---
title: ★★★ Riley from Phoenix swaps the colours and writes "un chat blanche… — Olympiad: mixed brain-teasers ★★★ · tree and pragmatics
description: ★★★ Riley from Phoenix swaps the colours and writes "un chat blanche, une souris noir". What's wrong? Test 10 · ★★★ of lesson 40 «Olympiad: mixed brain-teasers ★★★» of the French course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each option; Mova's choic
---

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# Test 10 · ★★★ · Olympiad: mixed brain-teasers ★★★

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
★★★ Riley from Phoenix swaps the colours and writes "un chat blanche, une souris noir". What's wrong?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 1 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** ★ ★ ★ · **What happens:** swap, write, be · **To what, where:** colours, un chat blanche

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This is test 10 · ★★★ of lesson 40 «Olympiad: mixed brain-teasers ★★★» of the French 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/french/40-olympiad-mixed-brain-teasers/#t10).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* ★★★ Riley from Phoenix swaps the colours and writes "un chat blanche, une souris noir".

```conllu
# sent_id = question:french:40-olympiad-mixed-brain-teasers:t10:1
# text = ★★★ Riley from Phoenix swaps the colours and writes "un chat blanche, une souris noir".
1	★	★	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	3	compound	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	★	★	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	compound	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	★	★	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nsubj	_	_
4	Riley	Riley	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	3	appos	_	_
5	from	from	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	Phoenix	Phoenix	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	3	nmod	_	_
7	swaps	swap	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	colours	colour	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	obj	_	_
10	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	11	cc	_	_
11	writes	write	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	7	conj	_	_
12	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	13	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	un	un	X	FW	Foreign=Yes	15	flat:foreign	_	_
14	chat	chat	X	FW	Foreign=Yes	15	compound	_	_
15	blanche	blanche	X	FW	Foreign=Yes	11	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	19	punct	_	_
17	une	une	X	FW	_	19	compound	_	_
18	souris	souris	X	FW	Foreign=Yes	19	compound	_	_
19	noir	noir	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	15	appos	_	SpaceAfter=No
20	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	19	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
21	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	7	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **swap** | present | ★ ★ ★ from Phoenix | the colours |  |  |  |  | vn exchange-13.6.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent colour=Theme |
| 2 | **write** | present | ★ ★ ★ from Phoenix *not said here* | un chat blanche |  |  |  |  | vn scribble-25.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent blanche=Theme |

<!-- .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 wrong?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:french:40-olympiad-mixed-brain-teasers:t10:2
# text = What's wrong?
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	3	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	's	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	cop	_	_
3	wrong	wrong	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

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

## The options {#options}

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Each colour must match: blanc, noire

```conllu
# sent_id = question:french:40-olympiad-mixed-brain-teasers:t10:o1:1
# text = Each colour must match: blanc, noire
1	Each	each	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	2	det	_	_
2	colour	colour	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
3	must	must	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
4	match	match	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	:	:	PUNCT	:	_	6	punct	_	_
6	blanc	blanc	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	8	punct	_	_
8	noire	noire	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **match** | must | each colour | blanc and noire |  |  |  |  | vn amalgamate-22.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent blanc=Patient |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Only souris is wrong: it should be un souris

```conllu
# sent_id = question:french:40-olympiad-mixed-brain-teasers:t10:o2:1
# text = Only souris is wrong: it should be un souris
1	Only	only	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
2	souris	souris	X	FW	Foreign=Yes	4	nsubj	_	_
3	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
4	wrong	wrong	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	:	:	PUNCT	:	_	9	punct	_	_
6	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	9	nsubj	_	_
7	should	should	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	9	aux	_	_
8	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	9	cop	_	_
9	un	un	X	FW	Foreign=Yes	4	parataxis	_	_
10	souris	souris	X	FW	Foreign=Yes	9	flat:foreign	_	_
```

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

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Nothing, the colours copy straight across

```conllu
# sent_id = question:french:40-olympiad-mixed-brain-teasers:t10:o3:1
# text = Nothing, the colours copy straight across
1	Nothing	nothing	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Neg	5	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	1	punct	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	colours	colour	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	nsubj	_	_
5	copy	copy	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
6	straight	straight	ADV	RB	_	7	advmod	_	_
7	across	across	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **copy** | present | the colours | Nothing |  |  |  | across *property* | vn scribble-25.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Only chat is wrong: it should be une chat

```conllu
# sent_id = question:french:40-olympiad-mixed-brain-teasers:t10:o4:1
# text = Only chat is wrong: it should be une chat
1	Only	only	ADV	RB	_	2	advmod	_	_
2	chat	chat	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
3	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
4	wrong	wrong	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	:	:	PUNCT	:	_	10	punct	_	_
6	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	10	nsubj	_	_
7	should	should	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	10	aux	_	_
8	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	10	cop	_	_
9	une	une	X	FW	_	10	compound	_	_
10	chat	chat	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | chat |  |  |  |  | wrong *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **is a** | should | chat | une chat |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

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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.

<!-- /div -->

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