---
title: My cousin reckons bigger stars must live longer cos they've got more… — How stars live · tree and pragmatics
description: My cousin reckons bigger stars must live longer cos they've got more fuel. what's wrong with that? Test 1 · ★★ of lesson 18 «How stars live» 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 1 · ★★ · How stars live

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
My cousin reckons bigger stars must live longer cos they've got more fuel. what's wrong with that?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 2 · **The right answer:** option 3 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** cousin, bigger stars, stars · **What happens:** reckon, live, get, be · **To what, where:** more fuel

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 1 · ★★ of lesson 18 «How stars live» 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/18-how-stars-live/#t1).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:space:18-how-stars-live:t1:1
# text = My cousin reckons bigger stars must live longer cos they've got more fuel. what's wrong with that?
1	My	my	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Sing|Person=1|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	2	nmod:poss	_	_
2	cousin	cousin	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	reckons	reckon	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	bigger	big	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	5	amod	_	_
5	stars	star	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	nsubj	_	_
6	must	must	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	7	aux	_	_
7	live	live	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	ccomp	_	_
8	longer	long	ADV	RBR	Degree=Cmp	7	advmod	_	_
9	cos	cos	SCONJ	IN	_	12	mark	_	_
10	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	12	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	've	have	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	12	aux	_	_
12	got	get	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	7	advcl	_	_
13	more	more	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	14	amod	_	_
14	fuel	fuel	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
16	what	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	18	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	's	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	18	cop	_	_
18	wrong	wrong	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	parataxis	_	_
19	with	with	ADP	IN	_	20	case	_	_
20	that	that	PRON	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	18	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
21	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **reckon** | present | My cousin |  |  |  |  |  | vn consider-29.9-1 «NP V how S»: agent=Agent clause=Theme |
| 2 | **live** | must | bigger stars |  |  |  |  | long *property* | vn exist-47.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 3 | **get** | present · perfect | stars *= star* | more fuel |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer fuel=Stimulus |
| 4 | **is** | present |  |  |  |  |  | with that; wrong *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 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Stars do not use any fuel at all

```conllu
# sent_id = question:space:18-how-stars-live:t1:o1:1
# text = Stars do not use any fuel at all
1	Stars	star	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj	_	_
2	do	do	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
3	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	4	advmod	_	_
4	use	use	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
5	any	any	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	6	det	_	_
6	fuel	fuel	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obj	_	_
7	at	at	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
8	all	all	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	4	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **use** | present · do-support | Stars | any fuel |  | all |  |  | vn eat-39.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent fuel=Patient |

### Option 2 · ← Mova's choice {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Nothing, the biggest stars live longest because they have more fuel

```conllu
# sent_id = question:space:18-how-stars-live:t1:o2:1
# text = Nothing, the biggest stars live longest because they have more fuel
1	Nothing	nothing	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Neg	6	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	1	punct	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	biggest	big	ADJ	JJS	Degree=Sup	5	amod	_	_
5	stars	star	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	nsubj	_	_
6	live	live	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
7	longest	long	ADJ	JJS	Degree=Sup	6	obj	_	_
8	because	because	SCONJ	IN	_	10	mark	_	_
9	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	10	nsubj	_	_
10	have	have	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	advcl	_	_
11	more	more	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	12	amod	_	_
12	fuel	fuel	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **live** | present | Nothing | longest |  |  |  |  | vn lodge-46 «NP V ADV»: agent=Theme long=Location |
| 2 | **have** | present | stars *= star* | more fuel |  |  |  |  | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent fuel=Patient |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Big stars burn their fuel so fast they die much sooner

```conllu
# sent_id = question:space:18-how-stars-live:t1:o3:1
# text = Big stars burn their fuel so fast they die much sooner
1	Big	big	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	amod	_	_
2	stars	star	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj	_	_
3	burn	burn	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	5	nmod:poss	_	_
5	fuel	fuel	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
6	so	so	ADV	RB	_	7	advmod	_	_
7	fast	fast	ADV	RB	Degree=Pos	3	advmod	_	_
8	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	9	nsubj	_	_
9	die	die	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	parataxis	_	_
10	much	much	ADV	RB	_	11	advmod	_	_
11	sooner	soon	ADV	RBR	Degree=Cmp	9	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **burn** | present | Big stars | stars's fuel |  |  |  | fast *property* | vn light\_emission-43.1 «NP V NP.theme»: agent=Agent fuel=Theme |
| 2 | **die** | present | stars *= star* |  |  |  |  | soon *property* | vn calibratable\_cos-45.6.1 «NP.attribute V»: agent=Attribute |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Big stars have less fuel than small ones

```conllu
# sent_id = question:space:18-how-stars-live:t1:o4:1
# text = Big stars have less fuel than small ones
1	Big	big	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	amod	_	_
2	stars	star	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj	_	_
3	have	have	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	less	less	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	5	amod	_	_
5	fuel	fuel	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
6	than	than	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	small	small	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	amod	_	_
8	ones	one	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **have** | present | Big stars | less fuel |  |  |  | than small ones | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent fuel=Patient |

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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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- ← previous: [Stars: what they are, exam 4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/space/17-stars-what-they-are/e4/)
- next →: [How stars live, test 2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/space/18-how-stars-live/t2/)
- ↑ back to [How stars live](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/space/18-how-stars-live/)