---
title: If the Sun suddenly switched off, how long would it be before we not… — The Sun, our star · tree and pragmatics
description: If the Sun suddenly switched off, how long would it be before we noticed the dark? Test 2 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 2 · The Sun, our star

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
If the Sun suddenly switched off, how long would it be before we noticed the dark?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 4 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** Sun · **What happens:** switch off, be

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 2 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/#t2).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:space:1-the-sun-our-star:t2:1
# text = If the Sun suddenly switched off, how long would it be before we noticed the dark?
1	If	if	SCONJ	IN	_	5	mark	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	Sun	Sun	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
4	suddenly	suddenly	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
5	switched	switch	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
6	off	off	ADP	RP	_	5	compound:prt	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	15	punct	_	_
8	how	how	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	9	advmod	_	_
9	long	long	ADV	RB	Degree=Pos	15	advmod	_	_
10	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	15	aux	_	_
11	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	15	nsubj	_	_
12	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	15	cop	_	_
13	before	before	SCONJ	IN	_	15	mark	_	_
14	we	we	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=1|PronType=Prs	15	nsubj	_	_
15	noticed	notice	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	conj	_	_
16	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	17	det	_	_
17	dark	dark	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	15	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
18	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **switch off** | participle | the Sun |  |  |  |  | suddenly *property* | vn convert-26.6.2-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Patient |
| 2 | **is** | would | Sun |  |  |  |  | long, notice *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 -->
At that very same instant, because light is instant

```conllu
# sent_id = question:space:1-the-sun-our-star:t2:o1:1
# text = At that very same instant, because light is instant
1	At	at	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
2	that	that	DET	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	5	det	_	_
3	very	very	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
4	same	same	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	instant	instant	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	10	punct	_	_
7	because	because	SCONJ	IN	_	10	mark	_	_
8	light	light	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	nsubj	_	_
9	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	10	cop	_	_
10	instant	instant	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | light |  |  |  |  | instant *property* | tree rules |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Never, because the Moon would keep us lit up instead

```conllu
# sent_id = question:space:1-the-sun-our-star:t2:o2:1
# text = Never, because the Moon would keep us lit up instead
1	Never	never	ADV	RB	PronType=Neg	9	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	1	punct	_	_
3	because	because	SCONJ	IN	_	7	mark	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	Moon	Moon	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	7	nsubj	_	_
6	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	7	aux	_	_
7	keep	keep	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	9	aux:pass	_	_
8	us	we	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=1|PronType=Prs	7	obj	_	_
9	lit	lit	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
10	up	up	ADP	RP	_	9	compound:prt	_	_
11	instead	instead	ADV	RB	_	9	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **lit up** | infinitive · passive |  |  |  |  |  | instead *property* | tree rules |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
About a year later, when the Earth goes round once

```conllu
# sent_id = question:space:1-the-sun-our-star:t2:o3:1
# text = About a year later, when the Earth goes round once
1	About	about	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	_
2	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	year	year	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl:unmarked	_	_
4	later	late	ADV	RBR	Degree=Cmp	9	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	9	punct	_	_
6	when	when	SCONJ	WRB	_	9	mark	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	Earth	Earth	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	9	nsubj	_	_
9	goes	go	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
10	round	round	ADV	RB	_	9	advmod	_	_
11	once	once	ADV	RB	NumForm=Word|NumType=Mult	9	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **go round** | present | the Earth |  |  |  |  | late, once, round *property* | vn disappearance-48.2-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
About 8 minutes, the time light takes to reach us

```conllu
# sent_id = question:space:1-the-sun-our-star:t2:o4:1
# text = About 8 minutes, the time light takes to reach us
1	About	about	ADV	RB	_	2	advmod	_	_
2	8	8	NUM	CD	NumForm=Digit|NumType=Card	3	nummod	_	_
3	minutes	minute	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	compound	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	3	punct	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	time	time	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	compound	_	_
7	light	light	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nsubj	_	_
8	takes	take	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
9	to	to	PART	TO	_	10	mark	_	_
10	reach	reach	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	8	advcl	_	_
11	us	we	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=1|PronType=Prs	10	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **take** | present | minutes time light |  |  |  |  |  | vn bring-11.3 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **reach** | to-infinitive | minutes time light *not said here* | us |  |  |  |  | vn body\_motion-49.2-1-1 «NP V NP ADV»: agent=Agent we=Theme |

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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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