Q&A - PSLE English

[happyluckymom]

If the sentence is:

Thoughts were already forming in my head as I mentally eliminated those who could not go(15) probably the bossy pair of prefects, Joel and Joshua, Ai Ting the "crybaby" and Ming Lee, otherwise known as the "monkey".
15) (1) :
(2) ,
(3) .
(4) -

[joconde]

Muffins:

For the first one, your child's answer is wrong, solely because he had forgotten to add the \"with whom\" part. As the sentence is phrased in that way, you have to take into consideration that the cousin is a person, not a thing. As a result, \"with whom\" needs to be added.

For the second one, your child's answer is not acceptable as he did not add the \"made careful preparations\" into his sentence. If he would have put the sentence as: Despite making careful preparations, they were unable to complete the task.

Hope I helped!

Thanks muffins for the clarifications. However, I'm still confused with the first one. Do u mind explaining the grammar rule with regards to 'whom' ? Eg : The girl whom I was talking to is my sister. In this case, 'girl' is also a person, but we do not use 'with whom'.

[Nebbermind]

joconde:

My child's ans : The girl whom I share an apartment with is my cousin.
Answer sheet : The girl with whom I share an apartment with, is my cousin.

(2) Is my child's answer acceptable in exam ?

I've always written it this way.

The girl, whom I share an apartment with, is my cousin.

Always thought it sounds better with a pause after 'girl' but not sure if it's 'PSLE standard' :oops:

[The Alternative Story]

happyluckymom:

If the sentence is:

Thoughts were already forming in my head as I mentally eliminated those who could not go(15) probably the bossy pair of prefects, Joel and Joshua, Ai Ting the \"crybaby\" and Ming Lee, otherwise known as the \"monkey\".
15) (1) :
(2) ,
(3) .
(4) -

Hi happyluckymom,

The answer is (1) which is colon because colons are used after a statement that introduces a list. In your example, the earlier
statement is followed by a list of the people who cannot go, thus a
colon is used.

Colons are used either to show a contrast between two parts of a
sentence or more commonly to introduce a list.

- Contrast

Eg: He was always getting beaten by his parents: Ely, his sister, was
always the apple of everyone's eyes.

- Introduce a list

Eg: I am going to the supermarket to buy a lot of groceries: cheese,
milk, ham, bread, cereal and eggs.

TAS

[The Alternative Story]

Nebbermind:

joconde:

My child's ans : The girl whom I share an apartment with is my cousin.
Answer sheet : The girl with whom I share an apartment with, is my cousin.

(2) Is my child's answer acceptable in exam ?

I've always written it this way.

The girl, whom I share an apartment with, is my cousin.

Always thought it sounds better with a pause after 'girl' but not sure if it's 'PSLE standard' :oops:

Hi,

Just want to add to the discussion.

Usually, it is alright to leave out 'with' and just put in 'whom'.

For the first example:

- The girl whom I share an apartment with is my cousin. (child's answer)

- The girl with whom I share an apartment with, is my cousin (answer
sheet)

There is no need to put 'with' before 'whom' (answer sheet)
as there is already a 'with' after 'an apartment' and when you put
in a 'with' before the 'whom', then you are repeating the preposition
and it is wrong grammatically.

However if the answer were \"The girl with whom I share an apartment is my cousin\", then it is correct.

The answer sheet is also wrong as there is only one comma, for
'whom','whose','who, 'which', you either have 2 commas or no commas
at all.

If you were to insert 2 commas it would read as,

\"The girl, whom I share an apartment with, is my cousin. (The commas
bracket the extra information)

The child's answer \"The girl whom I share an apartment with is
my cousin\" is also correct.

One easier way to remember is to know that 'whom' is usually sandwiched
between 2 different people. - The girl whom I...

TAS

[joconde]

The Alternative Story:

........for 'whom','whose','who, 'which', you either have 2 commas or no commas

at all.

.........

One easier way to remember is to know that 'whom' is usually sandwiched
between 2 different people. - The girl whom I...

TAS

Hi TAS, your clarifications makes sense now. Will keep these rules handy !

Thanks everyone for sharing !

[joconde]

Hi, can someone tell me if my child’s answer below are acceptable ?


(1) The little boy sat on his father’s shoulders. He wanted to be able to see the parade.
____________________so that ______________________.

Child’s ans : The little boy sat on his father’s shoulders so that he would be able to see the parade.
Ans sheet : The little boy sat on his father’s shoulders so that he could see the parade.

(2) The beautiful dress was admired by all the ladies at the fashion show.
All the ladies ________________________.

Child’s ans : All the ladies admired the beautiful dress at the fashion show.
Ans sheet : All the ladies at the fashion show admired the beautiful dress.

[The Alternative Story]

[quote]Hi, can someone tell me if my child's answer below are acceptable ?


(1) The little boy sat on his father's shoulders. He wanted to be able to see the parade.
____________________so that ______________________.

Child's ans : The little boy sat on his father's shoulders so that he would be able to see the parade.
Ans sheet : The little boy sat on his father's shoulders so that he could see the parade.[/quote]Hi joconde,

The answer in the answer sheet is more accurate that the child's answer.

To understand why, it is important to know the difference between
'could' and 'would'.

There is a popular expression that is helpful when you want to
differentiate the 2:

\"I would if I could\" - translation: I would definitely do it but the question lies in my ability, if I have the ability to do it, I will definitely do it.

Could- ability

Eg:

I could run the errand for you but I want to sleep now.

(Showing you that he has the ability to run the errand but is too lazy
to do so)

Would -

(a) definite (as in I will do it) but conditional, it can only
happen if certain conditions are met

Eg:

I would run the errand for you if not for my pulled hamstring.

(Showing you that he wants to definitely do it but lacks the ability
to do so)

(b) can be also be used just to show a definite (as in I will do it)

Eg:

I would wait for my father to come home everyday when I was young.

(c) A polite way of asking for something

Eg:

Would you go to the ball with me?

Hence the answer should be with the modal verb 'could' and not
'would'. The boy wants to sit on his father's' shoulders so that
he will now have the ability to see the parade.

[quote](2) The beautiful dress was admired by all the ladies at the fashion show.
All the ladies ________________________.

Child's ans : All the ladies admired the beautiful dress at the fashion show.
Ans sheet : All the ladies at the fashion show admired the beautiful dress.[/quote]The answer should be the one provided in the answer sheet. When you
put the information 'at the fashion show' besides 'the beautiful dress'
you are emphasizing the fact that the dress is found at the fashion
show but when you put 'at the fashion show' beside 'All the ladies'
you are emphasizing that the ladies are at the fashion show.

In the question, it is the ladies who are the ones at the fashion show-
that is the emphasis, so the same emphasis must appear in the answer.

TAS

[starlight1968sg]

Thanks TAS for sharing the differences between "would" and "could".


I like the sentence you have mentioned "I would if I could…"

[mujin]

Hi TAS, need some help from you


1. If today ______ Tuesday, I would be able to give you a special discount on hotdogs.
is / are / was /were

2. They were not giving up, _________ tedious the task was.
no matter / regardless / nevertheless / however

3. You can buy branded goods ________ there than in Singapore.
cheaply / cheap / cheaper / more cheaply

4, We guessed that they had not left their shop as the door was still ________
open / opened/ opening / opens

Thanks