Revision & Pointers for the day

Dear all,

We are now into our revision phase and we are revising through the test paper for last year in detail. So far, I have gone through Synthesis, Grammar and Vocabulary with you.Vocabulary is a section in which I can teach you new words and expose them to you. You do need to read too in order to pick up new words. It is a section that may not seem easy. You can help yourself by using the elimination methods to cross out options that are not logical. However, for synthesis and grammar, it is all about the grammar rules that you can apply. You do need to make a point to remember the rules here:

• VNV rule (Verb noun Verb rule) 
• In this rule, the second verb is always in the Present tense and Plural form. 
• Example:
• Father made the boy eat the cake. 
• made is the first verb. the boy is the noun. eat is the second verb. 'eat' is present tense and plural form. 

• verbs that end with 's' or 'es' are usually singular. 
• What is a singular verb or plural verb? We first need to look at the nouns to help determine. 
• Plural noun --> Plural verb
• Singular noun --> Singular verb
• The table has four legs. 'table' is singular. 'has' is singular too. 
• The tables have four legs each. 'tables' is plural. 'have' is plural too.

• Unless (positive statement), (negative statement)
• (negative statement) unless (positive statement)
• Always remember that regardless of where the 'unless' is placed (be it at the start of the sentence or in the middle), it is always followed by a positive statement. 
• Example:
• He will not do well for this test unless he puts in effort.
• Unless he puts in effort, he will not do well for this test. 

• Either of, Neither of, None of, Every, Each, One of
• These words are all in the singular form.
• Example:
• Either of the girls has to keep the items. 
• Neither of the boys is to touch the items.
• Every boy is a student in this school.
• Each kid is to take home a candy. 

• Either........or..........
• Neither.......nor...........
• We always look at the second verb (the verb after 'or' and 'nor' to determine if the verb that follows is singular of plural).
• Example:
• Neither the boys nor Peter is responsible for the crime.
• Either you or I am to take charge of the project.

• Person whom Person
• Person who Verb
• That is the boy whom Peter is friends with.
• That is the boy who is a friend of Peter.

• Lie (present tense)
• Lay (past tense)
• Laid (perfect tense)
• These words refer to the action of laying on a bed or floor. 

Reminder:

• Bring your practice paper for going through tomorrow.
• Tomorrow, there will be extra lessons in the morning from 6.50am - 7.20am. This will commence for tomorrow, Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday to give you extra practice for your upcoming English paper on Wed. It is not compulsory. It will be in the classroom. This is to help you to revise through grammar and synthesis so that you can score well for these sections :)

Sincerely,

Mr Nelson Ong