All About English Creative Writing

[tianzhu]

Hi TAS


I wish to seek your help again.

This S and T question appears in P3/P4 English thread.

If you drink, don't drive!
_________ unless ______________

According to TS, the given answer is \"Don't drink unless you are not driving.\"

I find it difficult to understand. From past readings, I observed that unless is usually followed by a verb in the affirmative (positive).
Unless refers to an exception. It usually replaces 'if' + a negative verb.

Just curious, is this answer acceptable?

Drive unless you drink.

Please help to clarify.

Best wishes

[The Alternative Story]

tianzhu:

Hi TAS


I wish to seek your help again.

This S and T question appears in P3/P4 English thread.

If you drink, don't drive!
_________ unless ______________

According to TS, the given answer is \"Don't drink unless you are not driving.\"

I find it difficult to understand. From past readings, I observed that unless is usually followed by a verb in the affirmative (positive).
Unless refers to an exception. It usually replaces 'if' + a negative verb.

Just curious, is this answer acceptable?

Drive unless you drink.

Please help to clarify.

Best wishes

Hi tianzhu,

For 'unless', it does not need to be followed by a verb in the
affirmative but the sentence usually does not contain
2 negatives (don't) + (you are not).


Drive unless you drink should be correct because it fulfills
the rules concerning 'unless' where one part of the
sentence should be negative (drinking has a negative
connotation) and one part positive (drive)

However in this case, this is not accepted because Drive unless
you drink is in the form of a command.

And sentences with 'unless' usually are not in the form of a command.

We do not say:

Go out unless it rains.

We would say:

You can go out unless it rains

A better way to put it should then be:

You can drive unless you drink

The answer that was given: Don't drink unless you are not driving
is indeed confusing as there are double negatives(don't) and
(you are not) in the same sentence which makes it hard to
understand.

Hope this helps

TAS

[tianzhu]

The Alternative Story:

For 'unless', it does not need to be followed by a verb in the
affirmative but the sentence usually does not contain
2 negatives (don't) + (you are not).

Hi TAS

Good Morning.

Thank you for your reply.

I was given the understanding that unless + affirmative (positive) verb = if + negative verb.

Please help to explain.

You’ve given me a useful tip of not using unless in the form of command.

Best wishes

[tianzhu]

Hi TAS


This question is from PSLE English thread.

Each pupil _________ a souvenir from the teacher for her hard work in the year.

(1) has been receiving
(2) is receiving
(3) received
(4) was receiving

Does in the year signal a past event?

Please advise.

Best wishes

[lemofish]

Rozita ____ the recipe book online as soon as its launch was made official by the publisher.


1) orders
2)ordered
3) has ordered
4) had ordered

Is the answer 2) or 4)?
:?:
Please advise.
TIA.

[The Alternative Story]

tianzhu:

Hi TAS

Good Morning.

Thank you for your reply.

I was given the understanding that unless + affirmative (positive) verb = if + negative verb.

Please help to explain.

You’ve given me a useful tip of not using unless in the form of command.

Best wishes

Hi tianzhu,

An easy way to remember and differentiate between 'unless' and
'if' is this:

Unless - One part of the sentence is negative and one positive.

Eg: Unless it rains (negative because you can't go out), I
will go out (positive- good that you get to go out)

If - Either both parts of the sentence are negative or both
parts are positive.

Eg: If it rains (negative), I cannot go out (negative)

TAS

[The Alternative Story]

tianzhu:

Hi TAS


This question is from PSLE English thread.

Each pupil _________ a souvenir from the teacher for her hard work in the year.

(1) has been receiving
(2) is receiving
(3) received
(4) was receiving

Does in the year signal a past event?

Please advise.

Best wishes

Hi tianzhu,

Yes it does because it implies that you are referring to a whole
year that has just gone past, it cannot be the following year
because you would not have known how hard the subject
is going to work in the following year.

TAS

[The Alternative Story]

lemofish:

Rozita ____ the recipe book online as soon as its launch was made official by the publisher.


1) orders
2)ordered
3) has ordered
4) had ordered

Is the answer 2) or 4)?
:?:
Please advise.
TIA.

Hi lemofish,

The answer is 2) because you would use the past perfect tense
(had ordered) when there are 2 actions happening in the
past in the sentence and the one that happened earlier would be
in the past perfect tense.

Eg:

- I had brushed (happened earlier) my teeth before I went
(happened later) to bed.

In the statement that you gave, the 'ordering' and 'launch
made official' happened at the same time because of
the linking words-as soon as. Therefore you cannot use
the past perfect (had ordered) in this statement.

TAS

[KRR]

The Alternative Story:

lemofish:

Rozita ____ the recipe book online as soon as its launch was made official by the publisher.


1) orders
2)ordered
3) has ordered
4) had ordered

Is the answer 2) or 4)?
:?:
Please advise.
TIA.

Hi lemofish,

The answer is 2) because you would use the past perfect tense
(had ordered) when there are 2 actions happening in the
past in the sentence and the one that happened earlier would be
in the past perfect tense.

Eg:

- I had brushed (happened earlier) my teeth before I went
(happened later) to bed.

In the statement that you gave, the 'ordering' and 'launch
made official' happened at the same time because of
the linking words-as soon as. Therefore you cannot use
the past perfect (had ordered) in this statement.

TAS

Hi TAS

Janice brushed her teeth. Then she went to bed.

(1) Janice brushed her teeth before she went to bed OR
(2) Janice had brushed her teeth before she went to bed. OR
(3) Janice brushed her teeth before going to teeth.

Which one is correct? The Conquer (Syn & Trans) book give (1) as the ans. However, according to your above explanation, I find (2) should be the answer.

Can you please explain.

Thank u very much.

KRR

[The Alternative Story]

KRR:

The Alternative Story:

[quote=\"lemofish\"]Rozita ____ the recipe book online as soon as its launch was made official by the publisher.


1) orders
2)ordered
3) has ordered
4) had ordered

Is the answer 2) or 4)?
:?:
Please advise.
TIA.

Hi lemofish,

The answer is 2) because you would use the past perfect tense
(had ordered) when there are 2 actions happening in the
past in the sentence and the one that happened earlier would be
in the past perfect tense.

Eg:

- I had brushed (happened earlier) my teeth before I went
(happened later) to bed.

In the statement that you gave, the 'ordering' and 'launch
made official' happened at the same time because of
the linking words-as soon as. Therefore you cannot use
the past perfect (had ordered) in this statement.

TAS

Hi TAS

Janice brushed her teeth. Then she went to bed.

(1) Janice brushed her teeth before she went to bed OR
(2) Janice had brushed her teeth before she went to bed. OR
(3) Janice brushed her teeth before going to teeth.

Which one is correct? The Conquer (Syn & Trans) book give (1) as the ans. However, according to your above explanation, I find (2) should be the answer.

Can you please explain.

Thank u very much.

KRR[/quote]Hi KRR,

Answer (1) is definitely wrong, in fact, that is a mistake commonly
made by students.

The answer can be both (2) or (3). For (3), the 'going to bed'
becomes a noun (a gerund), hence it is accepted so you
either have a gerund ('ing' form) or you need to use
the past perfect tense to differentiate the timing. (one action
happened before another)

Examples of gerunds:

- I enjoy dancing (Dancing is the name of the activity, it is a
gerund)

- I looked forward to meeting you. (Meeting is the name of
the activity, it is a gerund)

TAS