If an 6th grader asks their science teacher "How long does stars last?" / "How long stars last?" /"How long do stars last?" / "How old do stars get?" / "Stars, how old can they get?" / ...
In similar context they probably end up parsed to the same question assuming correct inflection, posture, etc. Spoken conversations are messy, but they also have redundancy and pseudo checksum's. Written language tends to be more formal because it's a much narrower channel and you don't get as much feedback.
PS: It's also really common for someone to ask a question when they don't have enough context to understand what question they should be asking.
In similar context they probably end up parsed to the same question assuming correct inflection, posture, etc. Spoken conversations are messy, but they also have redundancy and pseudo checksum's. Written language tends to be more formal because it's a much narrower channel and you don't get as much feedback.
PS: It's also really common for someone to ask a question when they don't have enough context to understand what question they should be asking.