---
title: In a cartoon, a detective says "I saw the thief with binoculars" and… — Grammar puzzles, part one · tree and pragmatics
description: In a cartoon, a detective says "I saw the thief with binoculars" and arrests the man holding binoculars. Why could he be wrong? Test 7 · ★★ of lesson 11 «Grammar puzzles, part one» of the language course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each op
---

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# Test 7 · ★★ · Grammar puzzles, part one

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
In a cartoon, a detective says "I saw the thief with binoculars" and arrests the man holding binoculars. Why could he be wrong?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 1 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** detective, man · **What happens:** say, see, arrest, hold, be · **To what, where:** cartoon, thief, man, binoculars · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 7 · ★★ of lesson 11 «Grammar puzzles, part one» of the language 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/language/11-grammar-puzzles-part-one/#t7).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* In a cartoon, a detective says "I saw the thief with binoculars" and arrests the man holding binoculars.

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:11-grammar-puzzles-part-one:t7:1
# text = In a cartoon, a detective says "I saw the thief with binoculars" and arrests the man holding binoculars.
1	In	in	ADP	IN	_	3	case	_	_
2	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	cartoon	cartoon	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	3	punct	_	_
5	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	detective	detective	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nsubj	_	_
7	says	say	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
8	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	10	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	10	nsubj	_	_
10	saw	see	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	7	ccomp	_	_
11	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
12	thief	thief	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	obj	_	_
13	with	with	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
14	binoculars	binocular	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	10	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	10	punct	_	_
16	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	17	cc	_	_
17	arrests	arrest	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	7	conj	_	_
18	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	19	det	_	_
19	man	man	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	17	obj	_	_
20	holding	hold	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	19	acl	_	_
21	binoculars	binocular	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	20	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
22	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	7	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **say** *speech: assert* | present | a detective |  |  | a cartoon |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 2 | **see** *in a quote* | past | a detective *= detective* | the thief |  |  |  | with binoculars | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer thief=Stimulus |
| 3 | **arrest** | present | a detective *not said here* | the man |  |  |  |  | vn prosecute-33.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent man=Patient |
| 4 | **hold** | gerund | the man *not said here* | binoculars |  |  |  |  | vn keep-15.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent binocular=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:* Why could he be wrong?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:11-grammar-puzzles-part-one:t7:2
# text = Why could he be wrong?
1	Why	why	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	5	advmod	_	_
2	could	could	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	5	aux	_	_
3	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	5	nsubj	_	_
4	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	cop	_	_
5	wrong	wrong	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

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

## The options {#options}

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The detective might have used the binoculars himself

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:11-grammar-puzzles-part-one:t7:o1:1
# text = The detective might have used the binoculars himself
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	detective	detective	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj:pass	_	_
3	might	might	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	5	aux	_	_
4	have	have	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	aux	_	_
5	used	use	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	binoculars	binocular	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	obj	_	_
8	himself	himself	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs|Reflex=Yes	7	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **use** | might · perfect · passive |  | the detective |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Thieves never carry binoculars

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:11-grammar-puzzles-part-one:t7:o2:1
# text = Thieves never carry binoculars
1	Thieves	thief	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj	_	_
2	never	never	ADV	RB	PronType=Neg	3	advmod	_	_
3	carry	carry	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	binoculars	binocular	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **carry** | present | Thieves | binoculars |  |  |  |  | vn carry-11.4 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent binocular=Theme |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Binoculars is a plural-only noun

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:11-grammar-puzzles-part-one:t7:o3:1
# text = Binoculars is a plural-only noun
1	Binoculars	binocular	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	7	cop	_	_
3	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
4	plural	plural	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	4	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	only	only	ADV	RB	_	7	advmod	_	_
7	noun	noun	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
```

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

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The sentence has no verb

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:11-grammar-puzzles-part-one:t7:o4:1
# text = The sentence has no verb
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	sentence	sentence	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	has	have	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	no	no	DET	DT	PronType=Neg	5	det	_	_
5	verb	verb	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **have** | present | the sentence | no verb |  |  |  |  | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent verb=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.

<!-- /div -->

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- ← previous: [Grammar puzzles, part one, test 6](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/language/11-grammar-puzzles-part-one/t6/)
- next →: [Grammar puzzles, part one, test 8](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/language/11-grammar-puzzles-part-one/t8/)
- ↑ back to [Grammar puzzles, part one](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/language/11-grammar-puzzles-part-one/)