Q&A - PSLE English

[Zack7]

atutor2001:

Zack7:

No. Louder in here is a comparative adverb. It modifies the verb speak. So is more loudly. And both are acceptable in formal writing.

Extracted from http://oald8.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/dictionary/loud_2

\"Louder is also used in informal styles to mean ‘more loudly’: Can you speak louder?\"

Extracted from http://www.funtrivia.com/askft/Question97662.html

In speech, 'quicker' would be the most commonly found. In formal document writing, 'more quickly' would be found

In this link http://forum.wordreference.com/showthread.php?t=1335298 they even disallowed \"louder\".

So which of your first two extracts says that louder is wrong in formal speech?

And also, I can quote you a ton of other sources that says otherwise.

And the last link first comment by lis, louder is an adverb, not an adjective. she is wrong.

English is not a one way street. It is not rigid. Different sentence structure can mean totally different things and a fine line normally separates the right from the wrong if there is even a right and a wrong in the first place.

What might be wrong now may be accepted in future. Language evolves.

And louder seems wrong there because of the sentence structure. It is different from the question here.

Can you speak louder vs can you read all the new words more loudly.

In fact the better choice Is can you read all the new words aloud.

Because there is no hint of comparison there as opposed to the question here. So it is not as good to use comparative adverbs there.

[Michaelia0816]

I agreed to Zack7 too.

[Mdm Koh]

There will not be ambiguous questions in the national exams.

[AdvancedAcademia]

Mdm Koh:

There will not be ambiguous questions in the national exams.

I beg to differ on this... SEAB is notorious for shifting examination goal posts. Given their history, it is of little wonder that teachers and and parents have little faith in them. Besides, even when they manage to avoid ambiguous questions in the national exams, their marking guidelines always have so many gaps, that it leads to ambiguity in marking.

This is partially the reason why so many parents and teachers strive to find out what is the \"right\" answer to every question. However, I believe that we have to recognize that languages, especially English, is highly dependent on context and its grammar is constantly evolving. Thus, we should not teach our students/children merely to regurgitate what is written in some grammar tome, but to understand the purposes and functions of grammatical structure so that they can be more effective users of the language.

Related to the question; I agree with Zack7.

[Michaelia0816]

so most of them agreed to Zack7, hehe!

[Michaelia0816]

_______ the fact that it was difficult, the test also included question that we had never studied before.

1) Beside
2) Besides
3) Despite
4) In spite of
(. )

[Michaelia0816]

The answer sheet said 2

[Michaelia0816]

Can explain why? I do not understand the define of each clearly ok not I don know

[mumworks]

Thanks to all who had helped in my earlier question.


One more question :

Since last Christmas, the diligent boy (disciplined/been disciplining) himself to study for at least two hours everyday.

Answer key is "disciplined". Why not "has been disciplining" ?

Thanks for all the help.

[Michaelia0816]

According to the question, it did not add has or anything! It was "been disciplining". I sure u know before been was always from the be family,has, have and had.