---
title: How did astronomers first notice that the Sun spins? — The Sun, our star · tree and pragmatics
description: How did astronomers first notice that the Sun spins? Test 10 of lesson 1 «The Sun, our star» of the space 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 10 · The Sun, our star

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
How did astronomers first notice that the Sun spins?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 3 · **The right answer:** option 4 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** astronomers, Sun · **What happens:** do, notice, spin

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 10 of lesson 1 «The Sun, our star» of the space 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/space/1-the-sun-our-star/#t10).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:space:1-the-sun-our-star:t10:1
# text = How did astronomers first notice that the Sun spins?
1	How	how	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	2	advmod	_	_
2	did	do	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	astronomers	astronomer	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	nsubj	_	_
4	first	first	ADV	RB	NumForm=Word|NumType=Ord	5	advmod	_	_
5	notice	notice	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	2	ccomp	_	_
6	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	9	mark	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	Sun	Sun	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	9	nsubj	_	_
9	spins	spin	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	advcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **do** | past |  |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **notice** | present | astronomers |  |  |  |  | first *property* | vn see-30.1-1 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Experiencer |
| 3 | **spin** | present | the Sun |  |  |  |  |  | vn roll-51.3.1 «NP.theme V»: agent=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.

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
By hearing it whirr and hum through a big telescope

```conllu
# sent_id = question:space:1-the-sun-our-star:t10:o1:1
# text = By hearing it whirr and hum through a big telescope
1	By	by	SCONJ	IN	_	2	mark	_	_
2	hearing	hear	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
3	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	obj	_	_
4	whirr	whirr	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
5	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	6	cc	_	_
6	hum	hum	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	2	conj	_	_
7	through	through	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
8	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
9	big	big	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	10	amod	_	_
10	telescope	telescope	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **hear** | gerund |  | it |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **hum** | infinitive |  |  |  | a big telescope |  |  | vn sound\_emission-43.2 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme through telescope=Location |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
By seeing its rings go round

```conllu
# sent_id = question:space:1-the-sun-our-star:t10:o2:1
# text = By seeing its rings go round
1	By	by	SCONJ	IN	_	2	mark	_	_
2	seeing	see	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
3	its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	4	nmod:poss	_	_
4	rings	ring	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	nsubj	_	_
5	go	go	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	2	ccomp	_	_
6	round	round	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **see** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Experiencer clause=Stimulus |
| 2 | **go round** | present | its rings |  |  |  |  | round *property* | vn disappearance-48.2-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

### Option 3 · ← Mova's choice {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
By noticing the year getting shorter

```conllu
# sent_id = question:space:1-the-sun-our-star:t10:o3:1
# text = By noticing the year getting shorter
1	By	by	SCONJ	IN	_	2	mark	_	_
2	noticing	notice	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	year	year	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
5	getting	get	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	2	conj	_	_
6	shorter	short	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	5	xcomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **notice** | gerund |  |  |  |  | year |  | vn see-30.1-1 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Experiencer |
| 2 | **get** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  | short *property* | vn comprehend-87.2-1 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Experiencer |

### Option 4 · ✓ the right answer {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
By watching sunspots move across its face

```conllu
# sent_id = question:space:1-the-sun-our-star:t10:o4:1
# text = By watching sunspots move across its face
1	By	by	SCONJ	IN	_	2	mark	_	_
2	watching	watch	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
3	sunspots	sunspot	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj	_	_
4	move	move	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	2	xcomp	_	_
5	across	across	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	7	nmod:poss	_	_
7	face	face	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **watch** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **move** | infinitive | sunspots |  |  | its face |  |  | vn roll-51.3.1 «NP V PP.trajectory»: agent=Theme across face=Trajectory |

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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.

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