Q&A - PSLE English

[StudentproinMATHandScience]

Verysuperkiasu:

SA1 questions:


1) Susan was amazed that she finished the 100 metre race in less than twenty seconds.
Much to....

Dd's and her other friends' answers :
Much to her amazement, Susan finished the 100 metre race in less than twenty seconds.

Teacher's answer :
Much to Susan's amazement, she finished the 100 metre race in less than twenty seconds.

DD and her friends got zero mark for this question. I thought the name should appear in the main clause which is the second part of the sentence.

2) Mother threw away her old jacket. Then she bought a new one.
After....

DD's answer:
After throwing away her old jacket, Mother bought a new one.

Teacher's answer :
After Mother had thrown away the old jacket, she bought a new one.

DD was marked wrong.

While I agree that the teacher's answer is correct (past perfect 'had thrown' is used for the earlier past action), it is also gramatically correct to say 'After throwing away the old jacket, Mother bought a new one'.

Any advice?

Your DD was actually correct for the first one.Actually both could be accepted,I've written both answers in exams before and the markers all marked me correct,however,to be safer,the teacher's answer would not be recommended and yes,it should be \"After throwing away the old jacket,Mother bought a new one\".Is that a trainee teacher?

[StudyRoom]

Verysuperkiasu:

SA1 questions:


1) Susan was amazed that she finished the 100 metre race in less than twenty seconds.
Much to....

Dd's and her other friends' answers :
Much to her amazement, Susan finished the 100 metre race in less than twenty seconds.

Teacher's answer :
Much to Susan's amazement, she finished the 100 metre race in less than twenty seconds.

DD and her friends got zero mark for this question. I thought the name should appear in the main clause which is the second part of the sentence.

2) Mother threw away her old jacket. Then she bought a new one.
After....

DD's answer:
After throwing away her old jacket, Mother bought a new one.

Teacher's answer :
After Mother had thrown away the old jacket, she bought a new one.

DD was marked wrong.

While I agree that the teacher's answer is correct (past perfect 'had thrown' is used for the earlier past action), it is also gramatically correct to say 'After throwing away the old jacket, Mother bought a new one'.

Any advice?

If you notice the trend, this teacher likes to have the subject matter at the front of the sentence.

View it from the reader's point of view. Each of the answers by your DD started with \"her\" instead of addressing the person involved (Mother or Susan).

The teacher's answer is more specific and clearer as to who's being referred to. Your DD's answer isn't grammatically wrong. However, as a rule of thumb, it's always best to state the subject first. Hope this helps.

____

[XXXX]

soyabean:

Dear all


The boy, as well as the girls ________ going for the concert.

1) IS
2) ARE

What is the answer?
Thanks so much!!

Sorry to chime in so late. But this is a really bad sentence construction which you would never hear from native speakers. It has been dreamt up to trap the student and that is not the purpose of language! What's worse, the supposedly grammatically correct version sounds much worse than the \"problem\" it is trying to address.

Sure there are rules to follow to pass exams, but really keep an eye on the big picture: can you be understood unambiguously? Does your sentence have a clear subject, verb and object?

Compare:
1. The boy, as well as the girls IS going for the concert.
2. The boy, as well as the girls ARE going for the concert.

Both sound wrong. (In the 2nd case, FOR is simply not used this way - it should be TO.)

A bit better but still clumsy:
The boy as well as the girls ARE going TO the concert.

The subject is compound - the boy AND the girls - so substitute THEY.
THEY ARE [ALL] going TO the concert.

Best:
John AND the girls ARE going TO the concert.
The boy IS going TO the concert; the girls ARE going as well.

Nobody would ever say, \"The boy, as well as the girls IS going for the concert.\"

Rant over.

[ksparent]

Hi, can advise :


1) Either twins is / are …?

2) Either the boy or the twins is/ are…?

[XXXX]

ksparent:

Hi, can advise :


1) Either twins is / are ....?

2) Either the boy or the twins is/ are...?

Can you give a complete sentence?

1) a) Either twin is allowed to watch TV.
b) Either twins are identical or they aren't.

2) Either the boy or the twins are coming over later.
Is a poor grammatical construction, but would be understood.
The grammatically correct:

Either the boy is, or the twins are, coming over later.

... sounds terrible and would never be used by native speakers.

The only solution for these compound subjects where number doesn't agree is to break up into 2 clauses:

Either the boy is coming over later or the twins are.

[atutor2001]

XXXX:

soyabean:

Dear all


The boy, as well as the girls ________ going for the concert.

1) IS
2) ARE

What is the answer?
Thanks so much!!

Compare:
1. The boy, as well as the girls IS going for the concert.
2. The boy, as well as the girls ARE going for the concert.

Both sound wrong. (In the 2nd case, FOR is simply not used this way - it should be TO.)

A bit better but still clumsy:
The boy as well as the girls ARE going TO the concert.

The subject is compound - the boy AND the girls - so substitute THEY.
THEY ARE [ALL] going TO the concert.

Rant over.

We use \"going to\" followed by a place, an action verb such as eat...
We use \"going for\" followed by something we have chosen or decided eg blue, play, show etc

Compare :
We are going to the concert.
We are going for the concert.
Both sentences are ok because in the first sentence the speaker is highlighting the \"place\" that they are going to. It will be an appropriate answer to the question, \"WHERE are you going?\"

In the second sentence, the emphasis is on \"their choice, decision\" . It would be an answer to the question WHAT are you doing tonight?\"

[XXXX]

atutor2001:

XXXX:

[quote=\"soyabean\"]Dear all


The boy, as well as the girls ________ going for the concert.

1) IS
2) ARE

What is the answer?
Thanks so much!!

Compare:
1. The boy, as well as the girls IS going for the concert.
2. The boy, as well as the girls ARE going for the concert.

Both sound wrong. (In the 2nd case, FOR is simply not used this way - it should be TO.)

A bit better but still clumsy:
The boy as well as the girls ARE going TO the concert.

The subject is compound - the boy AND the girls - so substitute THEY.
THEY ARE [ALL] going TO the concert.

Rant over.

We use \"going to\" followed by a place, an action verb such as eat...
We use \"going for\" followed by something we have chosen or decided eg blue, play, show etc

Compare :
We are going to the concert.
We are going for the concert.
Both sentences are ok because in the first sentence the speaker is highlighting the \"place\" that they are going to. It will be an appropriate answer to the question, \"WHERE are you going?\"

In the second sentence, the emphasis is on \"their choice, decision\" . It would be an answer to the question WHAT are you doing tonight?\"[/quote]I understand the distinction you are making between TO and FOR but no native speaker would say that in relation to \"going to the concert\".

Q. What are you doing tonight? Where are you going?
A. We are going to the concert; we're going for the cultural option tonight.

[icy_mama]

for comprehension, my dd’s ft taught them this method CUB. short for circle, underline and bracket.


dd found it cumbersome and pointless, but ft insisted that students uses this method. i’d like to know if your dc uses this method and what do parents think about it?

tia.

[ngl2010]

Hi. Anybody can help in these Synthesis and Transformation problems?


1. Jared had injured his elbow during practice. Jared won the tennis match.
Answer 1: Jared won the tennis match despite injuring his elbow during practice.
Answer 2: Jared won the tennis match despite the fact that he had injured his elbow during practice.
Which answer is correct?

2. The Prefect Master said, "This year the NE Show will be at the Padang."
Answer 1: The Prefect Master announced that the NE Show would be at the Padang that year.
Answer 2: The Prefect Master announced that that year the NE Show would be at the Padang.
Which answer is correct?

TIA

[XXXX]

ngl2010:

Hi. Anybody can help in these Synthesis and Transformation problems?


1. Jared had injured his elbow during practice. Jared won the tennis match.
Answer 1: Jared won the tennis match despite injuring his elbow during practice.
Answer 2: Jared won the tennis match despite the fact that he had injured his elbow during practice.
Which answer is correct?

2. The Prefect Master said, \"This year the NE Show will be at the Padang.\"
Answer 1: The Prefect Master announced that the NE Show would be at the Padang that year.
Answer 2: The Prefect Master announced that that year the NE Show would be at the Padang.
Which answer is correct?

TIA

Good grief! What are the rules you are meant to be applying here? Both answers to both questions are not incorrect but I prefer answer 1 in both cases, but cannot explain why (except they sound more fluent to my ear).

Please provide the rule set and let's see if we can apply it.