Logical puzzles, riddles for ingenuity are not only an interesting pastime, but also an excellent simulator of our quick wits and attentiveness. It should be noted that not only rich imagination helps us to get to the bottom of the truth, but also knowledge of some laws of grammar. Yes Yes exactly!
Ducks, shores, prepositions and conjunctions
In childhood, for sure, adults with a sly smile asked you questions such as "why ducks swim." And when you were right there with a smart look, happy that you could show off erudition, they answered that this was a bird from the family of waterfowl, therefore, ponds, lakes and even puddles had the same native habitat for them as a meadow with green grass, they stopped you with an answer unexpected and simple to genius. He sounded as follows: "Why ducks swim? On water!" You nodded in embarrassment and surprise: right! But it turns out, not really! Indeed, the accuracy of the answer to this rebus depends on such a detail: what part of the speech the word “why” is and how, together or separately, it is written. If this pronoun with a preposition is one answer, if an adverb, then another. So think after that why ducks are swimming!
Reason value
So, as you know, the essence of the solution lies in the grammatical status of the first word of the puzzle. If
this is an adverb of reason (synonyms: because of what, because of what), then adults are deeply mistaken, thinking that they easily caught you. After all, why ducks swim - because their nature is such that without swimming they can’t do anything, like geese, swans, etc. But if we don’t have an adverb, but the interrogative pronoun “what” in the form of the
dative case with the preposition “by "- a completely different matter! That is, if you are asked "what does a duck swim", then it’s correct to say "by water". Or along the lake, sea, river. That is, on any water surface! So learn grammar, and any “smart” uncle (or aunt), our dear young readers, you can easily shut up.
And not just ducks!
The puzzle about ducks may sound in different ways, but the principle, or algorithm of reasoning, is the same as was stated above. For example: from what (from what place - from the shore) it swims or why (why - because the bird has such a breed); why (in the sky) or why (because a
bird) flies. From the same series of
puzzles about the elephant and the field, remember: “What did the elephant do when he came to the field?” Eating weed, right? The catch here lies, again, in spelling. If you leave the sentence in this form, then everything is correct. What if you need to write like this: “What did the elephant do when Napoleon arrived?” Then you can come up with a lot of different answers.
And who knows: “Why in a glass of water?” Say: "To drink!" Right. But we put the question in a different way: “What is the glass of water for (or stewed fruit, tea, milk, that is, any liquid)?” What do you think? Just about, behind glass (if it is glass) or behind plastic, paper, respectively. What conclusion can be made? Learn, friends, grammar, and no one will circle around your finger!
Just smile
And finally, a few more verbal logical labyrinths. One of them is as follows: "The hunter bought a gun. He walks around the city, thinks how to try it out. He sees the tower, there is a clock on it. He aimed and shot. What do you think, where did the hunter go?" No, not in hours - to the police!