Q&A - P4 English
-
teh_oh:
'Closed' is a past participle acting as an adjective meaning ‘not open’.Q: The swimming complex is ________ on Mondays.
(1) close
(2) closed
How to explain to the child that answer is (2)? Child thinks that it is still not in operation every Monday so should be in present tense.
Is the same apply to
Q: This clinic is ______only on Wednesdays and Fridays.
(1) open
(2) opened
'Close' is a regular adjective meaning ‘nearby’.
'Open’ is a regular adjective meaning ‘not closed’; more precisely here, ‘services available ’. This is the correct answer.
'Opened' is a past participle forming part of a passive verb. It refers to the actual process of someone opening the door. You can say:
This clinic is opened every Wednesday and Friday at 7 am by Mr Tan the caretaker.
Many of the students I teach at the enrichment centre have trouble with these pairs. From P3 onwards I regularly drill the use of past participles and the passive verb form into them.
Hope that helps.
Rgds
R -
ridcully:
Hi Ridcully,
'Closed' is a past participle acting as an adjective meaning ‘not open’.teh_oh:
Q: The swimming complex is ________ on Mondays.
(1) close
(2) closed
How to explain to the child that answer is (2)? Child thinks that it is still not in operation every Monday so should be in present tense.
Is the same apply to
Q: This clinic is ______only on Wednesdays and Fridays.
(1) open
(2) opened
'Close' is a regular adjective meaning ‘nearby’.
'Open’ is a regular adjective meaning ‘not closed’; more precisely here, ‘services available ’. This is the correct answer.
'Opened' is a past participle forming part of a passive verb. It refers to the actual process of someone opening the door. You can say:
This clinic is opened every Wednesday and Friday at 7 am by Mr Tan the caretaker.
Many of the students I teach at the enrichment centre have trouble with these pairs. From P3 onwards I regularly drill the use of past participles and the passive verb form into them.
Hope that helps.
Rgds
R
Thanks for your replies.
-
cl82:
Should be 'me'.The pop star gave autographed pictures to my brother and _____.
Should the word in the blank be \"I\" or \"me\"? Why? In what cases are \"I\" and \"me\" used?
There are two main types of personal pronouns: direct and indirect. If you are replacing a noun acting as a subject, you need a subject pronoun. If you are replacing a noun acting as an object, you need an object pronoun.
Subject pronouns include 'I', 'we', 'you', 'he', 'she', 'it' and 'they'. Corresponding object pronouns are 'me', 'us', 'you', 'him', 'her', 'it' and 'them'. Note that some pronouns can be both subject and object eg 'you' and 'it'.
In your example sentence, the subject is 'pop star' and the objects are 'pictures', 'brother' and 'me'.
Furthermore, prepositions take object pronouns. In your example sentence, you also have the preposition 'to'. This also takes 'me'.
A popular preposition tested in school is 'between'. You have to write:
between you and me
Not:
between you and I
To summarise:
Ridcully gave a rose to the princess.
He gave a rose to the princess.
He gave it to the princess.
He gave it to her.
Not:
Him gave it to she.
Hope that helps.
R -
Thanks Ridcully, for the detailed answer!
-
can someone help me to answer the question below:
The Tan family is/are going to decorate their house for the coming Chinese New Year. -
janicelhl:
'Family' is a collective noun. A collective noun has duality about it: It is a group comprising several members. Consequently, if you want to emphasise the family as a single unit acting in unison, you use a singular verb; if you want to emphasise the members acting individually, you use a plural verb.can someone help me to answer the question below:
The Tan family is/are going to decorate their house for the coming Chinese New Year.
Looking at your sentence, the Tan family will decorate the house acting in unison. Therefore, I am strongly tempted to use the singular verb 'is'. However, your sentence has the possessive 'their' which is plural. Thus, for the sake of consistency I would go for the plural verb 'are'.
Rgds
R -
ridcully:
'Family' is a collective noun. A collective noun has duality about it: It is a group comprising several members. Consequently, if you want to emphasise the family as a single unit acting in unison, you use a singular verb; if you want to emphasise the members acting individually, you use a plural verb.janicelhl:
can someone help me to answer the question below:
The Tan family is/are going to decorate their house for the coming Chinese New Year.
Looking at your sentence, the Tan family will decorate the house acting in unison. Therefore, I am strongly tempted to use the singular verb 'is'. However, your sentence has the possessive 'their' which is plural. Thus, for the sake of consistency I would go for the plural verb 'are'.
Rgds
R
Thank you for your explanation. How about this sentence:
My family is/are going to visit our grandparents next week. In this case, do we still use \"are\"? cos' there is a possessive \"our\". How can I explain to my boy? -
[quote]
Thank you for your explanation. How about this sentence:
My family is/are going to visit our grandparents next week. In this case, do we still use \"are\"? cos' there is a possessive \"our\". How can I explain to my boy?[/quote]You explain to your boy that the sentence is mangled.
It should be:
My family and I are going to visit our grandparents next week.
'My family and I' can be replaced with 'We' which is consistent with 'our'.
Personally, I find it frustrating that assessment books from certain bookshops, and worksheets from many schools, are frequently riddled with errors in both the questions and the answers. I feel for parents trying to help their kids when the source material is unsound.
Rgds
R -
ridcully:
Hi R,
'Family' is a collective noun. A collective noun has duality about it: It is a group comprising several members. Consequently, if you want to emphasise the family as a single unit acting in unison, you use a singular verb; if you want to emphasise the members acting individually, you use a plural verb.janicelhl:
can someone help me to answer the question below:
The Tan family is/are going to decorate their house for the coming Chinese New Year.
Looking at your sentence, the Tan family will decorate the house acting in unison. Therefore, I am strongly tempted to use the singular verb 'is'. However, your sentence has the possessive 'their' which is plural. Thus, for the sake of consistency I would go for the plural verb 'are'.
Rgds
R
In the case of
'The Tan family is/are going for a trip next week'.
Answer should be 'is', right?
Thanks. -
Thank you.
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