---
title: Why is there a natural zero for latitude but not for longitude? — Directions, latitude and longitude · tree and pragmatics
description: Why is there a natural zero for latitude but not for longitude? Test 1 · ★ of lesson 2 «Directions, latitude and longitude» of the geography 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 1 · ★ · Directions, latitude and longitude

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Why is there a natural zero for latitude but not for longitude?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 3 · wrong ✗ · **What happens:** be

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 1 · ★ of lesson 2 «Directions, latitude and longitude» of the geography 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/geography/2-directions-latitude-and-longitude/#t1).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:geography:2-directions-latitude-and-longitude:t1:1
# text = Why is there a natural zero for latitude but not for longitude?
1	Why	why	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	0	root	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	1	cop	_	_
3	there	there	PRON	EX	PronType=Dem	2	expl	_	_
4	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
5	natural	natural	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	zero	zero	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nsubj	_	_
7	for	for	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
8	latitude	latitude	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nmod	_	_
9	but	but	CCONJ	CC	_	12	cc	_	_
10	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	12	advmod	_	_
11	for	for	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
12	longitude	longitude	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present |  |  |  |  |  | why *property* | 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 · ← Mova's choice {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Greenwich is the oldest city with an observatory

```conllu
# sent_id = question:geography:2-directions-latitude-and-longitude:t1:o1:1
# text = Greenwich is the oldest city with an observatory
1	Greenwich	greenwich	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	oldest	old	ADJ	JJS	Degree=Sup	5	amod	_	_
5	city	city	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
6	with	with	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	observatory	observatory	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | Greenwich | the oldest city |  |  |  | with a observatory | tree rules |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The equator is hotter than other places

```conllu
# sent_id = question:geography:2-directions-latitude-and-longitude:t1:o2:1
# text = The equator is hotter than other places
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	equator	equator	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
3	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
4	hotter	hot	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	0	root	_	_
5	than	than	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	other	other	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
7	places	place	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | the equator |  |  |  |  | than other places; hot *property* | tree rules |

### Option 3 · ✓ the right answer {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The equator lies halfway between the poles, but every meridian is alike

```conllu
# sent_id = question:geography:2-directions-latitude-and-longitude:t1:o3:1
# text = The equator lies halfway between the poles, but every meridian is alike
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	equator	equator	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	lies	lie	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	halfway	halfway	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	_
5	between	between	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	poles	pole	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	13	punct	_	_
9	but	but	CCONJ	CC	_	13	cc	_	_
10	every	every	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	11	det	_	_
11	meridian	meridian	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	nsubj	_	_
12	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	13	cop	_	_
13	alike	alike	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **lie** | present | the equator |  |  | the poles |  | halfway *property* | vn assuming\_position-50 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Agent between pole=Location |
| 2 | **is** | present | every meridian |  |  |  |  | alike *property* | tree rules |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Longitude lines are curved and latitude lines are straight, so they cannot start at zero

<!-- fold The tree, 16 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:geography:2-directions-latitude-and-longitude:t1:o4:1
# text = Longitude lines are curved and latitude lines are straight, so they cannot start at zero
1	Longitude	longitude	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	compound	_	_
2	lines	line	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj:pass	_	_
3	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux:pass	_	_
4	curved	curve	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
5	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	9	cc	_	_
6	latitude	latitude	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	compound	_	_
7	lines	line	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	9	nsubj	_	_
8	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	9	cop	_	_
9	straight	straight	ADV	RB	_	4	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	15	punct	_	_
11	so	so	ADV	RB	_	15	advmod	_	_
12	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	15	nsubj	_	_
13	can	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	15	aux	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	15	advmod	_	_
15	start	start	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	conj	_	_
16	at	at	ADP	IN	_	17	case	_	_
17	zero	zero	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	15	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **curve** | present · passive |  | Longitude lines |  |  |  |  | vn knead-26.5 «NP V NP.material»: subject=Material |
| 2 | **is** | present | latitude lines |  |  |  |  | straight *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **not** **start** | can | lines *= line* |  |  | zero |  |  | vn begin-55.1-1-1 «NP.eventuality V»: agent=Eventuality |

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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: [Maps and scale, exam 4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/geography/1-maps-and-scale/e4/)
- next →: [Directions, latitude and longitude, test 2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/geography/2-directions-latitude-and-longitude/t2/)
- ↑ back to [Directions, latitude and longitude](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/geography/2-directions-latitude-and-longitude/)