---
title: Bella says "'I have seen it' and 'I saw it' mean exactly the same, a… — Tense consistency and verb forms · tree and pragmatics
description: Bella says "'I have seen it' and 'I saw it' mean exactly the same, always." Which is closest to the truth? Test 9 · ★ of lesson 31 «Tense consistency and verb forms» of the English course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each option; Mova's cho
---

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# Test 9 · ★ · Tense consistency and verb forms

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Bella says "'I have seen it' and 'I saw it' mean exactly the same, always." Which is closest to the truth?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 1 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** Bella · **What happens:** say, see, mean, be · **To what, where:** it, same · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 9 · ★ of lesson 31 «Tense consistency and verb forms» 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](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/school-run/english/31-tense-consistency-and-verb-forms/#t9).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* Bella says "'I have seen it' and 'I saw it' mean exactly the same, always."

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:31-tense-consistency-and-verb-forms:t9:1
# text = Bella says "'I have seen it' and 'I saw it' mean exactly the same, always."
1	Bella	Bella	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	2	nsubj	_	_
2	says	say	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	7	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	'	'	PUNCT	``	_	7	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	7	nsubj	_	_
6	have	have	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	7	aux	_	_
7	seen	see	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	2	ccomp	_	_
8	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	7	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	'	'	PUNCT	''	_	7	punct	_	_
10	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	13	cc	_	_
11	'	'	PUNCT	``	_	13	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	13	nsubj	_	_
13	saw	see	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	7	conj	_	_
14	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	13	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	'	'	PUNCT	''	_	16	punct	_	_
16	mean	mean	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	13	ccomp	_	_
17	exactly	exactly	ADV	RB	_	19	advmod	_	_
18	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	19	det	_	_
19	same	same	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	16	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
20	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	21	punct	_	_
21	always	always	ADV	RB	PronType=Tot	16	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
22	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
23	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **say** *speech: assert* | present | Bella |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 2 | **see** *in a quote* | present · perfect | Bella | it |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer it=Stimulus |
| 3 | **see** *in a quote* | past | Bella | it |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 4 | **mean** *in a quote* | present |  | the same |  |  |  |  | vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent same=Topic |

<!-- .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:* Which is closest to the truth?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:31-tense-consistency-and-verb-forms:t9:2
# text = Which is closest to the truth?
1	Which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	3	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	cop	_	_
3	closest	close	ADJ	JJS	Degree=Sup	0	root	_	_
4	to	to	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	truth	truth	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

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

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Both are past, but "have seen" links it to now

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:31-tense-consistency-and-verb-forms:t9:o1:1
# text = Both are past, but "have seen" links it to now
1	Both	both	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	3	nsubj	_	_
2	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	cop	_	_
3	past	past	ADV	RB	_	10	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	8	punct	_	_
5	but	but	CCONJ	CC	_	8	cc	_	_
6	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	8	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	have	have	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	8	aux	_	_
8	seen	see	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	3	parataxis	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	8	punct	_	_
10	links	link	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
11	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	10	obj	_	_
12	to	to	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
13	now	now	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	10	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | Both |  |  |  |  | past *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **see** *in a quote* | present · perfect |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Experiencer |
| 3 | **link** | present |  | it |  |  |  |  | vn mix-22.1-2-1 «NP V NP PP.co-patient»: agent=Agent it=Patient to now=Co-Patient |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Only "I seen it" is correct

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:31-tense-consistency-and-verb-forms:t9:o2:1
# text = Only "I seen it" is correct
1	Only	only	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
2	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	4	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
4	seen	see	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	8	csubj	_	_
5	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	4	punct	_	_
7	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	8	cop	_	_
8	correct	correct	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **see** *in a quote* | participle | I | it |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer it=Stimulus |
| 2 | **be** *speech: disagree* | present |  |  |  |  |  | correct *property* | tree rules |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
"I have seen it" is the future

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:31-tense-consistency-and-verb-forms:t9:o3:1
# text = "I have seen it" is the future
1	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	4	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
3	have	have	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
4	seen	see	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	9	advcl	_	_
5	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	4	punct	_	_
7	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	9	cop	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	future	future	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **see** *in a quote* | present · perfect | I | it |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer it=Stimulus |
| 2 | **is a** | present |  | the future |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
"I saw it" is wrong in Standard English

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:31-tense-consistency-and-verb-forms:t9:o4:1
# text = "I saw it" is wrong in Standard English
1	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	3	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
3	saw	see	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	7	advcl	_	_
4	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	3	punct	_	_
6	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	7	cop	_	_
7	wrong	wrong	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
8	in	in	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	Standard	Standard	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	10	compound	_	_
10	English	English	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	7	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **see** *in a quote* | past | I | it |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer it=Stimulus |
| 2 | **is** | present |  |  |  | Standard English |  | wrong *property* | tree rules |

<!-- div src -->

**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.

<!-- /div -->

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