Q&A - PSLE English

[Muffins]

meimeitan:

Hi!


How come the answer be 'pay the fine' not 'paid the fine'? Pls advise.
Thanks. :?

Hi meimeitan,

din notice your Q before...

The question read \"I had to pay the fine. Otherwise, I would have lost my license.\"

So, by right, this happened in the past.

IMHO it should read \"Unless I paid the fine, I would have lost my license\"

Otherwise, it could read \"Unless I pay the fine, I would lose my license\", but the question does not read \"I need to pay the fine. Otherwise, I will lose my license.\"

[meimeitan]

Hi Muffins


Finally I can get the answer. Many thanks. :lol:

[Mathmaniac]

meimeitan:

Hi!


How come the answer be 'pay the fine' not 'paid the fine'? Pls advise.
Thanks. :?

Sorry for the late reply. Yes, based on the context, 'paid' would be a better answer. Thanks for pointing out.

[simple88]

Hi,


Can some one explain to me why is it " None of the campers have…" and not "None of the campers has…"?

Thanks.

[atutor2001]

simple88:

Hi,


Can some one explain to me why is it \" None of the campers have....\" and not \"None of the campers has....\"?

Thanks.

Actually till now, there is still a big argument on whether is none singular or plural if it is used to quantify a countable plural noun. Even Oxford Dictionary allows both singular and plural forms.

However, none is traditionally used as plural except if the noun it refers to is a collective noun. Therefore, it is safer to use it as a plural form (except for collective nouns) since it is traditionally accepted.

This site provides the best explanation on why none is plural though it is quite heavy reading.
http://motivatedgrammar.wordpress.com/2009/01/08/none-is-none-are-grammar-according-to-clarkson/

[atutor2001]

I have found this site which is a summary of \"Common Grammar Problem on Singular or Plural\". I find it very relevant for PSLE. Hope it is of use.


http://www.victoria.ac.nz/st_services/slss/studyhub/grammar/Singular-or-plural.pdf

[Muffins]

Hi atutor,


My take o it would be to go for \"is\", actually.

Though \"are\" sounds more acceptable, the root words of none are \"not one\"

So, the sentence actually reads \"Not one of the campers is....\"

That's my opinion....

[atutor2001]

Muffins:

Hi atutor,


My take o it would be to go for \"is\", actually.

Though \"are\" sounds more acceptable, the root words of none are \"not one\"

So, the sentence actually reads \"Not one of the campers is....\"

That's my opinion....

Their argument of why \"none\" is plural is based on the fact that \"none\" can be used with \"each other\". \"each other\" is used when there are 2 things/persons. In the 2 sentences below, 3a is wrong because \"not one\" which is singular, cannot be used with \"each other\". However, grammatically, 3b has all along been accepted. Therefore, it implies that \"none\" is plural since we can use \"each other\" with \"none\". Hence, though \"none\" has same meaning as \"not one\", the grammatical usage of none is different from \"not one\".

(3a) *Not one of the blind mice can see each other.
(3b) None of the blind mice can see each other.

In some other discussions, they argued that \"none\" can mean \"not one\" or \"not any\". (found also in Oxford Dictionary) In this instant, the argument is that \"not any\" is plural. However, records on English usage showed that \"none\" has all along been used as plural in the past. So is it singular or plural? Hope that this question will not appear in PSLE.

[Muffins]

http://www.urch.com/forums/faqs/920-grammar-none-singular-plural.html


this says that none is singular....

[meimeitan]

Hi!


There are two T and S. Please help. Thanks.

(a) Our school will be upgraded next year. It will be equipped with new science laboratories.

_____________________________ of our school next year __________

(b) You are worried. Tell me about it.

Tell me ___________________________________________________