---
title: You draw an eye, a can and a sea to write «I can see». Which trick i… — How writing began: from tally marks an… · tree and pragmatics
description: You draw an eye, a can and a sea to write «I can see». Which trick is that? Test 3 · ★★ of lesson 82 «How writing began: from tally marks and pictures to the alphabet» of the history course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each option; Mova's c
---

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# Test 3 · ★★ · How writing began: from tally marks and pictures to the al…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
You draw an eye, a can and a sea to write «I can see». Which trick is that?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 4 · **The right answer:** option 4 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** You, I · **What happens:** draw, write, see, be · **To what, where:** eye, trick · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 3 · ★★ of lesson 82 «How writing began: from tally marks and pictures to the alphabet» of the history 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/history/82-how-writing-began-from-tally-marks-and-pictures-to-the-alphabet/#t3).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* You draw an eye, a can and a sea to write «I can see».

```conllu
# sent_id = question:history:82-how-writing-began-from-tally-marks-and-pictures-to-the-alphabet:t3:1
# text = You draw an eye, a can and a sea to write «I can see».
1	You	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Person=2|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	draw	draw	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=2|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	eye	eye	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	10	punct	_	_
6	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
7	can	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	10	aux	_	_
8	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	10	cc	_	_
9	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	sea	sea	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
11	to	to	PART	TO	_	12	mark	_	_
12	write	write	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	10	acl	_	_
13	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	16	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	16	nsubj	_	_
15	can	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	16	aux	_	_
16	see	see	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	12	ccomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	16	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
18	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **draw** | present | You | a eye |  |  |  | a sea *obl* | vn scribble-25.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent eye=Theme |
| 2 | **write** | to-infinitive | You *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1 «NP V S-Quote»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 3 | **see** *in a quote* | can | I |  |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Experiencer |

<!-- .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 trick is that?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:history:82-how-writing-began-from-tally-marks-and-pictures-to-the-alphabet:t3:2
# text = Which trick is that?
1	Which	which	DET	WDT	PronType=Int	2	det	_	_
2	trick	trick	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	2	cop	_	_
4	that	that	PRON	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	2	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

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

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The alphabet trick of one letter per sound

```conllu
# sent_id = question:history:82-how-writing-began-from-tally-marks-and-pictures-to-the-alphabet:t3:o1:1
# text = The alphabet trick of one letter per sound
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	alphabet	alphabet	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	compound	_	_
3	trick	trick	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
4	of	of	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	one	one	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	6	nummod	_	_
6	letter	letter	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nmod	_	_
7	per	per	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
8	sound	sound	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **trick** |  |  | one letter per sound |  |  |  |  | nom trick «act transitive»: of=patient |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The cave trick of drawing what you saw

```conllu
# sent_id = question:history:82-how-writing-began-from-tally-marks-and-pictures-to-the-alphabet:t3:o2:1
# text = The cave trick of drawing what you saw
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	cave	cave	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	compound	_	_
3	trick	trick	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
4	of	of	SCONJ	IN	_	5	mark	_	_
5	drawing	draw	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	3	acl	_	_
6	what	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	5	obj	_	_
7	you	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Person=2|PronType=Prs	8	nsubj	_	_
8	saw	see	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=2|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	6	acl:relcl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **draw** | gerund | the cave trick *not said here* | the cave trick |  |  |  |  | vn scribble-25.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent what=Theme |
| 2 | **see** | past | you |  |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Experiencer |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The tally trick of counting with marks

```conllu
# sent_id = question:history:82-how-writing-began-from-tally-marks-and-pictures-to-the-alphabet:t3:o3:1
# text = The tally trick of counting with marks
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	tally	tally	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	compound	_	_
3	trick	trick	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
4	of	of	SCONJ	IN	_	5	mark	_	_
5	counting	count	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	3	acl	_	_
6	with	with	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	marks	mark	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **count** | gerund | the tally trick *not said here* |  |  |  |  | with marks | vn matter-91 «NP V»: agent=Stimulus |

### Option 4 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The rebus trick of pictures for sounds

```conllu
# sent_id = question:history:82-how-writing-began-from-tally-marks-and-pictures-to-the-alphabet:t3:o4:1
# text = The rebus trick of pictures for sounds
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	rebus	rebus	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	compound	_	_
3	trick	trick	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
4	of	of	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	pictures	picture	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nmod	_	_
6	for	for	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	sounds	sound	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **trick** |  |  | pictures |  |  |  | for sounds | nom trick «act transitive»: of=patient for=obl |

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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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