Q&A - PSLE English

[emerald]

Please help with these synthesis questions:


1) Derrick said,\"The movie which we saw yesterday was trilling.\"
Ans: Derrick said that the movie which they had seen the previous day had been trilling.
- teacher claimed that \"said\" in reported speech is considered an action, so does it mean we have 3 actions here and therefore need to use past perfect tense?
- can we use past perfect tense twice in a simple sentence?

2) The actor denied he was speeding. The judge fined him.
Ans: The judge fined the actor despite the fact that he had denied he had been speeding.
- correct or wrong?

Thanks.

[Muffins]

[quote] Thank you for your help.


1)Since the pupils are getting more defiant, the discipline mistress has no choice but to resort to CANE OR CANING them.
Is the answer cane or caning? Why?

2)That girl goes to the same school as _____.
Is it I or me? Why? [/quote]Hi Tianzhu,

I think question 1 should be caning, as after \"resort to\" normally a gerund form of the verb is used, in this case, caning.

For question 2, it is I. There is an implied do behind the sentence in this case. So:

That girl goes to the same school as I (do).

[atutor2001]

emerald:

Please help with these synthesis questions:


1) Derrick said,\"The movie which we saw yesterday was trilling.\"
Ans: Derrick said that the movie which they had seen the previous day had been trilling.
- teacher claimed that \"said\" in reported speech is considered an action, so does it mean we have 3 actions here and therefore need to use past perfect tense?
- can we use past perfect tense twice in a simple sentence?

2) The actor denied he was speeding. The judge fined him.
Ans: The judge fined the actor despite the fact that he had denied he had been speeding.
- correct or wrong?

Thanks.

For Q1, the question itself is grammatically erroneous because \"...was thrilling\" implies that the movie is no longer thrilling which I think is not what the speaker wanted to put across. Nevertheless, taking that as being the case, the reported speech will be :

Derrick said that the movie which they had seen the previous day was thrilling.

The \"was\" indicates that \"the movie is no longer thrilling\" and we need not change the tense in the reported speech for \"factual info\". Another example :

John said that the population of Singapore is around 5 million.

For Q2, I think the answer is

The judge fined the actor despite the fact that he had denied he was speeding.

For \"....was speeding\", the word speeding is an adjective. If we change it to \"...had been speeding\", then we are changing speeding to a past continuous tense. The use of the Past Perfect Continuous tense indicates that the actions of speeding was continuous, and was completed by the time another actions took place.... which is not found it the sentence.

A proper sentence will be (but very clumsy) :

The judge fined the actor despite the fact that he had denied he had been speeding before he was caught

If you find it confusing, it is normal because I also don't know what I am writing.

[Tang]

emerald:

Please help with these synthesis questions:


1) Derrick said,\"The movie which we saw yesterday was trilling.\"
Ans: Derrick said that the movie which they had seen the previous day had been trilling.
- teacher claimed that \"said\" in reported speech is considered an action, so does it mean we have 3 actions here and therefore need to use past perfect tense?
- can we use past perfect tense twice in a simple sentence?

2) The actor denied he was speeding. The judge fined him.
Ans: The judge fined the actor despite the fact that he had denied he had been speeding.
- correct or wrong?

Thanks.

Let me try. Hope someone can confirm the correct answers.

1. Derrick said that the movie which they had seen the day before was thrilling.

2. The judge fined the actor despite him denying he was speeding.
or
The judge fined the actor despite the fact that he denied he was speeding.

[For (2), no change from past tense to past perfect tense - as this applies only when we change from direct to indirect speech]

[emerald]

Thanks to atutor2001 & Tang for responding, hope you could help me with the following too:


1) In reported speech, are both 'the previous day'(yesterday) and 'the following day' (tomorrow) acceptable in PSLE or should I use the day before and the next day instead. Teacher said former but assessment books latter. Confused!

2) Reported speech: Jane asked Peter if he (was/were) the one who had taken her book without permission.

3) A list of items takes on a singular verb but why a number of suggestions uses a plural one?

Thanks.

[atutor2001]

Tang:

2. The judge fined the actor despite him denying he was speeding.
or
The judge fined the actor despite the fact that he denied he was speeding.

[For (2), no change from past tense to past perfect tense - as this applies only when we change from direct to indirect speech]

Hi Tang

Thanks for joining in the 'confusion'. It is a fact that your first answer for Q2 is the preferred answer. I don't know why, just happened to come across such comments in some grammar books.

However, it is the second answer which I find interesting as it is confusing. I used to teach my girl to answer the same way as your 2nd answer but was marked wrong by the teacher. After much discussion with her teacher, I get to under stand that :

1. \"despite the fact that\" is the same as \"although\"

2. When we use \"despite the fact that\" we want to introduce a \"contrast\".

3. If the \"contrast\" involves talking about a \"past action\" in contrast to an \"earlier past action\", then we must use past perfect for the \"earlier past action.\" . Which is why the answer has to be :

The judge fined the actor despite the fact that he had denied he was speeding.

[atutor2001]

emerald:

Thanks to atutor2001 & Tang for responding, hope you could help me with the following too:


1) In reported speech, are both 'the previous day'(yesterday) and 'the following day' (tomorrow) acceptable in PSLE or should I use the day before and the next day instead. Teacher said former but assessment books latter. Confused!

2) Reported speech: Jane asked Peter if he (was/were) the one who had taken her book without permission.

3) A list of items takes on a singular verb but why a number of suggestions uses a plural one?

Thanks.

Let try and bluff again :

For (1), my girls usually use \"the day before\" and \"the next day\" - why? easier to spell :lol: . To me they are all Ok.

For (2) : Jane asked Peter if he were the one who had taken her book without permission.
After \"IF\" we need to use \"WERE\". Why? Don't know, just one of their silly rules.

PS
Sorry wrong! Should be \"was\" since the case is \"not certain\"

For (3) : The meaning of \"A list\" is \"1 list\" so it is singular. The meaning of \"A number of\" is \"more than 1 item\", so it is plural. Therefore, in deciding whether is singular or plural, the focus should be on the meaning of the phrase and not individual word.

[Full.010894Cream]

think "If I was…’ is also applicable sometimes!

[atutor2001]

Full.Cream:

think \"If I was...' is also applicable sometimes!

Sorry cannot. \"If I were...\"

PS

Sorry again you are right. \"If I was ....\"means the fact is true or \"not sure\".

Example :

\"If I was there when you called ....\" (I am not sure)
\"If I were there when you called....\" (very sure I wasn't there)

[Tang]

emerald:

Thanks to atutor2001 & Tang for responding, hope you could help me with the following too:


1) In reported speech, are both 'the previous day'(yesterday) and 'the following day' (tomorrow) acceptable in PSLE or should I use the day before and the next day instead. Teacher said former but assessment books latter. Confused!

2) Reported speech: Jane asked Peter if he (was/were) the one who had taken her book without permission.

3) A list of items takes on a singular verb but why a number of suggestions uses a plural one?

Thanks.

1) Both \"the previous day (to replace yesterday)\" and \"the following day (to replace tomorrow)\" are correct.

2) Jane asked Peter if he was the one who had taken her book without permission.

\"was\" is used here as it is something possible

\"were\" will be used when it is something not possible

Eg.

If I were here this morning, I would have helped to solve the problem.
If I were a millionaire, I would give everyone a treat.
If John were with me, he would not have been involved in the fight.