---
title: Jade, in London: "Why's it pitch black at half four in December when… — Day and night, shadows and sundials · tree and pragmatics
description: Jade, in London: "Why's it pitch black at half four in December when it's light at 9 in June?" Test 5 of lesson 118 «Day and night, shadows and sundials» of the world 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 5 · Day and night, shadows and sundials

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Jade, in London: "Why's it pitch black at half four in December when it's light at 9 in June?"

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 4 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** Jade · **What happens:** be · **To what, where:** light, 9

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 5 of lesson 118 «Day and night, shadows and sundials» of the world 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/world/118-day-night-shadows-sundials/#t5).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:118-day-night-shadows-sundials:t5:1
# text = Jade, in London: "Why's it pitch black at half four in December when it's light at 9 in June?"
1	Jade	jade	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	4	punct	_	_
3	in	in	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
4	London	London	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	1	appos	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	:	:	PUNCT	:	_	10	punct	_	_
6	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	10	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	Why	why	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	10	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	's	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	10	cop	_	_
9	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	10	nsubj	_	_
10	pitch	pitch	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	1	parataxis	_	_
11	black	black	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	10	xcomp	_	_
12	at	at	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
13	half	half	DET	PDT	NumForm=Word|NumType=Frac|PronType=Ind	14	det:predet	_	_
14	four	four	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	11	obl	_	_
15	in	in	ADP	IN	_	16	case	_	_
16	December	December	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	14	nmod	_	_
17	when	when	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	20	advmod	_	_
18	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	20	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
19	's	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	20	cop	_	_
20	light	light	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	obl	_	_
21	at	at	ADP	IN	_	22	case	_	_
22	9	9	NUM	CD	NumForm=Digit|NumType=Card	20	nmod	_	_
23	in	in	ADP	IN	_	24	case	_	_
24	June	June	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	10	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
25	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	10	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
26	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	10	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** *in a quote* | present | Jade |  |  |  | june | black, pitch *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **is a** *in a quote* | present | Jade | light |  | 9 |  |  | 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 -->
The clocks go back 5 hours every winter

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:118-day-night-shadows-sundials:t5:o1:1
# text = The clocks go back 5 hours every winter
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	clocks	clock	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj	_	_
3	go	go	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	back	back	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	_
5	5	5	NUM	CD	NumForm=Digit|NumType=Card	6	nummod	_	_
6	hours	hour	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obl:unmarked	_	_
7	every	every	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	8	det	_	_
8	winter	winter	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl:unmarked	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **go back** | present | the clocks |  |  |  | hour; winter |  | vn convert-26.6.2 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Patient |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The Sun takes a winter break in December

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:118-day-night-shadows-sundials:t5:o2:1
# text = The Sun takes a winter break in December
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	Sun	Sun	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	takes	take	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
5	winter	winter	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	compound	_	_
6	break	break	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
7	in	in	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
8	December	December	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **take** | present | the Sun | a winter break |  |  | december |  | vn bring-11.3 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent break=Theme |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The Sun is further away in winter, so it's dimmer

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:118-day-night-shadows-sundials:t5:o3:1
# text = The Sun is further away in winter, so it's dimmer
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	Sun	Sun	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
4	further	further	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
5	away	away	ADV	RB	_	2	conj	_	_
6	in	in	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	winter	winter	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	12	punct	_	_
9	so	so	ADV	RB	_	12	advmod	_	_
10	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	12	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	's	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	12	cop	_	_
12	dimmer	dimmer	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present |  |  |  |  | winter | away, further *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **is a** | present | it | dimmer |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The Earth's tilt makes northern winter days short and summer days long

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:118-day-night-shadows-sundials:t5:o4:1
# text = The Earth's tilt makes northern winter days short and summer days long
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	Earth	Earth	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	4	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	's	's	PART	POS	_	2	case	_	_
4	tilt	tilt	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
5	makes	make	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
6	northern	northern	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	amod	_	_
7	winter	winter	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	compound	_	_
8	days	day	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	obj	_	_
9	short	short	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	xcomp	_	_
10	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	13	cc	_	_
11	summer	summer	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	compound	_	_
12	days	day	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	13	obl:unmarked	_	_
13	long	long	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **make** | present | the Earth's tilt |  |  |  | day | short *property* | vn build-26.1-1 «NP.asset V NP»: agent=Asset |
| 2 | **tilt** |  | the Earth |  |  |  |  |  | nom tilt «event intransitive»: 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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