---
title: Freya writes "Was it a car or a cat I saw?" backwards, ignoring spac… — Grammar puzzles, part two · tree and pragmatics
description: Freya writes "Was it a car or a cat I saw?" backwards, ignoring spaces. What happens? Test 2 · ★★★ of lesson 36 «Grammar puzzles, part two» of the language course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each option; Mova's choice was wrong.
---

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# Test 2 · ★★★ · Grammar puzzles, part two

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Freya writes "Was it a car or a cat I saw?" backwards, ignoring spaces. What happens?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 3 · **The right answer:** option 1 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** Freya, it, I · **What happens:** write, be, see, ignore, happen · **To what, where:** car, cat, spaces · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 2 · ★★★ of lesson 36 «Grammar puzzles, part two» 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/36-grammar-puzzles-part-two/#t2).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* Freya writes "Was it a car or a cat I saw?" backwards, ignoring spaces.

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:36-grammar-puzzles-part-two:t2:1
# text = Freya writes "Was it a car or a cat I saw?" backwards, ignoring spaces.
1	Freya	Freya	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	2	nsubj	_	_
2	writes	write	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	7	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	Was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	7	cop	_	_
5	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	7	nsubj	_	_
6	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	car	car	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	ccomp	_	_
8	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	10	cc	_	_
9	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	cat	cat	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	conj	_	_
11	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	12	nsubj	_	_
12	saw	see	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	10	acl:relcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	7	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	7	punct	_	_
15	backwards	backwards	ADV	RB	_	2	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	17	punct	_	_
17	ignoring	ignore	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	2	conj	_	_
18	spaces	space	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	17	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
19	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **write** | present | Freya |  |  |  |  | backwards *property* | vn scribble-25.2-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **is a** *in a quote* | past | it | a car or a cat |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 3 | **see** *in a quote* | past | I | a cat *not said here* |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer cat=Stimulus |
| 4 | **ignore** | gerund | Freya *not said here* | spaces |  |  |  |  | vn neglect-75.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent space=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 happens?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:36-grammar-puzzles-part-two:t2:2
# text = What happens?
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	2	nsubj	_	_
2	happens	happen	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **happen** | present |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn occur-48.3-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 · ✓ the right answer {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
She gets the same letters in the same order

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:36-grammar-puzzles-part-two:t2:o1:1
# text = She gets the same letters in the same order
1	She	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	gets	get	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	same	same	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	letters	letter	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obj	_	_
6	in	in	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
8	same	same	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	amod	_	_
9	order	order	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **get** | present | She | the same letters |  | the same order |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer letter=Stimulus |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
She gets a totally different sentence

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:36-grammar-puzzles-part-two:t2:o2:1
# text = She gets a totally different sentence
1	She	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	gets	get	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
4	totally	totally	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
5	different	different	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	sentence	sentence	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **get** | present | She | a different sentence |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer sentence=Stimulus |

### Option 3 · ← Mova's choice {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
She gets "I saw a cat" and nothing else

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:36-grammar-puzzles-part-two:t2:o3:1
# text = She gets "I saw a cat" and nothing else
1	She	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	gets	get	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	5	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	5	nsubj	_	_
5	saw	see	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	2	ccomp	_	_
6	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	cat	cat	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	5	punct	_	_
9	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	10	cc	_	_
10	nothing	nothing	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Neg	2	conj	_	_
11	else	else	ADV	RB	_	10	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **get** | present | She |  |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Experiencer clause=Stimulus |
| 2 | **see** *in a quote* | past | I | a cat |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer cat=Stimulus |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The letters run out halfway through

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:36-grammar-puzzles-part-two:t2:o4:1
# text = The letters run out halfway through
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	letters	letter	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj	_	_
3	run	run	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	out	out	ADP	RP	_	3	compound:prt	_	_
5	halfway	halfway	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	_
6	through	through	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **run out** | present | the letters |  |  |  |  | halfway, through *property* | vn run-51.3.2-2-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

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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 two, test 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/language/36-grammar-puzzles-part-two/t1/)
- next →: [Grammar puzzles, part two, test 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/language/36-grammar-puzzles-part-two/t3/)
- ↑ back to [Grammar puzzles, part two](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/language/36-grammar-puzzles-part-two/)