Q&A - PSLE English

[jwxh]

Plse help:


1) Jane is the tallest pupil in the class.
There is no other __________________________________.
given answer is : There is no other pupils taller than Jane in the class.

must we change "pupil" to plural?

2) My younger sister writes _____________than my younger brother.
a) neater
b) more neatly
which is the answer?

tks

[Learning Partners]

jwxh:

Plse help:


1) Jane is the tallest pupil in the class.
There is no other __________________________________.
given answer is : There is no other pupils taller than Jane in the class.

must we change \"pupil\" to plural?

2) My younger sister writes _____________than my younger brother.
a) neater
b) more neatly
which is the answer?

tks

1) No, because of the verb 'is'; the subject (noun) must agree with the verb so 'pupil' is correct.


2) 'More neatly' is the answer.
Think of a sentence without comparative: My sister writes neatly.
The comparative for 'neatly' is 'more neatly'.

[Learning Partners]

Hi Teacher Aaron,



You are welcome. And I get where you are coming from. It's a common emotional response -- when someone asks you why something is undone, the meaning behind the question could be an accusation, and more often than not, the person being questioned jumps to that conclusion.


However, I must highlight that in the PSLE, the students are asked to follow the meaning of the original sentence(s) as closely as possible so it is more advisable to stick to the apparent meaning.


Cheers.

[Teacher Aaron]

Learning Partners:

jwxh:

Plse help:


1) Jane is the tallest pupil in the class.
There is no other __________________________________.
given answer is : There is no other pupils taller than Jane in the class.

must we change \"pupil\" to plural?

2) My younger sister writes _____________than my younger brother.
a) neater
b) more neatly
which is the answer?

tks

1) No, because of the verb 'is'; the subject (noun) must agree with the verb so 'pupil' is correct.


2) 'More neatly' is the answer.
Think of a sentence without comparative: My sister writes neatly.
The comparative for 'neatly' is 'more neatly'.

I'll chime in here. \"Neat\" is an adjective. Adjectives are only used to describe nouns. The comparative adjective form of \"neat\" is \"neater\", and the comparative adjective form is used when comparing the description of two nouns.

Take the following examples:

My room is neat. (\"neat\" describes the noun \"room\")

My room is neater than your room. (\"neater\" describes my room as compared to your room)

\"Neatly\", however, is a different part of speech. It is an adverb, and adverbs are used in describing verbs, adjectives or other adverbs. In this case, the blank is right beside the verb \"write\", suggesting that the blank should be filled by adverb to modify the verb \"write\" instead of an adjective. Hence, \"neater\" is rejected immediately as that is a comparative adjective.

In general, for adverbs ending in \"-ly\", to turn it into a comparative adverb, we use either \"more\" or \"less\" in front of the adverb. Hence, to describe the verb \"write\", \"more neatly\" is the correct choice in this case.

[jwxh]

tks very much, learning partners & teacher aaron

[PiggyLalala]

:thankyou: all who had answered to my question posted earlier esp teacher Aaron and learning partners for their clear explanations to the answers.


Just to add on, the answer given by the teacher is, Mother asked Leslie why the dishes had not been washed. The teacher gave the same explanation as teacher Aaron.

Thank you again and let's hope such questions will not be tested in psle.

[sharon yuansong]

Hi. can anyone help me with those questions:


1) Helen asked John if he had thought of where he wanted to visit that afternoon.

Helen asked John," _________________________"

My son’s answer
Helen asked John," did you think of where you want to visit this afternoon?"

answer sheet:
Helen asked John, "have you thought of where you want to visit this afternoon?"

2) Candice was displeased. Her proposal was rejected by her superior

Much to _________________
our answer:

Much to her displeasure, Candice’s proposal was rejected by her superior

answer sheet:

Much to Candice’s displeasure, her proposal was rejected by her superior

I think our answer should be correct, as we should put the name in the main clause, isn’t it?

[Teacher Aaron]

sharon yuansong:

Hi. can anyone help me with those questions:


1) Helen asked John if he had thought of where he wanted to visit that afternoon.

Helen asked John,\" _________________________\"

My son's answer
Helen asked John,\" did you think of where you want to visit this afternoon?\"

answer sheet:
Helen asked John, \"have you thought of where you want to visit this afternoon?\"

2) Candice was displeased. Her proposal was rejected by her superior

Much to _________________
our answer:

Much to her displeasure, Candice's proposal was rejected by her superior

answer sheet:

Much to Candice's displeasure, her proposal was rejected by her superior

I think our answer should be correct, as we should put the name in the main clause, isn't it?

For Q1, strictly speaking, the answer sheet is correct. The present perfect tense (have ... thought) is used for actions in the past in which the time of occurrence is unknown. The simple past is generally used when the time of action is known. Your son's use of the simple past (did ... think) is not appropriate following this line of reasoning. The \"this afternoon\" in the question is not referring to the time of the thinking, but the time of the visiting. A version with a specified time of thinking that would have been absolutely correct is as follows:

Helen asked John, \"Yesterday, did you think of where you want to visit this afternoon?\"

For Q2, you are right that the subject usually appears in the main clause. However, for the purpose of clarity, I would say the subject has to appear in the introductory phrase. The reason is because usually we indicate the subject before we use a pronoun to make reference to the subject. If the pronoun comes first, the reader will not know what it is referring to until much later on. From a grammatical standpoint, both versions are correct, but from the standpoint of clarity, the answer sheet's version is preferable.

[Teacher Aaron]

PiggyLalala:

:thankyou: all who had answered to my question posted earlier esp teacher Aaron and learning partners for their clear explanations to the answers.


Just to add on, the answer given by the teacher is, Mother asked Leslie why the dishes had not been washed. The teacher gave the same explanation as teacher Aaron.

Thank you again and let's hope such questions will not be tested in psle.

To be honest, the context of the question isn't clear enough for primary school students to handle. I do think that the PSLE question setters test their questions a whole lot more thoroughly than most school teachers or assessment book writers, so I doubt there will be such contestable S&T questions in the exam.

[bebe]

Teacher Aaron:

PiggyLalala:

:thankyou: all who had answered to my question posted earlier esp teacher Aaron and learning partners for their clear explanations to the answers.


Just to add on, the answer given by the teacher is, Mother asked Leslie why the dishes had not been washed. The teacher gave the same explanation as teacher Aaron.

Thank you again and let's hope such questions will not be tested in psle.

To be honest, the context of the question isn't clear enough for primary school students to handle. I do think that the PSLE question setters test their questions a whole lot more thoroughly than most school teachers or assessment book writers, so I doubt there will be such contestable S&T questions in the exam.

:xedfingers: I hope so. I told my girl it is unlikely the examiner will set ambiguous questions like these. If it does happen, she is also not the only one getting it wrong. Importantly, she must always check her grammar, spelling and punctuation and not lose mark unnecessarily, will be very happy if she can get 8/10 for T&S.