Q&A - PSLE English

[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

[AdvancedAcademia]

sunnymoon:

Hi , can someone help me with the following grammar. Thanks

1)\tThe team (is , are) trying on their Jersey now. They will be starting their training soon.
2)\tThe posse of policemen (has been, have been) marching on the field since this morning. They have not stopped marching yet.
Active to Passive and vice versa
The stolen antique has been recovered by the police.
3)\tThe police (has /have) recovered the stolen antique.
The show “X Factor” has been rated highly by the public.
4)\tThe public (has,have) rated the show “X Factor” highly.

Thank you.

1) Are - The reason is because that the sentence is referring to the individual efforts of each crew member. For example: The crew are preparing to dock the ship.
2) Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe this questions allows for both usage depending on whether the emphasis is on the collective effort of the posse or the individual efforts of the policemen.
3) Have - The reference in this case is clear 'the police' and we usually refer to the police as plural.
4) has - The usage of 'the public' in this case is with reference to the collective rating, thus singular. A plural usage is when the emphasis is on the individual effort of the collective: e.g. The public are requested to stay away from the F1 track around Raffles Boulevard.

Hope that helps.

[sunnymoon]

Thank you

[sunnymoon]

Hi can help me with the following


Q1)Ali asked Betty, \"Did you know who invented the radio?\"
Ali asked Betty _______________________________

Q2) Neither of the girls passed (their , her) tests.

Q3) what is the past participle of get and awake?
(got or gotten)

Q4) It was not against the rules for the employees to listen to the radio while they worked at the office
Listening to __________________________________

Q5) Who was the last person tp leave the room? the detectives asked Tom.
The detectives asked Tom _______________________________

Q6).Many people are afraid to go near the clinic.There had been an unknown virus spreading in the clinic.
(1)Many people are afraid to go near the clinic because of an unknown virus spreading there.
(2)Many people are afraid to go near the clinic because of an unknown virus spreading in there.

Q7)Mary asked me,\"How old are you this year?\"
Mary asked me what __________________
(1)Mary asked me what age I was that year.
(2)Mary asked me what my age was that year.


thank you

[kaka]

Ps help:

Jun Min _______ in his room all day when his friends asked him to join them for a game of soccer.
1) was studying
2) had been studying
anwer is 2), why 1) is wrong?

[verykiasumummy]

kaka:

Ps help:

Jun Min _______ in his room all day when his friends asked him to join them for a game of soccer.
1) was studying
2) had been studying
anwer is 2), why 1) is wrong?

i'm not very gd in this but should be 2... cos the action is going on all the while \"all day\" before the invitation by his friends...

[kaka]

verykiasumummy:

kaka:

Ps help:

Jun Min _______ in his room all day when his friends asked him to join them for a game of soccer.
1) was studying
2) had been studying
anwer is 2), why 1) is wrong?

i'm not very gd in this but should be 2... cos the action is going on all the while \"all day\" before the invitation by his friends...

Thanks.
Just checking, if without \"all day\" would the answer be different?

[sunnymoon]

Hi can someone please help me with the following


Q1)Ali asked Betty, "Did you know who invented the radio?"
Ali asked Betty _______________________________

Q2) Neither of the girls passed (their , her) tests.

Q3) what is the past participle of get and awake?
(got or gotten)

Q4) It was not against the rules for the employees to listen to the radio while they worked at the office
Listening to __________________________________

Q5) Who was the last person tp leave the room? the detectives asked Tom.
The detectives asked Tom _______________________________

Q6).Many people are afraid to go near the clinic.There had been an unknown virus spreading in the clinic.
(1)Many people are afraid to go near the clinic because of an unknown virus spreading there.
(2)Many people are afraid to go near the clinic because of an unknown virus spreading in there.

Q7)Mary asked me,"How old are you this year?"
Mary asked me what __________________
(1)Mary asked me what age I was that year.
(2)Mary asked me what my age was that year.


thank you