Test Grammar – Essential English Grammar to Ace Your Next Test
By WR!TERS@WORK
By WR!TERS@WORK
Studying for grammar tests can be daunting, as there are rules and concepts to grasp. The volume of information that needs to be retained can overwhelm students. WRITERS AT WORK have the benefit of gaining better grammar knowledge with our team of passionate teachers. WRITERS AT WORK is an education centre offering some of the best English enrichment courses for primary and secondary school students in Singapore.
Parts of speech in grammar, also known as word classes, categorise words into types such as nouns, verbs, and adjectives.
Nouns represent people, places, things, and concepts.
Let’s go over common punctuation marks and their functions:
Sample Question:
Mr Wong completed his project before the deadline. His students assisted him.
With the help of his students, Mr Wong completed his project before the deadline.
Source: 2023 P6 English Prelim Pei Chun
To show more than one noun, we usually add an “s” to make it plural. But there are some cases where we use” es” or “-ies” instead of just a letter “s”. Some nouns have irregular plurals, like children staying the same in the plural form.
Pronouns are like word stand-ins in sentences, preventing repetition. In the sentence Abdo went home because he was tired, the pronoun he replaces Abdo. Pronouns must match the words they replace in number, gender, and person.
Subject personal pronouns:
Object personal pronouns:
Sample Question:
Mr Ahmad has asked my brother and ______ to water plants as he will not be at home for the next few days.
1) I
2) me
3) mine
4) myself
Source: 2023 P6 English Prelim Pei Chun
Descriptive words like adjectives, adverbs, and phrases with prepositions are essential for making words in a sentence clear by showing where they belong. Different types of modifiers have specific rules for where they go; for example, adjectives usually come before the nouns they describe, and adverbs often follow the verbs they change.
The five primary forms of a verb are the base form, third-person singular form, past tense, present participle ending in -ing, and past participle used in perfect tenses.
Verb tenses indicate when an action occurred and provide details about the sequence of events. They are categorised into past, present, and future but can also show ongoing or completed actions with present effects. More complex tenses often utilise auxiliary verbs like be or have.
It is essential to use the correct verb form that matches the subject in grammar. For example, when the subject is she or another third-person singular pronoun, we add an “-s” to the verb, as in walks. Knowing these conjugation differences for different subjects is crucial. It’s essential to be cautious of irregular verbs that change unexpectedly, like switching from they to have for third-person singular subjects.
Sample Question:
Throughout her life, she has been devoted to ________people experiencing poverty.
1) help
2) helping
3) be helping
4) helped
Source: 2023 P6 English Prelim Pei Chun
Woo Young used to have the habit of helping his mother_____the floor every weekend.
1) swept
2) sweep
3) sweeps
4) sweeping
Source: 2023 P6 English Prelim Catholic High
Noticing tense irregularities can prevent confusion. Consistency is vital in grammar; make sure phrases or clauses in a series have a similar structure for clarity and coherence. Exams often test students on common grammar errors in English.
To improve your grammar skills, join WRITERS AT WORK where we will be practising challenging areas like composition writing and comprehension for both PSLE and O Level English.WRITERS AT WORK seeks to make students better learners through organisation skills, reflection, and understanding of how we process information. Are the PSLE or O Level English exams on the horizon? Let us take care of your child’s English results! Join us at our tuition centres to be a part of the best English enrichment courses for primary and secondary school students in Singapore.
1. How Can I Help My Child With Writing Difficulties?
Firstly, identify the reason why your child has writing difficulties. At times, children have different problems, such as a lack of knowledge of the grammar rules or not enough variety in their vocabulary. At other times, students face difficulties in crafting a well-written plot. Then, after the problem is known, steps can be taken to remedy it and practice writing techniques.
2. Why Is Writing Difficult for Students?
Writing is difficult as students must grapple with many aspects of good writing at one time – grammatical rules, vocabulary choice, sentence structure, plot and character crafting – students can feel overwhelmed dealing with the many aspects of writing to produce a good essay as a whole.
3. What Are Poor Writing Skills?
Students with poor writing skills will make many grammatical and spelling errors. Moreover, there will be a lack of cohesion and coherence in their ideas. Ultimately, poor writing skills are most clearly seen when the student fails to communicate their ideas to the reader.
4. How Do You Motivate Elementary Students to Write?
Letting elementary students write creatively to emulate writers of books they love reading as a child could motivate them to write more as they will see it as an opportunity to unleash their creativity, much like drawing or colouring or doing arts and crafts.
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