All About English Creative Writing

[The Alternative Story]

Herbie:

Hi TAS,


Thanks for example no.2.

Can share the S&T for 'unlike'?

Thanks!

Hi Herbie,

Sure

S&T example 3

UNLIKE

Things to note:

- the clause following 'unlike' is a subordinate clause, it is not the
main clause of the sentence. It acts as extra information

QN: Sally and Mindy like rambutans. Jasmine does not like them.

ANS: Unlike Jasmine, Sally and Mindy like rambutans. (Your main
emphasis is on Sally and Mindy)

QN: Tim is intelligent. However, James is not.

ANS: Tim unlike James is intelligent (Your main emphasis is on Tim)

Common mistake:

Children would make mistakes in their punctuation-

Tim unlike James, is intelligent.

- This is wrong because whenever you have extra information or a
subordinate clause, the way to identify is to put a comma before
it and a comma after it-

Tim, unlike James, is intelligent.

- You can also leave out the commas so usually we tell
children not to put in any commas so they do not make any
careless mistake.

Tim unlike James is intelligent.

Common mistake:

Children can be unsure which is the main clause and this will be
their mistake:

Tim unlike James is stupid

Hence, it is important to tell the children to identify the main
clause and tell them that 'unlike James' is extra information
so the sentence is talking about Tim.

TAS

[Poohbear]

Hi,


Like to ask abt the usage of \"picnic\" . :?

Can \"picnic\" be used as a verb as in
\" The family like to picnic at the beach\"

Or

\"picnic\" should be used as a noun as in
\"The family like to have picnic at the beach\"

:?:

Thks :love:

[The Alternative Story]

Poohbear:

Hi,


Like to ask abt the usage of \"picnic\" . :?

Can \"picnic\" be used as a verb as in
\" The family like to picnic at the beach\"

Or

\"picnic\" should be used as a noun as in
\"The family like to have picnic at the beach\"

:?:

Thks :love:

Hi Poohbear,

for the usage of picnic, it can be used as both a VERB and a NOUN.

Here are some NOUNS which can be used as VERBS too!
1) Impact
(noun) The impact of the president's assassination was widespread.
(verb) The news of the president's assassination impacted me.
2) Paint
(noun) We apply paint to the room.
(verb) We paint the room.
3) Walk
(noun) We take a walk in the park.
(verb) We walk in the park.
4) Escort
(noun) I will be her escort.
(verb) I will escort her there.
5) Insult
(noun) That comment was an insult to her.
(verb) How can you insult your parents?
6) Conduct
(noun) She has a great conduct in school.
(verb) She will conduct the Symphony Band tonight.
**To note: In this case, 'conduct' has different meanings in the above
2 examples.

TAS

[The Alternative Story]

Hi parents,


We will be posting some assessment books that we feel are quite
good for a primary 3 level. We had a parent asking us about it
through pm and we thought it would be good if we could post it
here as there might be other parents who might want to know
as well.

1) Practice Makes Perfect (EHP publishing)

Comprehension/Cloze Passages/Grammar

(The Practice Makes Perfect series is quite good)

2) Complete Practice Book (EPH publishing)

3) Ultimate Guide to Mastering Comprehension (Pri 3)
by Shaheed Salim

TAS

[Poohbear]

The Alternative Story:

for the usage of picnic, it can be used as both a VERB and a NOUN.

TAS

Hi TAS,

Thks for the sharing :celebrate:

[The Alternative Story]

Hi Poohbear,


No problem!

TAS

[Herbie]

Hi TAS,


I have the following questions which need yr help.

1. A large number of monkeys ________ captured and sent abroad every year.

(1) is
(2) are

Why is the answer are and not is? Since it is stated as \"A large no\" can the large no be treated as collective noun.

2. Some of the equipment in the PE store _________ store yesterday?

(1) was
(2) were

Why is the answer was? I tot \"some\" is plura?

S&T qn
1. Ahmad asked, \"How do you know Sally met with an accident yesterday, Osman?\"

Ans: Oman asked Osman how he knew that Sally met with an accident the day before.

2. John was present at the ceremony. His brother, Jack was also present.
John as well as his brother, Jack was present at the ceremony

3. You cannot watch television. You must finish your homework.

You cannot watch television until you finish your homework.


4. These children are going on an excursion to the zoo. Aileen is not going.

These children except Aileen, are going on an excursion to the zoo.

Thanks and regards,

[The Alternative Story]

[quote]Hi TAS,


I have the following questions which need yr help.

1. A large number of monkeys ________ captured and sent abroad every year.

(1) is
(2) are

Why is the answer are and not is? Since it is stated as \"A large no\" can the large no be treated as collective noun.[/quote]Hi Herbie,

Clarification about collective nouns:
'A large number' is not really a collective noun. Collective nouns are more
specific: A swarm of bees, a bevy of ladies etc.

'A number' is very general, it can be used with most nouns.

Explanation about answer:

The answer is 'are' and not 'is'.

The word 'number' itself is singular:

- The number of people becoming obese is increasing

(The emphasis is more on a general number, on a proportion
of people, hence it is singular as it is an uncountable noun.
You can't count a proportion)

When you say 'A large number of', it becomes plural.

- A large number of my classmates are coming to my party.

- A number of Korean stars have been coming to Singapore.

(Here, the emphasis is on a more specific number,
for example: a large number of my classmates, you can
roughly estimate the number coming. Hence it is a countable noun,
and it is thus in the plural form)

[quote]2. Some of the equipment in the PE store _________ store yesterday?

(1) was
(2) were

Why is the answer was? I tot \"some\" is plura?[/quote]The answer is 'was' because we are focusing on 'equipment' and not
'some'. 'Equipment' is an uncountable noun and hence the verb is singular.
[quote]S&T qn
1. Ahmad asked, \"How do you know Sally met with an accident yesterday, Osman?\"

Ans: Oman asked Osman how he knew that Sally met with an accident the day before.[/quote]The answer is wrong. For reported speech S&T qns, the present tense
of the verb is changed to the past tense and the past tense is changed to
the past perfect tense.

(This is true for questions that are not based on
scientific facts).

For questions that are based on scientific facts, the tense
is always in the present tense.

Eg:

Qn: \"The Sun rises in the East and sets in the West,\" my mother told me.

Ans: My mother told me that the Sun rises in the East and sets in the West.

So for the question that you asked, the answer should be:

Ans: Ahmad asked Osman how he knew that Sally had met
with an accident the day before.

[quote]2. John was present at the ceremony. His brother, Jack was also present.
John as well as his brother, Jack was present at the ceremony[/quote]The answer is correct but there is a punctuation mistake.
'as well as his brother Jack' is extra information, it is a relative clause,
to identify it as such, you either put 2 commas to bracket it
or no commas at all.

Ans should be: John, as well as his brother Jack, was present at the ceremony.

[quote]3. You cannot watch television. You must finish your homework.

You cannot watch television until you finish your homework.[/quote]The answer is correct.
[quote]4. These children are going on an excursion to the zoo. Aileen is not going.

These children except Aileen, are going on an excursion to the zoo.[/quote]'except Aileen' is extra information/relative clause and the same rule
applies - double comma or no comma at all.

Ans should be: These children, except Aileen, are going on an excursion
to the zoo. (or you can remove the commas)

TAS

[Herbie]

Hi TAS,


Can I check if the qn is -

A few of the equipment in the PE store ______ stolen yesterday.

Would the answer still be "was"?

Next, can we ignore the text infront of the sentence be it "a large no." or "A number" and just check whether the text infront of the ___________ is in plural or singular to answer the qn???

Kindly advise.

Tq

[The Alternative Story]

Herbie:

Hi TAS,


Can I check if the qn is -

A few of the equipment in the PE store ______ stolen yesterday.

Would the answer still be \"was\"?

Next, can we ignore the text infront of the sentence be it \"a large no.\" or \"A number\" and just check whether the text infront of the ___________ is in plural or singular to answer the qn???

Kindly advise.

Tq

Hi Herbie,

For the first question, 'few' cannot be used as equipment is an uncountable noun and 'few' is used for countable nouns.

For the next question, whether it is 'a large no.' or 'a number', the
answer is plural.

TAS