Q&A - PSLE English

[ms_lim]

For punctuation, can anyone share when to use : and ; ?

[Cockroach]

; is to join another information to the sentence for example: some pupils brought a calculator;others brought along a handphone.(mostly, semicolons are replaced with comma so if the punctuation does not have a comma but has a semicolon, that might be the answer)

: is to tell the reader something that you had mentioned in the first part of the sentence(NOT add on) for example: the keychain that I had broken was very valuable: it was a diamond one.

[Helping--Hand]

ms_lim:

Can you please explain which is correct?


The movie was so hilarious that it really made our class of forty _______ our hearts out.
(1) laugh
(2) laughed

Which is correct?


Tom's friend thought he was lying. He was telling the truth.
(1) Tom's friend thought he was lying; however, he was telling the truth.
(2) Tom's friend thought he was lying, however he was telling the truth.
(3) Tom's friend thought he was lying however he was telling the truth.

Which is correct?

The first one should be (1)laugh
The second one should be (2)Tom's friend thought he was lying, however he was telling the truth.
You may want to find out what's ; which (i think) means the second part of the sentence explains the first part of the sentence. Happy searching! :please:

[Mdm Koh]

With regards to the question above, I think the answer should be the one with the semi-colon. This is because we can't use \"however\" to connect two independent clauses (parts of a sentence that can stand on their own) by placing a comma before the word.


In order to use the word \"however\", we need to have a full-stop before it. We can write, \"Tom's friend thought he was lying. However, he was telling the truth.\" We can also write, as in option (1), \"Tom's friend thought he was lying; however, he was telling the truth.\"

We can, however, use the word \"however\" in a sentence when it is not between two independent clauses. <--- like in this sentence.

Hope this helps.

[Alchemist]

Hi Could I check what would the acceptable asnwer to the following:


1. John’s father asks, "Do you know where your mother keeps the telephone bill?"
2. The brothers made a card to express their appreciation and love for their mother.

[ms_lim]

Mdm Koh:

With regards to the question above, I think the answer should be the one with the semi-colon. This is because we can't use \"however\" to connect two independent clauses (parts of a sentence that can stand on their own) by placing a comma before the word.


In order to use the word \"however\", we need to have a full-stop before it. We can write, \"Tom's friend thought he was lying. However, he was telling the truth.\" We can also write, as in option (1), \"Tom's friend thought he was lying; however, he was telling the truth.\"

We can, however, use the word \"however\" in a sentence when it is not between two independent clauses. <--- like in this sentence.

Hope this helps.

Dear Helping--Hand and Mdm Koh, :thankyou:

[Tinkerbelle]

vidhyalog:

Hi Could I check what would the acceptable asnwer to the following:


1. John's father asks, \"Do you know where your mother keeps the telephone bill?\"
2. The brothers made a card to express their appreciation and love for their mother.

Hi vidhyalog,
Are these synthesis & transformation questions?
What are the key words for the transformed sentences?

[Alchemist]

Tinkerbelle:

vidhyalog:

Hi Could I check what would the acceptable asnwer to the following:


1. John's father asks, \"Do you know where your mother keeps the telephone bill?\"
2. The brothers made a card to express their appreciation and love for their mother.

Hi vidhyalog,
Are these synthesis & transformation questions?
What are the key words for the transformed sentences?

Ok - that was not very clever of me. Yes they are synthesis and transformation.

1) John's father asks, \"Do you know where your mother keeps the telephone bill?\"
John's father asks __________________________________________
2) The brothers made a card to express their appreciation and love for their mother
A card ______________________________________________

Thanks

[PiggyLalala]

Daddy Ridcully, where are you? We need your help to explain the difficult and complicated grammar rules. Hope you are fine and will be back to KSP soon.

[mrswongtuition]

Hope this helps:


1) John’s father asks, "Do you know where your mother keeps the telephone bill?"
John’s father asks if he knows where his mother keeps the telephone bill.
John’s father asks whether he knows where his mother keeps the telephone bill.

Note: Reporting verb ‘says’ is in present tense, therefore there is no change in tenses.

2) The brothers made a card to express their appreciation and love for their mother
A card to express their appreciation and love for their mother was made by the brothers.