---
title: A boy says the stars are tiny lights much smaller than the Sun. What… — The Sun as a star and the stars · tree and pragmatics
description: A boy says the stars are tiny lights much smaller than the Sun. What is true? Test 1 of lesson 5 «The Sun as a star and the stars» 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 right.
---

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# Test 1 · The Sun as a star and the stars

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A boy says the stars are tiny lights much smaller than the Sun. What is true?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 4 · **The right answer:** option 4 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** boy, stars, Sun. · **What happens:** say, be · **To what, where:** tiny lights · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 1 of lesson 5 «The Sun as a star and the stars» 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/5-the-sun-and-the-stars/#t1).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:5-the-sun-and-the-stars:t1:1
# text = A boy says the stars are tiny lights much smaller than the Sun. What is true?
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	boy	boy	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	says	say	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	stars	star	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	nsubj	_	_
6	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	8	cop	_	_
7	tiny	tiny	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	amod	_	_
8	lights	light	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	ccomp	_	_
9	much	much	ADV	RB	_	10	advmod	_	_
10	smaller	small	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	3	ccomp	_	_
11	than	than	SCONJ	IN	_	16	mark	_	_
12	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
13	Sun.	Sunday	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	16	nsubj	_	_
14	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	16	nsubj	_	_
15	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	16	cop	_	_
16	true	true	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	10	advcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **say** *speech: assert* | present | a boy |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **is a** | present | the stars | tiny lights |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 3 | **is** | present | the Sun. |  |  |  |  | true *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 -->
He is right: all stars are tiny, much smaller than the Sun

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:5-the-sun-and-the-stars:t1:o1:1
# text = He is right: all stars are tiny, much smaller than the Sun
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	cop	_	_
3	right	right	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	:	:	PUNCT	:	_	8	punct	_	_
5	all	all	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	6	det	_	_
6	stars	star	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	nsubj	_	_
7	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	8	cop	_	_
8	tiny	tiny	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	11	punct	_	_
10	much	much	ADV	RB	_	11	advmod	_	_
11	smaller	small	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	8	conj	_	_
12	than	than	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
13	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	14	det	_	_
14	Sun	Sun	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	11	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | He |  |  |  |  | right *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **is** | present | all stars |  |  |  |  | tiny *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **be** |  | all stars *not said here* |  |  |  |  | than the Sun | tree rules |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Stars are pieces that broke off the Sun long ago

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:5-the-sun-and-the-stars:t1:o2:1
# text = Stars are pieces that broke off the Sun long ago
1	Stars	star	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj	_	_
2	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	cop	_	_
3	pieces	piece	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	0	root	_	_
4	that	that	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	5	nsubj	_	_
5	broke	break	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	acl:relcl	_	_
6	off	off	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	Sun	Sun	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	_
9	long	long	ADV	RB	Degree=Pos	10	advmod	_	_
10	ago	ago	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | Stars | pieces |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **break off** | past | pieces | the Sun |  |  |  | ago *property* | vn hurt-40.8.3-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer sun=Patient |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Stars are small holes in the sky that let the light shine through

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:5-the-sun-and-the-stars:t1:o3:1
# text = Stars are small holes in the sky that let the light shine through
1	Stars	star	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj	_	_
2	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
3	small	small	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	amod	_	_
4	holes	hole	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	0	root	_	_
5	in	in	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	sky	sky	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nmod	_	_
8	that	that	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	9	nsubj	_	_
9	let	let	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	acl:relcl	_	_
10	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	light	light	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obj	_	_
12	shine	shine	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	9	xcomp	_	_
13	through	through	ADV	RB	_	9	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | Stars | small holes |  | the sky |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **let** | past | small holes | the light |  |  |  | through *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **shine through** | present | the light *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn light\_emission-43.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

### Option 4 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Many stars are as big as the Sun or bigger, but very far away

<!-- fold The tree, 14 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:5-the-sun-and-the-stars:t1:o4:1
# text = Many stars are as big as the Sun or bigger, but very far away
1	Many	many	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	amod	_	_
2	stars	star	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	nsubj	_	_
3	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
4	as	as	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
5	big	big	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
6	as	as	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	Sun	Sun	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	_
9	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	10	cc	_	_
10	bigger	big	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	5	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	15	punct	_	_
12	but	but	CCONJ	CC	_	15	cc	_	_
13	very	very	ADV	RB	_	14	advmod	_	_
14	far	far	ADV	RB	Degree=Pos	15	advmod	_	_
15	away	away	ADV	RB	_	5	conj	_	_
```

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

<!-- div src -->

**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.

<!-- /div -->

<!-- pn -->
- ← previous: [The solar system and the planets, exam 4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/world/4-the-solar-system/e4/)
- next →: [The Sun as a star and the stars, test 2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/world/5-the-sun-and-the-stars/t2/)
- ↑ back to [The Sun as a star and the stars](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/world/5-the-sun-and-the-stars/)