---
title: Why might a robin sing under a streetlight at night in a city? — City birds: sparrows, starlings, swift… · tree and pragmatics
description: Why might a robin sing under a streetlight at night in a city? Test 12 · ★ of lesson 369 «City birds: sparrows, starlings, swifts, crows and peregrines on tall buildings» of the biology course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each option; Mova'
---

<!-- md -->
[Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/369-city-birds-sparrows-starlings-swifts-crows-and-peregrines-on-tall-buildings/t12/)

<!-- crumbs -->
[home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/) / [questions](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/) / [Biology](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/) / [City birds: sparrows, starlings, swift…](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/369-city-birds-sparrows-starlings-swifts-crows-and-peregrines-on-tall-buildings/) / t12

# Test 12 · ★ · City birds: sparrows, starlings, swifts, crows and peregri…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Why might a robin sing under a streetlight at night in a city?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 2 · **The right answer:** option 2 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** robin · **What happens:** s · **To what, where:** streetlight

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 12 · ★ of lesson 369 «City birds: sparrows, starlings, swifts, crows and peregrines on tall buildings» of the biology 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/biology/369-city-birds-sparrows-starlings-swifts-crows-and-peregrines-on-tall-buildings/#t12).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:369-city-birds-sparrows-starlings-swifts-crows-and-peregrines-on-tall-buildings:t12:1
# text = Why might a robin sing under a streetlight at night in a city?
1	Why	why	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	5	advmod	_	_
2	might	might	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	5	aux	_	_
3	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	robin	robin	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
5	sing	s	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
6	under	under	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	streetlight	streetlight	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	_
9	at	at	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
10	night	night	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	_
11	in	in	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
12	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
13	city	city	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **s** | might | a robin |  |  | a streetlight | night | in a city | tree rules |

<!-- .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.

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Robins cannot sing in daylight

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:369-city-birds-sparrows-starlings-swifts-crows-and-peregrines-on-tall-buildings:t12:o1:1
# text = Robins cannot sing in daylight
1	Robins	robin	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj	_	_
2	can	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	4	advmod	_	_
4	sing	sing	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
5	in	in	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	daylight	daylight	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **sing** *speech: express* | can | Robins |  |  | daylight |  |  | vn sound\_emission-43.2 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme in daylight=Location |

### Option 2 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Night is quieter, so its song can be heard over less traffic

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:369-city-birds-sparrows-starlings-swifts-crows-and-peregrines-on-tall-buildings:t12:o2:1
# text = Night is quieter, so its song can be heard over less traffic
1	Night	night	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	cop	_	_
3	quieter	quiet	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	10	punct	_	_
5	so	so	ADV	RB	_	10	advmod	_	_
6	its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	7	nmod:poss	_	_
7	song	song	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	nsubj:pass	_	_
8	can	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	10	aux	_	_
9	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	10	aux:pass	_	_
10	heard	hear	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	3	conj	_	_
11	over	over	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
12	less	less	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	13	amod	_	_
13	traffic	traffic	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | Night |  |  |  |  | quiet *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **hear** | can · passive |  | its song |  | less traffic |  |  | vn see-30.1-1-1 «NP V S»: subject=Stimulus |
| 3 | **sing** |  | its *= it* |  |  |  |  |  | nom song «communication intransitive»: poss=agent |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The light makes it think it is winter

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:369-city-birds-sparrows-starlings-swifts-crows-and-peregrines-on-tall-buildings:t12:o3:1
# text = The light makes it think it is winter
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	light	light	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	makes	make	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	obj	_	_
5	think	think	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	xcomp	_	_
6	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	8	nsubj	_	_
7	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	8	cop	_	_
8	winter	winter	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	ccomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **make** | present | the light | it |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **think** *speech: other* | infinitive |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn focus-87.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **is a** | present | light | winter |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It is trying to wake people up so they come out and feed it

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:369-city-birds-sparrows-starlings-swifts-crows-and-peregrines-on-tall-buildings:t12:o4:1
# text = It is trying to wake people up so they come out and feed it
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux	_	_
3	trying	try	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
4	to	to	PART	TO	_	5	mark	_	_
5	wake	wake	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	xcomp	_	_
6	people	people	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	obj	_	_
7	up	up	ADP	RP	_	5	compound:prt	_	_
8	so	so	SCONJ	IN	_	10	mark	_	_
9	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	10	nsubj	_	_
10	come	come	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	advcl	_	_
11	out	out	ADV	RB	_	10	advmod	_	_
12	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	13	cc	_	_
13	feed	feed	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	conj	_	_
14	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	13	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **try** | present · progressive | It |  |  |  |  |  | vn try-61.1 «NP V S\_INF»: agent=Agent clause=Eventuality |
| 2 | **wake up** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive |  | people |  |  |  |  | vn other\_cos-45.4 «NP V NP.patient»: agent=Agent people=Patient |
| 3 | **come out** | present | people |  |  |  |  | out *property* | vn become-109.1 «NP V ADJ»: agent=Patient |
| 4 | **feed** | infinitive |  | it |  |  |  |  | vn feeding-39.7 «NP V NP PP.recipient»: agent=Agent it=Theme |

<!-- div src -->

**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 -->

<!-- pn -->
- ← previous: [City birds: sparrows, starlings, swift…, test 11](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/369-city-birds-sparrows-starlings-swifts-crows-and-peregrines-on-tall-buildings/t11/)
- next →: [City birds: sparrows, starlings, swift…, exam 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/369-city-birds-sparrows-starlings-swifts-crows-and-peregrines-on-tall-buildings/e1/)
- ↑ back to [City birds: sparrows, starlings, swifts, crows and peregrines on tall buildings](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/369-city-birds-sparrows-starlings-swifts-crows-and-peregrines-on-tall-buildings/)