Q&A - PSLE English

[ridcully]

samX09:

Ava declared that she hadn't had time to prepare for the speech so she just had had to wing it.

I would say no, although I understand your thinking about tense consistency.

The past perfect is mainly used to convey the idea of an earlier event or condition, which in this case is lack of time for preparation. Having to wing it is a subsequent event and does not deserve the past perfect.

Rgds
R

[KRR]

Please help me with this question

\t
“Mary, which colour do you prefer?” asked Miss Lim.

Miss Lim asked ______________________________

Thank you very much.

KRR

[Mum1113]

Thanks ridcully…

[ridcully]

KRR:

“Mary, which colour do you prefer?” asked Miss Lim.

Miss Lim asked ______________________________

Miss Lim asked Mary which colour she preferred.

or

Miss Lim asked Mary which colour did she prefer.

[KRR]

ridcully:

KRR:

“Mary, which colour do you prefer?” asked Miss Lim.

Miss Lim asked ______________________________

Miss Lim asked Mary which colour she preferred.

or

Miss Lim asked Mary which colour did she prefer.

Thank u very much.

KRR

[kurosaki]

Hi, got two questions that I need help in:

1)She saw a shark ____ towards the surfer and she screamed.
Choices: (1) swim (2) swam (3) swims (4)was swimming
Answer key was (1), can anyone explain?

2)Conservationists estimate that between 2000 ____ 3000 remain in the wild.
Answer given was "and", "to" is not acceptable. Can anyone explain this too?

Thanks a lot!

[kurosaki]

Hi, got two questions that I need help in:

1)She saw a shark ____ towards the surfer and she screamed.
Choices: (1) swim (2) swam (3) swims (4)was swimming
Answer key was (1), can anyone explain?

2)Conservationists estimate that between 2000 ____ 3000 remain in the wild.
Answer given was "and", "to" is not acceptable. Can anyone explain this too?

Thanks a lot!

[ridcully]

kurosaki:

Hi, got two questions that I need help in:

1)She saw a shark ____ towards the surfer and she screamed.
Choices: (1) swim (2) swam (3) swims (4)was swimming
Answer key was (1), can anyone explain?

2)Conservationists estimate that between 2000 ____ 3000 remain in the wild.
Answer given was \"and\", \"to\" is not acceptable. Can anyone explain this too?

Q1. Ans is indeed option (1). This is known as the infinitive. In that sentence, the finite verb is 'saw'.

Infinitives are non-finite, that is they do not agree with their subject, and written in base form. Although they are the base form of a verb, they do not act as verbs in the sentence, but rather they act as a noun, adjective or adverb.

Here, 'swim' is forming an adjectival phrase to describe the noun 'shark'.

Q2. Ans is \"and\". Common prepositional usage. Certain words go with certain prepositions. For most purposes, you simply have to accept collocation.

Rgds
R

[QuiteKSMum]

Hi kurosaki,


Qn 1 -you may refer to this thread under Enrichment, Languages & Drama, Quirky Grammar...thread, pg 2. Verb of perception explained by Learning Partners.
Qn 2 - my answer is \"to\". :? while DH's ans is \"and\" - between this AND that...

You might want to pose the qn in the above thread?

Cheers!

[ridcully]

kurosaki:

Hi, got two questions that I need help in:

1)She saw a shark ____ towards the surfer and she screamed.
Choices: (1) swim (2) swam (3) swims (4)was swimming
Answer key was (1), can anyone explain?

2)Conservationists estimate that between 2000 ____ 3000 remain in the wild.
Answer given was \"and\", \"to\" is not acceptable. Can anyone explain this too?

Thanks a lot!

I posted a reply in the PSLE English thread. Here's a copy for reference:

Q1. This is known as the infinitive. In that sentence, the finite verb is 'saw'.

Infinitives are non-finite, that is they do not agree with their subject, and written in base form. Although they are the base form of a verb, they do not act as verbs in the sentence, but rather they act as a noun, adjective or adverb.

Here, 'swim' is forming an adjectival phrase to describe the noun 'shark'.

Q2. Ans is \"and\". Common prepositional usage. Certain words go with certain prepositions. For most purposes, you simply have to accept collocation.

Rgds
R