Q&A - PSLE English

[SOS mum]

S&T qn:

"I have not seen you since you were married two years ago," Andrew said to Jenny.

Ans sheet: Andrew told Jenny that he had not seen her since she had been married two years before.

Dd’s started with "Andrew said to Jenny that …before"

Is it acceptable?

[TheWriter]

Yes, but having a S&T that requires a semicolon is unusual. The common S&T question where punctuations are vital are those with modifiers. E.g:


David is usually punctual. He is late for work today.

The adverb, \"usually\", modifies the adjective \"punctual\". Synthesised, there will be a modifier in the form of a phrase (in bold):

David, who is usually punctual, is late for work today. The omission of the commas in this instance is cause for deduction of marks.

But I digress; I don't think PSLE expects students to be familiar with using semicolons.

TheWriter

[S-H]

Hi can someone help the following S&T, thanks!


The accused has strenuously denied any wrongdoing.

There has _____________________________.

[1stimer]

There has been strenuous denial of any wrong-doing by the accused?

[TheWriter]

There has been a strenuous denial of wrongdoing by the accused.

[S-H]

TheWriter:

There has been a strenuous denial of wrongdoing by the accused.

:thankyou: TheWriter

[pm123]

S & T Qns…

Mr Tan is my neighbour. Mr Tan is a postman.

Ans a, Mr Tan, who is a postman, is my neighbour.
Ans b, Mr Tan, who is my neighbour, is a postman.

Can both answers acceptable? Or is the seq important?
Pls adv ? Thx.

[TheWriter]

Both sentences are correct, but we normally put the stronger relationship (neighbour) before the weaker one (postman).


Hence I would go with (b).

TheWriter

[SpartanMum]

1stimer:

There has been strenuous denial of any wrong-doing by the accused?

I think this is the correct answer rather than There has been a strenuous denial of any wrong-doing by the accused.

[sharonkhoo]

pm123:

S & T Qns.....

Mr Tan is my neighbour. Mr Tan is a postman.

Ans a, Mr Tan, who is a postman, is my neighbour.
Ans b, Mr Tan, who is my neighbour, is a postman.

Can both answers acceptable? Or is the seq important?
Pls adv ? Thx.

Both sentences are grammatically correct. In context, it really depends which aspect you want to emphasise. The first emphasises \"neighbour\" and the 2nd \"postman\".