Q&A - PSLE English

[fxchow]

tianzhu:

Hi

I gave this question to my son last night and his answer was -----

Much to Mrs Ong's annoyance, her son has broken another antique vase.

But, he couldn’t offer much explanation about his choice.
I think we should use the Present Perfect Tense in this question because it is about an action which happened in the past, but still have an effect in the present.

Hope I am right.

Hi,

Yup, the answer is \"HAS\". Thanks for your explanation.

[Tang]

ChiefKiasu:

I beg to differ. Consider the following:

\"Steve badly wanted his son, John, to win the football match, as he has placed a huge bet on the game. He kept shouting instructions to John during the game and it distracted the poor boy. As a result of Steve's anxiety, he did not play well in the match.\"

In the above, \"he\" refers to \"John\". In any case, this example only shows the weakness of the 2nd statement.

Based on the question given, the 2nd version will be an acceptable answer. There is no ambiguity as no 3rd party is involved.

[fxchow]

Hi,


Can someone help to explain this question? TIA

The couple who saw a robber shot dead in front of them was traumatized.

Why the answer is not shoot as after saw ?

[Tang]

fxchow:

Hi,


Can someone help to explain this question? TIA

The couple who saw a robber shot dead in front of them was traumatized.

Why the answer is not shoot as after saw ?

Sentences:

The couple was traumatised.

a robber shot dead

Phrases:

in front of them

who saw


He saw the robber.
He saw the robber rob the bank.

He fainted in front of the bank.
the robber robbed the bank
He who saw the robber robbed the bank fainted in front of the bank.

[sashimi]

fxchow:

Hi,


Can someone help to explain this question? TIA

The couple who saw a robber shot dead in front of them was traumatized.

Why the answer is not shoot as after saw ?

Let me try. It's clearer when you think of it this way:

The couple - who saw {a robber (who was) shot dead} in front of them - was traumatized.

If \"shoot\" is used, it doesn't make sense as the sentence tries to imply that the robber is shooting someone/something called \"dead\".

If I changed \"dead\" to a proper noun, eg. \"the banker\", then shoot works:

The couple who saw a robber shoot the banker in front of them was traumatized.

However, in this case, it is that the robber was killed, i.e. shot dead.

[sashimi]

tianzhu:

Hi

I gave this question to my son last night and his answer was -----

Much to Mrs Ong's annoyance, her son has broken another antique vase.

But, he couldn’t offer much explanation about his choice.
I think we should use the Present Perfect Tense in this question because it is about an action which happened in the past, but still have an effect in the present.

Hope I am right.

This one is sort of time-contextual. \"has broken\" , as tianzhu indicates, refers to a \"recent\" event, hence the state of being \"broken\" still \"has\" immediacy.

One can use \"had\" if the event is considered past.

Eg. Mrs Ong is/was very annoyed. Her son had broken another antique vase.

[tweet]

fxchow:

Hi,


Can someone help to explain this question? TIA

The couple who saw a robber shot dead in front of them was traumatized.

Why the answer is not shoot as after saw ?

Sometimes the infinitive is used without \"to\".This is called the bare infinitive.
Eg: He saw the guards shoot his fellow prisoners.

Regards

[atutor2001]

fxchow:

Hi,


Can someone help to explain this question? TIA

The couple who saw a robber shot dead in front of them was traumatized.

Why the answer is not shoot as after saw ?

You must have confused it with sentences such as :

\"He made me clean the floor\"

The \"me\" is the one that \"clean\" the floor.

However, in your senence, the \"robber\" is NOT the one that \"shoot\" but the one that was being shot. What actually happened to the sentence was that the word \"being\" was omitted. Just put it back and you can see it clearly.

The couple who saw a robber BEING shot dead in front of them was traumatized

[fxchow]

atutor2001:

You must have confused it with sentences such as :


\"He made me clean the floor\"

The \"me\" is the one that \"clean\" the floor.

However, in your senence, the \"robber\" is NOT the one that \"shoot\" but the one that was being shot. What actually happened to the sentence was that the word \"being\" was omitted. Just put it back and you can see it clearly.

The couple who saw a robber BEING shot dead in front of them was traumatized

Hi tweet & atutor2001,

Thanks for your explaination.

[suiyuan]

Thank you for your help.


1)I recall that he [fell / had fallen]_ into the drain.

2) I recalled that he [fell / had fallen]_ into the drain.