and cuttlefish · tree and pragmatics
description: Your mate says octopuses are colour-blind so they can't match colours. What's the truth? Test 4 · ★★★ of lesson 39 «Octopuses, squid and cuttlefish» 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 4 · ★★★ · Octopuses, squid and cuttlefish

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Your mate says octopuses are colour-blind so they can't match colours. What's the truth?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 2 · **The right answer:** option 2 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** mate, octopuses, truth · **What happens:** say, be, not match · **To what, where:** colours · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 4 · ★★★ of lesson 39 «Octopuses, squid and cuttlefish» 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/39-octopuses-squid-and-cuttlefish/#t4).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* Your mate says octopuses are colour-blind so they can't match colours.

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:39-octopuses-squid-and-cuttlefish:t4:1
# text = Your mate says octopuses are colour-blind so they can't match colours.
1	Your	your	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Person=2|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	2	nmod:poss	_	_
2	mate	mate	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	says	say	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	octopuses	octopus	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	nsubj	_	_
5	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	8	cop	_	_
6	colour	colour	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	8	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	blind	blind	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	ccomp	_	_
9	so	so	ADV	RB	_	13	advmod	_	_
10	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	13	nsubj	_	_
11	ca	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	13	aux	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	n't	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	13	advmod	_	_
13	match	match	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	8	advcl	_	_
14	colours	colour	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	13	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **say** *speech: assert* | present | Your mate |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **is** | present | octopuses |  |  |  |  | blind *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **not** **match** | can | octopuses *= octopus* | colours |  |  |  |  | vn amalgamate-22.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent colour=Patient |

<!-- .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.

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 2:* What's the truth?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:39-octopuses-squid-and-cuttlefish:t4:2
# text = What's the truth?
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	's	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	1	cop	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	truth	truth	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

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

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
They see better colours than people

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:39-octopuses-squid-and-cuttlefish:t4:o1:1
# text = They see better colours than people
1	They	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	see	see	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	better	good	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	4	amod	_	_
4	colours	colour	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obj	_	_
5	than	than	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	people	people	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **see** | present | They | better colours |  |  |  | than people | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer colour=Stimulus |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Most seem colour-blind, yet they match colours very well, and scientists are still working out how

<!-- fold The tree, 17 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:39-octopuses-squid-and-cuttlefish:t4:o2:1
# text = Most seem colour-blind, yet they match colours very well, and scientists are still working out how
1	Most	most	ADJ	JJS	Degree=Sup	2	nsubj	_	_
2	seem	seem	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	colour	colour	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	5	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	blind	blind	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	9	punct	_	_
7	yet	yet	CCONJ	CC	_	9	cc	_	_
8	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	9	nsubj	_	_
9	match	match	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	2	conj	_	_
10	colours	colour	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	9	obj	_	_
11	very	very	ADV	RB	_	12	advmod	_	_
12	well	well	ADV	RB	Degree=Pos	9	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	18	punct	_	_
14	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	18	cc	_	_
15	scientists	scientist	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	18	nsubj	_	_
16	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	18	aux	_	_
17	still	still	ADV	RB	_	18	advmod	_	_
18	working	work	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	2	conj	_	_
19	out	out	ADP	RP	_	18	compound:prt	_	_
20	how	how	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	18	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **seem** | present | Most | colour |  |  |  |  | vn seem-109-1-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Theme colour=Attribute |
| 2 | **match** | present | they | colours |  |  |  | well *property* | vn amalgamate-22.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent colour=Patient |
| 3 | **work out** | present · progressive | scientists |  |  |  | still |  | vn discover-84 «NP V how S»: agent=Agent |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
They are not colour-blind at all

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:39-octopuses-squid-and-cuttlefish:t4:o3:1
# text = They are not colour-blind at all
1	They	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	6	nsubj	_	_
2	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	cop	_	_
3	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	6	advmod	_	_
4	colour	colour	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	4	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	blind	blind	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
7	at	at	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
8	all	all	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	6	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **is** | present | They |  |  | all |  | blind *property* | tree rules |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
They never change colour

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:39-octopuses-squid-and-cuttlefish:t4:o4:1
# text = They never change colour
1	They	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	never	never	ADV	RB	PronType=Neg	3	advmod	_	_
3	change	change	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	colour	colour	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **change** | present | They | colour |  |  |  |  | vn dress-41.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent colour=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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