---
title: The Moon is 400 times smaller than the Sun but about 400 times close… — Phases, eclipses and tides · tree and pragmatics
description: The Moon is 400 times smaller than the Sun but about 400 times closer. What does this neat coincidence allow? Test 11 · ★★ of lesson 7 «Phases, eclipses and tides» 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 
---

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# Test 11 · ★★ · Phases, eclipses and tides

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The Moon is 400 times smaller than the Sun but about 400 times closer. What does this neat coincidence allow?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 2 · **The right answer:** option 1 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** Moon, neat coincidence · **What happens:** be, allow

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 11 · ★★ of lesson 7 «Phases, eclipses and tides» 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/7-phases-eclipses-and-tides/#t11).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* The Moon is 400 times smaller than the Sun but about 400 times closer.

```conllu
# sent_id = question:space:7-phases-eclipses-and-tides:t11:1
# text = The Moon is 400 times smaller than the Sun but about 400 times closer.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	Moon	Moon	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	_
3	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	cop	_	_
4	400	400	NUM	CD	NumForm=Digit|NumType=Card	5	nummod	_	_
5	times	time	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	obl:unmarked	_	_
6	smaller	small	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	0	root	_	_
7	than	than	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	Sun	Sun	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	6	obl	_	_
10	but	but	CCONJ	CC	_	14	cc	_	_
11	about	about	ADV	RB	_	12	advmod	_	_
12	400	400	NUM	CD	NumForm=Digit|NumType=Card	13	nummod	_	_
13	times	time	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	14	obl:unmarked	_	_
14	closer	close	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	6	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	6	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | the Moon |  |  |  | time | than the Sun; small *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **be** |  | the Moon *not said here* |  |  |  | time |  | 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.

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 2:* What does this neat coincidence allow?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:space:7-phases-eclipses-and-tides:t11:2
# text = What does this neat coincidence allow?
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	6	obj	_	_
2	does	do	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	aux	_	_
3	this	this	DET	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	5	det	_	_
4	neat	neat	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	coincidence	coincidence	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	_
6	allow	allow	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	6	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **allow** | present · do-support | this neat coincidence |  |  |  |  |  | vn allow-64.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent what=Beneficiary |

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 · ✓ the right answer {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The Moon can just cover the Sun in a total solar eclipse

```conllu
# sent_id = question:space:7-phases-eclipses-and-tides:t11:o1:1
# text = The Moon can just cover the Sun in a total solar eclipse
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	Moon	Moon	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
3	can	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	5	aux	_	_
4	just	just	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
5	cover	cover	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	Sun	Sun	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	5	obj	_	_
8	in	in	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
9	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
10	total	total	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	12	amod	_	_
11	solar	solar	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	12	amod	_	_
12	eclipse	eclipse	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **cover** | can | the Moon |  | the Sun |  |  | in a total solar eclipse | vn fill-9.8-1 «NP V NP PP.theme»: agent=Agent sun=Destination in eclipse=Theme |

### Option 2 · ← Mova's choice {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The Moon is the same size as the Sun

```conllu
# sent_id = question:space:7-phases-eclipses-and-tides:t11:o2:1
# text = The Moon is the same size as the Sun
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	Moon	Moon	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	_
3	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	cop	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
5	same	same	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	size	size	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
7	as	as	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	Sun	Sun	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	6	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | the Moon | the same size |  |  |  | as the Sun | tree rules |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The Moon can block the Earth's shadow from ever reaching the Sun

```conllu
# sent_id = question:space:7-phases-eclipses-and-tides:t11:o3:1
# text = The Moon can block the Earth's shadow from ever reaching the Sun
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	Moon	Moon	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
3	can	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
4	block	block	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	Earth	Earth	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	8	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	's	's	PART	POS	_	6	case	_	_
8	shadow	shadow	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obj	_	_
9	from	from	SCONJ	IN	_	11	mark	_	_
10	ever	ever	ADV	RB	PronType=Ind	11	advmod	_	_
11	reaching	reach	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	4	advcl	_	_
12	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
13	Sun	Sun	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	11	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **block** | can | the Moon | the Earth's shadow |  |  |  |  | vn forbid-64.4-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Causer shadow=Theme |
| 2 | **reach** | gerund | the Moon *not said here* | the Sun |  |  | ever |  | vn body\_motion-49.2-1-1 «NP V NP ADV»: agent=Agent sun=Theme |
| 3 | **shadow** |  | the Earth |  |  |  |  |  | nom shadow «state transitive»: poss=agent |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The Moon makes its own light

```conllu
# sent_id = question:space:7-phases-eclipses-and-tides:t11:o4:1
# text = The Moon makes its own light
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	Moon	Moon	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	makes	make	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	6	nmod:poss	_	_
5	own	own	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	light	light	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **make** | present | the Moon | Moon's own light |  |  |  |  | vn build-26.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent light=Product |
| 2 | **light** |  | Moon |  |  |  |  |  | nom light «phenomenon transitive»: poss=agent |

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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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