Q&A - PSLE English

[Learning Partners]

Jamesbond:

http://i60.tinypic.com/ygmc6.jpg\">

The answer should be (3).


The common confusion is there are two rather similar verbs:


infinitive form : 'lay' (to put down), 'lie' (two meanings: to bluff and to be in a horizontal position).


The forms of 'lay': lay laid laid

The forms of 'lie' (when we mean bluff) : lie lied lied

The forms of 'lie' (when we mean to be horizontal): lie lay lain


In your question, we want to say the students have put their papers down on the desks, so should be 'had laid'.

[vk2kv]

Pls help.

Thank you.

Someone will wash and feed the puppy.
The puppy __________________________________

[Learning Partners]

vk2kv:

Pls help.

Thank you.

Someone will wash and feed the puppy.
The puppy __________________________________

The puppy will be washed and fed.


Pupils will be penalised if they add 'by someone', as it is redundant.

[vsk]

slmkhoo:

atutor2001:

[quote=\"vsk\"]Hi, please help with this compre cloze from Catholic high prelims paper 2014.



Apparently, some people are more enticing to mosquitoes and scientiss have found that genetics account for 85% of our susceptibility to mosquito bites. This group of people emit 'come and get me' smells which _____________ to the mosquitoes. Those less likely to be bitten produce odours which make these scents. Scientists said that it might be useful to make insect repellents that contain these natural masking odours to keep the mosquitoes at bay. They would likely to be completely ___________ to humans unlike insect repellents which may have a strong smell that put us off.

Apologies. I could not paste the picture as it has been badly scribbled. I need your help to provide the words for the two blanks in the para above.

TIA

Just try only,
Appeal
Oblivious

I think 'appeal' is fine, but 'oblivious' is usually used to describe a person, not a something like a smell. I would suggest 'unnoticeable' or 'undetectable' for that blank.[/quote]Thank you for your correction. I fully agree.[/quote]

:thankyou: atutor2001 and slmkhoo for the help.

[jetsetter]

Learning Partners:

atutor2001:

Aiyo, really confusing. Positive negative, negative positive, positive positive and lastly negative negative. Though my ang mo no very good, I still can limenber the first 3 combinations all may be ok. Only negative negative mostly cannot one. So both combinations below all can one. The 1st one is to show surprise while lumber 2 is to seek confirmation.


Jane dislikes chocolate does she.
Jane dislike chocolate doesn't she.

So limenber, different combination of polarity for different purpose. That is grammar. Not must die die use positive negative or negative positive. That is call study dead book.

Hi atutor,


I agree with you on two points:


1. That different polarities are possible (in fact, if you dig hard enough, even the last one - negative-negative - is used in certain parts of the world), but apart from the standard negative-positive, positive-negative cases, the positive-positive and negative-negative cases are considered special cases, mostly used as colloquialisms.

Agreed. I've some e.g but won't share cos irrelevant.

So like in Singapore, we won't say, 'Jane dislikes chocolates, does she?' to express surprise, or even 'Jane dislikes chocolates, yes meh?'.

We simply say, 'Jane dislikes chocolates meh?' But you can be assured this won't be tested in the PSLE

Agreed. Don't waste time!

The PSLE syllabus covers the standard cases and not the special cases. In a school test or examination, the parent could still go to the teacher or HOD and argue for the mark, although his success in getting the lost mark is not guaranteed.

Also agreed!

[jetsetter]

atutor2001:

Nebbermind:

Jane dislikes chocolate, does she. - sounds kinda awkward.

(I know) Jane dislike chocolate, doesn't she. Basically the writer is seeking affirmation....in Singlish form, doesn't she = no meh....

Not awkward. Jane dislike chocolate, does she? .... In Singlish form, does she? = yes ah? Really ah? So surprising hor?

atutor2001:

\"Jane dislikes chocolate, does she?\" is syntactically incorrect.

When doing tag questions, kid must always hunt for the AUXILIARY (be it \"be\", \"have\", \"do\" or a modal \"can\"/\"may\"/\"will\" etc.). In this case, don't be fooled by the main verb which connotes negativity. There are other words with negative meanings like hates/loathes/detests that are inserted to confuse the kid.

REMEMBER: There is a covet Auxiliary hidden in an SVO sentence like this. The V in this case is \"dislike\" while the Auxiliary is actually what syntacticians would call a DUMMY \"do\" (or \"does\" in this case cos of Singular Subject).

Jane does dislike chocolate.

Your tag should negate the positive \"does\", so it should become \"doesn't\", NOT \"does\".


As such, you can have a sentence like:

Jane hates Math, doesn't she?

+++
Let's not confuse or compare BrE with SG Eng!!!

Another misconception is that putting \"doesn't it\" doesn't nec mean it's automatically an affirmation. You need to check whether it's rising/falling/rise-fall intonation which will invariably affect the semantics. This is too high-level and WON'T be tested in PSLE!! Tk God!

[jetsetter]

SOS mum:

slmkhoo:

[quote=\"SOS mum\"]Sorry, one more


Joan barely has the opportunity to go shopping with her friends, _____she?
(1) has (2) does (3) hasn't (4) doesn't

\"has\". \"Barely\" is considered a negative word here, so the tag should be positive.

But answer shèet said \"does\". Am confusing too[/quote]SOS MUM:

Answer sheet is CORRECT.

\"barely\" is a semi-negative adverb as we all know.

\"has\" here is NOT an Auxiliary (as in \"has eaten\"/\"has been sleeping\", etc.). \"has\" here denotes \"possession\" and acts as the main verb in the main clause.

Therefore, you shouldn't \"flip\" the main verb for your tag like this:

Joan barely has the opportunity...., has she? (INCORRECT)

REMEMBER: you must \"flip\" the Auxiliary but in this case, since we have the special adverb \"barely\" (like \"hardly\"/\"never\"/\"scarcely\", etc), so you regard the semi-negative \"barely\" as though it's the DUMMY \"does not\" and negate it to derive \"does\" for your tag.

Am I confusing u? :siam:

[Nebbermind]

Personally, they should be teaching the kids how to write concisely and then test them to ensure they can do it...and not test them on some exceptional cases.


English should be simple...

Jane does not like chocolate, does she?

Straight forward...easy to understand and can't go wrong with the grammar!!

[jetsetter]

Nebbermind:

Personally, they should be teaching the kids how to write concisely and then test them to ensure they can do it...and not test them on some exceptional cases.


English should be simple...

Jane does not like chocolate, does she?

Straight forward...easy to understand and can't go wrong with the grammar!!

For PSLE, yes.

But negative-negative or positive-positive are also possible in exceptional cases, but won't come out in PSLE.

[Nebbermind]

jetsetter:

Am I confusing u? :siam:

Understand you I not. Confused I am - NBM