Q&A - PSLE English

[GalMummy]

Can someone help with this synthesis :

The workers want a pay increase. They want reduced hours as well.
Ans: Not only __________________________________________.

Thanks

[Recia Lim]

My mother makes my sister help/to help/helping/helps her with the shopping.

Why is the answer ''help''?

[Recia Lim]

GalMummy:

Can someone help with this synthesis :

The workers want a pay increase. They want reduced hours as well.
Ans: Not only__________________________________________.

Thanks

Not only do the workers want a pay increase, they also want to reduce hours.

[ximinful]

A number of break-ins has/have happened…


The answer given was "have" , but why? Someone pls help me. Thx

[Robertpattinsonidle]

When to use has been and had been? example:

Loo Hong _____________ in London for many years before he met his wife.
(1) had lived
(2) has been living
(3) had been living
(4) have been living

[Robertpattinsonidle]

ximinful:

A number of break-ins has/have happened..


The answer given was \"have\" , but why? Someone pls help me. Thx

a number of break-ins means that there is definitely more than one. so plural. thanks

[ximinful]

Robertpattinsonidle:

ximinful:

A number of break-ins has/have happened..


The answer given was \"have\" , but why? Someone pls help me. Thx

a number of break-ins means that there is definitely more than one. so plural. thanks

I took \"a number\" as a collective term. Why can't it be \"has\"?

[Superbugs]

Hi appreciate if someone can help with this:


Kelly saw the man ______ an item off the shelf.

1. took
2. takes
3. taking
4. take

The speaker was _____ in the point that he was making?

1. empathetic
2. sympathetic
3. empathic
4. pathetic

[AdvancedAcademia]

ximinful:

Robertpattinsonidle:

[quote=\"ximinful\"]A number of break-ins has/have happened..


The answer given was \"have\" , but why? Someone pls help me. Thx

a number of break-ins means that there is definitely more than one. so plural. thanks

I took \"a number\" as a collective term. Why can't it be \"has\"?[/quote]The reason for this is quite simple really. Its a question of phrasing. When you state \"The number of ______\" the emphasis on the 'number' thus singular. But in this question the phrasing is \"A number of ______\" the emphasis shifts to the multiple break-ins, thus demanding a plural verb.

[AdvancedAcademia]

Recia Lim:

How and when do we use \"has had\" and \"had had\".

Dear Recia,

Your last few questions have all been with regards to tenses, specifically about the appropriate use of the prefect tense. Its not something which can be explained very quickly in a post, so I'll try my best to condense;

Present Perfect: We tend to use the Present Perfect to say that an action happened at an unspecified time before now; the exact time is not important. You should not use the Present Perfect with specific time expressions such as: yesterday, one year ago, last week, etc... We can use it with unspecific expressions such as; ever, never, once, many times, several times, etc... The difficulty for students is to realize which expressions are specific/unspecific. Its also somethings challenging to explain what unspecified time means. I usually try to teach this using graphically representations.

Past Perfect: Usually, we use the Past Perfect to express the idea that something occurred before another action in the past; usually an action with a specific time reference. For example: I had never seen such a beautiful hotel before I went to Marina Bay Sands. I did not have my credit card with me because I had lost my wallet. Similar to Present Perfect, the problem is teaching kids to understand time references.

I hope that helps.

Advanced Academia