English - Quoting a Sentence in OE Comprehension

[AgonyMum]

Hi,can someone help to clarify the proper way of quoting a sentence?


In Open-ended Compre,children are often asked to find a sentence from the passage -

eg. Which sentence in paragragh 2 tells you that John is famished?
Should the answer be

a. The sentence is "John ate like a pig.".
b. The sentence is "John ate like a pig".
c. The sentence is "John ate like a pig."

I am not sure of the correect way to punctuate.
Pls help.Thanks!

[corneyAmber]

My child said her school taught (b) and she said some schools taught (a). is certainly wrong.

[ridcully]

AgonyMum:

eg. Which sentence in paragragh 2 tells you that John is famished?

Should the answer be

a. The sentence is \"John ate like a pig.\".
b. The sentence is \"John ate like a pig\".
c. The sentence is \"John ate like a pig.\"

Option a. is unacceptable. You do not repeat the same endmark.

Option b. is correct. The full stop belongs to the whole sentence, not the quoted sentence contained within the bigger sentence.

Option c. is incorrect for the reason I state in Option b. However, it is the preferred form in American English, and increasingly Singaporeans seem to follow American English.

I always advise students that American English differs in many respects from British English, not simply in spelling.

Rgds
R

[corneyAmber]

My child just showed me her worksheets from the school marked by her English teacher. (a) and (b) is accepted but not .

[PiggyLalala]

Have checked with my children. They said the answer is . They said this is what the school has taught them. hmm… different schools teach differently???

[ridcully]

ksi:

My child said her school taught (b) and she said some schools taught (a). (c) is certainly wrong.

(a) is unambiguously wrong. If children are being taught that in school then one can only despair. To be fair, few tuition centres have teachers - or is it 'facilitators' these days? - who have a decent command of English either. One can only despair even more...


Two endmarks are only used when question marks and exclamation marks are involved. For instance:

The sentence is \"John ate like a pig!\".
The sentence is \"Did John eat like a pig?\".
Is the sentence \"John ate like a pig!\"?
I do not believe that the sentence is \"Did John eat like a pig?\"!

Despairingly
R

[corneyAmber]

I would ask my child to double check with the school teacher as this was something she picked u from school not enrichment centres. It is a concern to me too if what you say is right. Btw, the example she showed me was with full stops, not question mark or exclamation mark. I almost wanted to :rant: at my child for not paying attention in class, only to realise she was 100% correct with the \"facts\" given to her. It would give me the shudders if these \"facts\" are wrong. Then what else can be wrong??? I am tempted to write to moe for clarification for psle sake, not worth losing such points. :mad:

[jedamum]

ridcully:

The sentence is \"Did John eat like a pig?\".

Off topic, but
In the case of the above, is the answer,
The sentence is \"did John eat like a pig?\".
acceptable? should the student change the 'D' to lower case?

Similarly, if the passage sentence is something like,

Delighted at the sight of.....

Question: Which word in the passage has the same meaning as 'happy'?
Answer: The word is 'Delighted'.
or The word is 'delighted'.

Thank you.

[ridcully]

jedamum:

ridcully:

The sentence is \"Did John eat like a pig?\".

Off topic, but
In the case of the above, is the answer,
The sentence is \"did John eat like a pig?\".
acceptable? should the student change the 'D' to lower case?

Not acceptable to change to lower case because it is a quotation.

jedamum:

Similarly, if the passage sentence is something like,

Delighted at the sight of.....

Question: Which word in the passage has the same meaning as 'happy'?
Answer: The word is 'Delighted'.
or The word is 'delighted'.

Here, you are not lifting a quotation but rather stating a word used; consequently, putting 'delighted' is the correct form.

Rgds
R

[ridcully]

ksi:

It would give me the shudders if these \"facts\" are wrong. Then what else can be wrong???

Quite. :censored: