Q&A - PSLE English

[homeworkmummy]

Hi need help on the following question. Thanks.


Aaron’s brother and companion, Bernie, …him all the time to study hard.

1) encourage
2) encourages
3) encouraging
4) have encouraged

[happyheart]

Question is refering to Bernie ( his brother & companion)…therefore Answer is (B) encourages.

[homeworkmummy]

Thanks happyheart!

[pixiedust]

tianzhu:

Mdm Koh:

Missing \"had\". In spite of the fact that he had sprained his right thumb, Adam participated in the Asia Tennis Tournament.

Hi Mdm Koh

Please help to explain why “had” is needed in this particular case.

Please refer to this sentence from this link.
http://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/grammar-reference/spite-despite-although

In spite of the fact that he worked very hard, he didn’t manage to pass the exam.

Best wishes

I am still :scratchhead: by the above.

In spite of the fact that he had sprained his right thumb, Adam participated in the Asia Tennis Tournament.
The \"had\" is needed because it is the older of 2 past actions, so it has to be in the past perfect tense ?

1. had sprained his right thumb <-- happened first, past perfect tense
2. participated in the Asia Tennis Tournament <-- past action, past tense


but in that case, the other sentence should be :
In spite of the fact that he had worked very hard, he didn’t manage to pass the exam.

:scratchhead: :scratchhead: :scratchhead:

Ridcully, are you still here ? Appreciate if you throw us a lifeline, thanks.

[skyjuice]

happyheart:

Question is refering to Bernie ( his brother & companion)....therefore Answer is (B) encourages.

But I think the answer should be (A) encourage, as the statement refers to 2 people, brother and Bernie...

[tianzhu]

Hi


How would you explain the differences, if any, between the two sentences?

1)I’ll come as soon as I finish my homework.
2)I’ll come as soon as I‘ve finished my homework.

Best wishes

[serenasgreenhouse]

homeworkmummy:

Hi need help on the following question. Thanks.


Aaron's brother and companion, Bernie, ...........him all the time to study hard.

1) encourage
2) encourages
3) encouraging
4) have encouraged

Hi,
The subject is Bernie (only 1 person) as the phrase \"Aaron's brother and companion\" means that Bernie is Aaron's brother as well as companion. Hence the answer is 2.

Have a look at the question below:
Aaron's brother and his companion, Bernie, _________ him all the time to study hard.
In this case, with the additional possessive pronoun \"his\" added, the subject refers to two people, Aaron's brother whose name is not disclosed and Aaron's companion, Bernie.

Here are two more examples.
(a) My father and friend _________ (like/ likes) to play soccer.
The answer is \"likes\" as the subject is \"my father\" who is also \"a friend\". The subject refers to only 1 person.

(b) My father and my friend _________ (like/ likes) to play soccer.
The answer is \"like\" as the subject refers to 2 people: my father and my friend (who is a different person from my father).

Hope this helps

[Mdm Koh]

Agree with happyheart and serena. I think Bernie is both the brother and the companion. E.g. Mdm Koh's husband and best friend, S, supports her in whatever she does.


For the companion to be a different person, the sentence would have been written as \"Aaron's brother and his companion, Bernie\".

[skyjuice]

serenasgreenhouse:

homeworkmummy:

Hi need help on the following question. Thanks.


Aaron's brother and companion, Bernie, ...........him all the time to study hard.

1) encourage
2) encourages
3) encouraging
4) have encouraged

Hi,
The subject is Bernie (only 1 person) as the phrase \"Aaron's brother and companion\" means that Bernie is Aaron's brother as well as companion. Hence the answer is 2.

Have a look at the question below:
Aaron's brother and his companion, Bernie, _________ him all the time to study hard.
In this case, with the additional possessive pronoun \"his\" added, the subject refers to two people, Aaron's brother whose name is not disclosed and Aaron's companion, Bernie.

Here are two more examples.
(a) My father and friend _________ (like/ likes) to play soccer.
The answer is \"likes\" as the subject is \"my father\" who is also \"a friend\". The subject refers to only 1 person.

(b) My father and my friend _________ (like/ likes) to play soccer.
The answer is \"like\" as the subject refers to 2 people: my father and my friend (who is a different person from my father).

Hope this helps

I think you are right. I had read it as 2 people. Thanks!

[tianzhu]

pixiedust:

In spite of the fact that he had sprained his right thumb, Adam participated in the Asia Tennis Tournament.
The \"had\" is needed because it is the older of 2 past actions, so it has to be in the past perfect tense ?

Hi

I find English difficult with their rules and exceptions.

You’re correct to say that we use the Past Perfect Tense to show that one event happened earlier than the other at a point in the past. But, do we always need to use the Past Perfect to show prior past?

I read the book which I (had) bought from the bookstore.

For this particular sentence, “had” is omitted because it’s obvious that the first event (bought the book) must come first. So, we don’t need the Past Perfect Tense to signal the sequence of events.

Best wishes