The sentence "Say who catches flies with its long tongue" is a bit unusual and can be confusing in terms of grammar and meaning.

Let's break it down:

  1. Subject of the sentence: The sentence starts with "Say." This is an imperative verb, basically a command to someone to "say" or "tell" something.
  2. What is to be said? The rest, "who catches flies with its long tongue," looks like a noun clause. This phrase is meant to identify an animal or creature that catches flies in this way.

However, as it stands, it sounds like the sentence is asking the listener to say (or tell) who does the action of "catches flies with its long tongue."

Grammatically:

  • "Say who catches flies with its long tongue" is grammatically correct as an imperative sentence followed by an indirect question.
  • But it might be clearer to write or say something like:

"Say who catches flies with their long tongue." or

"Tell me who catches flies with its long tongue." or

"Who catches flies with its long tongue?" (as a direct question)

The pronoun "its" refers to the singular subject of "who," which is correct if referring to a single animal. If unsure, using "their" as a singular gender-neutral pronoun is becoming more common.

Summary: The original sentence is grammatical but somewhat formal and indirect. For clarity, direct questions or clearer imperatives are better.

Who catches flies with its long tongue? Typically, animals like frogs or chameleons use long tongues to catch flies.


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