ENGLISH NOTES 🐠

1
CONTENT PAGE

Paper 2 3

Grammar 3

Synthesis and Transformation 14

Spelling and Grammar 18

Vocabulary 20

Comprehension Cloze 23

Comprehension Open-Ended 24

Situational Writing 25

Composition (Continuous Writing) 27

Oral 30

Topics: Grammar, Vocabulary, Synthesis and Transformation, Spelling

and Grammar, Visual Text, Comprehension Cloze, Comprehension
Open-Ended, Situational Writing, Composition (Continuous Writing),
Oral

2
Paper 2 (2 hours)

Tips:
- revise grammar and reported speech rules
- learn correct spellings to avoid losing marks
- learn your past tense & past participle
- read each question carefully & underline key words/phrases
- aim for full score for Booklet A
- do not use bombastic words for cloze
- answer in complete sentences
- when quoting a sentence, check that nothing is left
- do not include irrelevant information
- check & check once done!

Grammar

Parts of a Sentence
↳ Subject
↬ The subject is basically the “main character” of the sentence,
that does the action in the sentence
↬ Subjects have to be nouns
↳ Action
↬ Actions are as the name suggests and have to be verbs
↳ Object
↬ The object is the receiving end of the action
↬ For example, in the sentence “Abbey eats bananas”, the
object of the sentence is the bananas as they are being eaten
↬ Again, the object also has to be a noun
↬ Direct Object
direct objects are basically the main thing/person that
is receiving the effects of the action
↬ Indirect Object
indirect objects are someone or something that is
affected by the action of verbs, but is not the main
object of the sentence
For example, “John is giving Tony a book”, the indirect
object is Tony while the direct object is a book

3
Nouns
The simplest definition of a noun is a thing and nouns are the basic building
blocks of sentences. These things can represent a person, animal, place, idea,
emotion – almost anything that you can think of. Dog, Sam, ​we, ship, ​Chicago,
courage and spaceship are all nouns.

↳ Types of Nouns
↬ Proper Nouns
​Proper nouns have two distinct features: They name
specific one-of-a-kind items, and they begin with
capital letters, no matter where they occur within a
sentence. By one-of-a-kind items, we mean items,
people or places that are unique.
Examples include Oreos, Burj Khalifa, Ariana Grande,
Marina Bay Sands or Tommy

↬ Abstract/Concrete Nouns
Abstract nouns are those referring to ideas, concepts,
emotions, and other “things” you can’t physically
interact with. You can’t see, taste, touch, smell, or hear
something named with an abstract noun.
Examples would be stupidity, ideas, intelligence,
dreams, creativity and belonging.

↬ Collective Nouns
Collective nouns are names for a collection or a
number of people or things. ​A collective noun is a
word that refers to a group. It can be either singular or
plural but is usually used in the singular form.
Examples would be words like herd, array,
murmuration, group, bunch and murder.

↬ Countable
I​n English grammar, countable nouns are individual
people, animals, places, things, or ideas which can be
counted.
↬ Uncountable Nouns
Uncountable nouns are not individual objects, so they
cannot be counted such as water or air.

↬ Common Nouns

4
 A common noun is a​ noun denoting a group of objects
or a concept as opposed to a specific or particular
individual.
A common noun is a non-specific person, place, or
thing.
Examples would be dog, girl, school, exam and alien.

↳ Gerund phrases
↬ ​ gerund is a noun formed with a verb ending in -ing. Words
A
like swimming, tying, dreaming, eating, fishing, loving and
drinking can all be used as gerunds.
↬ Now that we’ve refreshed your memory, let’s take a look at
the gerund phrase. A gerund phrase always follows these
rules:
Gerund phrases always start with gerunds
￫ E.g. ​loving​ chocolate
A gerund phrase always functions as a noun
￫ E.g. since the phrase “loving chocolate” is
referring to the ​act ​of loving chocolate and as
such is a noun
Gerund phrases are always subjects, objects, or subject
complements in sentences
↬ An example is, “​Having drank​ four glasses of wine before
driving the car with his wife and son inside, it was inevitable
that an accident would happen.”
↬ Gerund phrases might have “to” after the noun with -ing. The
verb following the gerund phrase does not follow the “after
to base form” rule, but instead is a verb in the continuous
form.

↳ Infinitives
↬ T​he basic form of a verb, without being in a particular tense
or subject
↬ Remember that a verbal is a form of a verb that functions as
something else in a sentence.
↬ An ​infinitive​ is a verbal that can function as a noun,
adjective, or adverb. It is formed by using "to" + the verb.
E.g “to eat” or “to sleep”

5
Verbs
Verbs are the action words in a sentence that describes what the subject is
doing. Along with nouns, verbs are the main part of a sentence or phrase, telling
a story about what is taking place.

↳ Auxiliary Verbs
↬ Auxiliary (or helping) verbs are used together with a main
verb to show the verb tenses or to form a negative or
question. The most common auxiliary verbs are “have”, “be”,
and “do”.
↬ Auxiliary verbs, also known as helping verbs, add functional
or grammatical meaning to the clauses in which they appear.
They perform their functions in several different ways:
By expressing tense ( providing a time reference, i.e.
past, present, or future)
Grammatical aspect (expresses how the verb relates to
the flow of time)
Modality (quantifies verbs)
Voice (describes the relationship between the action
expressed by the verb and the participants identified
by the verb’s subject, object, etc.)
Adds emphasis to a sentence
↬ Auxiliary verbs almost always appear together with the main
verb, and though there are only a few of them, they are
among the most frequently occurring verbs in the English
language

↳ Stative Verbs
↬ Stative verbs are ​verbs​ that express a state rather than an
action. They usually relate to thoughts, emotions,
relationships, senses, states of being and measurements.
↬ These verbs are not usually used with -ing in progressive
(continuous) tenses even though they may take on time
expressions such as now and at the moment. We use simple
tenses for them.
Incorrect: Abraham is liking cookies
Correct: Abraham likes cookies
↬ However, there are some verbs that look like they should be
stative but may appear in the -ing form. These verbs differ in
meaning to the stative verbs.

6
↳ Modal Verbs
↬ A modal is a type of auxiliary (helping) verb that is used to
express: likelihood, ability, permission, request, capacity,
suggestions, order, obligation, or advice.
↬ Modal phrases (or semi-modals) are used to express the
same things as modals but are a combination of auxiliary
verbs and the preposition “to”.

↳ Phrasal Verbs
↬ A phrasal verb is a combination of words (a ​verb​ + a
preposition​ or verb +​adverb​) that when used together,
usually take on a different meaning to that of the original
verb.
↬ When we use phrasal verbs, we use them like normal verbs in
a sentence, regardless if it’s a regular or ​irregular verb​.
↬ Examples include broke in, hand in (not hand up), get over
with and give up.

↳ Irregular Verbs
↬ Irregular verbs are ​verbs​ that don’t take on the regular –d,
-ed, or -ied spelling patterns of the past simple or past
participle.
↬ Irregular verbs are also known as strong verbs. Here are nine
that are used more often than the rest. These nine irregular
verb examples also happen to be among the most commonly
used words in the English language. Just some examples of
them are:
Go - Went
Get - Got
Say - Said
See - Saw
Think - Thought
Make - Made
Take - Took
Come - Came
Know - Knew
Drink - Drank
Eat - Ate

↳ Confusing Verbs (not an actual thing)

↬ Confusing verbs, as they are labelled, are verbs which seem
alike in meaning but cannot be used in the same context.

7
 ↬ An example would be to lend and borrow. To borrow would
mean to take a loan, but to lend would be to issue a loan
E.g you borrow a pencil ​from​ your friend VS you lend a
pencil ​to​ your friend

Passive Voice

↬ The passive voice is used when we want to emphasize the

action (the verb) and the object of a sentence rather than the
subject. This means that the subject is either less important
than the action itself or that we don’t know who or what the
subject is.
↬ ​Conjugation is the change that takes place in a verb to
express tense, mood, person and so on. In English, verbs
change as they are used, most notably with different people
(you, I, we) and different time (now, later, before).
↬ Conjugating verbs basically means altering them into
different forms to provide context. If we regard verbs as the
action part of the speech, conjugation alters verbs to tell us
who is doing the action and when the action takes place. If
we didn’t conjugate the verb, leaving it in what is called the
infinitive form (​to​ think, ​to​ laugh, ​to ​whisper), the context
(tense, person, mood, etc.) might be unclear or lost
altogether.
↬ Consider the verb ​to be​ and the examples of how it is
conjugated into the present tense.
I ​am​ 32 years old.
You ​are​ a terrific foot player.
Acoustics ​is​ the study of the properties of sound.

Tenses
Probably the most frustrating part on English (or one of them) is the
sequence of tenses so this is going to be a long one :)

↬ Present Simple
the simple present is used to describe a habit,
unchanging situations, general truths or fixed
arrangements (e.g. I dab - this is a habit or this is an
unchanging situation)
↬ Present Continuous

8
 the present continuous is basically a verb which ends
with -ing and is used for actions happening now or
actions that are still happen​ing
↬ Present Perfect Simple
to talk about things when there is a connection
between the past and the present. It is basically used
to show a link between the past and the present, like if
a plant has been growing from 2000 to the present
(e.g. He has written 16 books)
↬ Present Perfect Continuous
is used when there is a connection between the past
and the present but is used to address an activity that
is unfinished (e.g. I have been reading the book that
you gave me and I have 50 pages remaining)
↬ Past Simple
it is principally used to describe activities that have
occurred in the past such as “I got kidnapped
yesterday.”
↬ Past Continuous
it describes an activity that took place in a time before
the present, which is still continuing on to that time
such as “I was watching television last night when you
called.”
↬ Past Perfect Simple
this refers to an activity that occurs before the activity
that it is referring to (which took place in the past). E.g.
“She ​had bought​ groceries before going back home.”
↬ Past Perfect Continuous
constructed with ​had been + the verb’s present
participle (root + ing). ​E.g. “had been drinking”, “had
been frowning”
it refers to an activity that started, continued and
ended in the past
“when”, “for” and “since” are words that you will
commonly see with past perfect continuous
↬ Future Simple

9
 this is simple! it basically is future tense, e.g. “will
start” and “will cry” and refers to something that has
not happened yet
the two common (and i think only) structures are ​will
+ root form of verb​ and ​conjugation of be + going to ​+
root form of verb
↬ Future Continuous
is used for things that happen in the future and have a
duration. They don’t just end immediately, like “I will
meet him at the door” compared to “I will be meeting
my boss”. Once you meet “him”, you are done with the
action, but for the second example, it happens over a
span of time
↬ Future Perfect Simple
again, this is basically future simple tense mixed and
present simple. It’s a mixture of will and have.
E.g you will have been in school for ten years by the
time i graduate
↬ Future Perfect Continuous
a mix of future perfect simple and present continuous
tense
E.g. she will have been cooking food before you reach.

Adjectives

Adjectives are words naming certain characteristics of a noun or pronoun,

describing them in more detail. They are not essential parts of a sentence
but they make it easier for the reader to understand the scenario and also
makes it more descriptive and engaging.

NOTE: ​overloading your piece of writing with adjectives does not make it
a better sentence and might instead make it unreadable or confusing.

10
 THE ROYAL ORDER OF ADJECTIVES

Determiner Observation Physical appearance Origin Material Qualifier Noun

Size Shape Age Colour

A beautiful Italian touring

Some expensive old purple book

Five pretty long red sik pants

Her old Chinese wooden chest

Our big indigo hunting coat

That short Indian tennis player

Adjectival Clauses

Adjectival clauses consist of a subject and a verb or a verb phrase which

begins with words such as ​that, which, when, where, who, whom, whose
and why.

Types of Clauses:

↬ That and which - these words describe non-living things or

animals
↬ When and where - pretty self-explanatory that these words
describe the time and place respectively
↬ Whose - describes an object or animal which is owned by
someone
↬ Why - modifies a reason (e.g this is the reason ​why​ I decided
to walk to school.)
↬ Who - this describes a person
↬ Whom - also describes a person but be mindful that the word
that follows “whom” is ​NOT​ ​always a person
Whom is the subject of a verb or preposition, so a
correct sentence containing “whom” could be “Whom
are you talking to?” instead of the common (and
colloquial) “Who are you talking to?”
A way to remember the correct usage of “who” and
“whom” would be to replace the question with a

11
 statement. You can then decide whether “who” or
“whom” is correct.
What I mean is “Whom are you talking to?” can be
converted to the statement “I am talking to him/her”.
If the pronoun is “him” or “her”, the correct word
would be “whom”, because “him/her” is the subject of
a verb/preposition.
For the correct usage of who, here’s an example. “Who
is she?” can be converted to “She is _____.” The
pronoun “he” or “she” will then indicate “who” is the
correct word to place in that sentence.

Subject-Verb Agreement
→ basic rule : a singular noun (bird, dog, elephant, book) takes a
singular verb (likes, reads, flies), while a plural noun takes a plural
verb
・ e.g a bird flies through the sky ​OR ​birds fly through the sky
→ subjects that begin with the word ‘of’ are often causes of grammar
mistakes
・ e.g. a herd of cows are grazing on the field (incorrect) VS a
herd of cows is grazing on the field (correct)
・ this is because in this case, the verb is referring to ​the herd
of cows rather than the ​cows​ themselves.
→ two singular subjects that are connected by ‘either/or’ or
‘neither/nor’ are to be used with singular verbs
・ E.g either John or Conan likes bananas.
→ in the cases, where the the sentence has both singular and plural
verbs and ‘either/or’ or ‘neither/nor’ are being used, the tense of
the verb should be based on the noun closest to it
・ e.g neither Hannah, Jennifer nor the boys like chocolate.
→ as a general rule, plural nouns that are joined by the contraction
‘and’ are used with plural verbs
・ e.g bananas and apples are my favourite fruits
→ when subjects are separated with words like ‘along with’, ‘as well
as’, ‘besides’ and more, ignore the subjects that follow these words
・ e.g ​Olivia​, as well as the other students, ​is going​ to the party.
→ Nouns in brackets should also not be counted
・ e.g Christina (and her dog) went for a walk in the park.
→ In sentences that start with here/there, the verb always follows the
true subject
・ e.g there ​are​ fifty ​chairs​.
→ Use singular verbs when describing nouns that are considered one
unit such as for periods of time, distance, sums of money, etc

12
 ・ e.g ​one hundred dollars is​ very expensive for a meal VS a
hundred dollars​ (i.e dollar bills) w
​ ere​ arranged across the
table.
→ When referring to a fraction or a percentage, use singular verbs
・ e.g ​one third​ of the girls ​wears​ glasses.
→ When collective nouns such as group, jury, audience, population,
the verb really depends on the writer’s intention

13
Synthesis & Transformation

Common Formats
↬ Unless…
We mostly follow this format - Unless [positive
variable], [negative variable]
This is a conditional statement, and the second part of
the sentence is usually what would have been done at
first should nothing change
E.g. “Unless he agrees, we will not go out to eat”
indicates that as of then, “we” would not go out to eat,
but if “he” agreed to doing that, then “we” would go
out to eat.
Compare that with “Unless he disagrees, we will go out
to eat”. The reader would get the idea that “we” will go
out to eat if there are no sudden changes, aka “him”
disagreeing.

↬ To (Name)’s…
This should always be followed by the noun form of
the adjective or verb (e.g disapproved should be
changed to disapproval)
↬ E.g Much to Chase’s dismay, he only got a 75 out
of 100 for his math examination.

↬ Neither… nor/Either… or…

This is pretty self-explanatory but take note that the
form the verb takes (plural or singular) follows the rule
of proximity which is basically the noun closer to the
verb. If the noun closer to the verb is “I”, then use
“am”.
Also, be mindful if the sentence also has a “their” or
“they” in it as you will have to also change it according
to the rule of proximity
↬ e.g John and Jeff do not like ​their​ water bottles
should be changed to neither John nor Jeff likes
his​ water bottle

↬ Despite his…
The adjective or verb describing the person should be
changed to the noun form

14
 ↬ From: His mother was ​loyal​ to her favourite
clothing store but she has never gotten a
discount.
↬ To: Despite his mother’s l​oyalty​ to her favourite
clothing store, she has never gotten a discount.

↬ No sooner had… than…

This should be no sooner ​had​ something happened
than​ something else followed
↬ e.g. No sooner had Jane closed the door than
someone knocked on it again.

↬ It was with/With…
After the with, put a noun, which is usually the noun
form of an adjective (e.g. With dismay, Christina
acknowledges that she failed her calculus test)

↬ Who/Whom/Where/When
Who is used to refer to the subject of a sentence (Who
is coming for the barbecue? ​He​ i​ s coming), while
whom is used in (Whom should I believe? I should
believe ​him​) referring to the object of a sentence.

↬ As well as/together with

Ignore the secondary clause that follows after as well
as/together with and take the subject of the sentence
to be the first noun of the sentence.
↬ E.g. David is going to the birthday party. Xin Yi is
going too. = ​David​, as well as Xin Yi, is going to
the birthday party. David is the main subject and
hence the verb form is based on David.

↬ Not only… but also...

Not only goes with but also
↬ E.g. Mdm Tan is not only humorous but also
kind.
You ​cannot​ put two antonyms or words with
drastically different meanings together.
↬ E.g. Changbin is not only serious but stupid. One
of these two adjectives is positive, while the
other has a negative meaning. Hence, you
cannot put them together.

↬ Direct speech -> Reported Speech

15
 This refers to converting dialogue to something that is
being repeated afterwards by someone else
↬ E.g Mark said, “What is Johnny doing
tomorrow?” would be converted to Mark asked
what Johnny would be doing the following day.
Now — then
Today — that day
Tomorrow — the next day
Yesterday — the previous day
Next week — the following week
Last week — the previous week
This morning — that morning
This — that
These — those
Three months ago — three months before
Come — go
Must — had to
Soon — soon (unchanged)

↬ Before/After
A misconception is that the sequence of events
determines the tense. However, if you’re using “...
before…”, “...when…” or “... after…”, both actions should
be the same tense. If one is past tense, the other
should also be in past tense.

↬ Lest/In case
Lest and in case both mean “in the event that
(something happens)”. ​They have the intention of
preventing (something undesirable)
↬ E.g. Jane should turn off her phone lest it rings
in the middle of her interview.
In order to check your answer, you can simply replace
‘lest’ or ‘in case’ with ‘in the event that’ and make sure
that the sentence flows smoothly

Grammar
↬ Whom always comes between two subjects, and a noun
follows it immediately, e.g. The ​actress​, with whom ​Kelly​ has
a good relationship with, has been chosen to act in Mulan.
↬ Usually, we would put the preposition before whom, e.g. The
short haired girl, to whom you saw Sophie talking to, is Kira

16
 instead of​ The short haired girl, whom you saw Sophie
talking to, is Kira.
↬ Theoretically, both of them are grammatically correct.
However, the former is more commonly used and generally
more accepted.

17
Spelling & Grammar
⟶ PSLE likes to test homophones or near-homophones meaning words
which sound the same or almost the same
・ E.g aloud VS allowed
⟶ Don’t always rely on pronunciation because this sometimes could be
misleading and you also may be pronouncing it wrong
・ E.g when we pronounce blatant, its pronounced “bley-tent” which
may cause us to spell it with an ‘e’ instead
⟶ The rest would most likely be grammar, tenses, changing verbs/adjectives
into nouns or vice versa, singular/plural, etc.
⟶ They also often test commonly misspelled words

Common Questions
↬ -ize or -ise
This is a test of American spelling VS British spelling and
since we follow the British English, make sure you ​spell using
-ise
↬ -our or -or
Once again this is British VS American English, always make
sure you spell using -our
This doesn’t work for some words like “humorous”. When
“humour” is on its own without an -ous, there is a “u”.
However, when a -ous is added behind, the only option is
“humorous” and not “humourous”.
↬ A or E
What this means is that we tend to spell using “a” instead of
spelling with the correct letter “e” and vice versa (e.g
sep​e​rate​ instead of ​sep​ar​ ate​ and d
​ esp​ar​ ate​ instead of
desp​e​rate​)
↬ -ence or -ance
Always be mindful of your tricky suffixes and don’t fall prey
to these spelling errors :)
↬ -sion, -tion or -cion

↪ Tips
↬ Words ending in -sion
When the ending comes after an -l, it's always spelt
-sion: compulsion; revulsion; expulsion.
When the ending follows an -n or -r, it's often spelt
-sion, especially if the word is related to one that ends
in -d or -se. e.g. immersion, comprehension.

18
 Nouns based on words that end in -ss or -mit always
end in -sion: permission comes from permit and
discussion comes from discuss.

↬ Words ending in -tion

If the noun is related to a word ending in -ate, then the
ending will be -ation, e.g. donation (donate) or
vacation (vacate).
If the ending comes after any consonant apart from -l,
-n, or -r, then the ending is spelled -tion: action;
connection; reception; affection.
After -n and -r, the ending can be -tion or -sion. It's
more likely to be -tion if it is related to another that
ends in -t or -tain, e.g. assertion (assert) or retention
(retain). Here are some more examples: exertion;
distortion; abstention; invention.
↬ Words ending in -cion
There are just three common nouns that end in -cion:
suspicion, scion and coercion.

Common misspelled words

1. absence
2. accommodate
3. achieve
4. acquire
5. address
6. athlete
7. humorous
8. embarrassed
9. dessert vs desert
10. success
11. recommendation
12. manoeuvre
13. occurred
14. reliant
15. practice vs. practise

19
Vocabulary
Improving your vocabulary is something that happens over time and is not
something that you can rush, however, if you are desperate, you can visit this
website: ​www.vocabulary.com​ where they help teach you a good range of
vocabulary words!

New Vocabulary:
→ Becoming
↬ (of clothing) flattering/looks good
↬ begin to be
→ Prudence
↬ the quality of being cautious
↬ showing care for the future
↬ sensible decisions
→ Bound
↬ to jump or hop
↬ to go or to plan to go
↬ usually related to boundaries
→ Avail
↬ take advantage of an opportunity
↬ help
↬ (phrase: to no avail - to no help)
→ Reproach
↬ Mildly criticise
→ Aplomb
↬ Great coolness & composure under strain
→ Brandish
↬ Move or swing back and forth
→ Falter
↬ Waver ; hesitate
→ Unsightly
↬ Ugly
→ Plenteous
↬ Abundant
→ Deft
↬ Neatly skilful and quick
→ Extol
↬ Praise something very highly
→ Meander
↬ Wander aimlessly
→ Headway
↬ Forward movement ; make progress
→ Jargon
↬ Specialised language
↬ (sentence: Some of the IT jargon that they use is hard for us
to understand.)
→ Malleable

20
 ↬ Easily changed or influence
→ Conspicuous
↬ Something that is very obvious
→ Abridge
↬ Cut short ; condense
→ Egregious
↬ Extremely bad
↬ (sentence: the egregious mistake the couple made was not
spending enough time together before their honeymoon
ended)
→ Gusto
↬ Hearty enthusiasm
↬ (sentence: it was with much gusto that Benjamin completed
his homework)
→ Quell
↬ Suppress or overcome
↬ (sentence: her words did not quell the anger rising in his
chest.)
→ Adversary
↬ Enemy
→ Repugnant
↬ Offensive
→ Fervour
↬ Passionate, dedicated
↬ (sentence: he talked with the fervour of a new student)
→ Somber
↬ Gloomy
→ Recluse
↬ A person who lives a solitary life/loner
→ Adroit
↬ Clever & skilful
→ Facile
↬ Superficial
→ Propriety
↬ What is considered socially correct/acceptable
→ Ardent
↬ Enthusiastic or passionate
→ Sweltering
↬ Extremely or excessively hot
→ Ambivalence
↬ mixed feelings or emotions
→ Disdain
↬ Intense dislike
→ Scornful
↬ Extreme contempt
→ Adorn
↬ Make more attractive
→ Alleviate
↬ Provide physical relief from pain
→ Altruistic
↬ Selfless
→ Amicable

21
 ↬ Characterised by good will
→ Amnesty
↬ Warrant granted release from punishment
→ Ample
↬ More than enough in size or capacity
→ Anecdote
↬ A short account
→ Sanguine
↬ Cheerful and confident
↬ (phrase: trust her to be sanguine)
→ Euphoric
↬ Feeling of well-being or elation

Idioms:
→ Spill the beans
↬ Reveal the truth or say a secret
→ Taking two bites of the cherry
↬ Get a second chance
→ Selling like hotcakes
↬ Very popular
→ Fish out of water
↬ Feel uncomfortable
→ Dressed to the nines
↬ Dressed very well
→ Talking 19 to the dozen
↬ Talking too much
→ Playing second fiddle
↬ Always not the main role
→ Sock away
↬ To save money
→ Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth
↬ Appreciate the gift for what it is instead of its value
→ Lose face
↬ Be embarrassed
→ Tie the knot
↬ Get married
→ Make a mountain out of a molehill
↬ Making a big deal out of something smaller

NOTES: ​do not use vocabulary or idioms that you are not super comfortable or
familiar with, otherwise you might make mistakes with your use of language

22
Cloze Passage
↳ Expansion method
↬ Look at the sentence itself for any possible clues.
↬ If there are none in the sentence, then look at the sentences
before and after for clues
↬ If there are still no obvious hints, look at the paragraphs
behind or after the blank for clues
↬ It is best to read the entire cloze passages itself before filling
any blanks
↬ This is so you have a general idea of the theme of the passage
↬ If you are short on time, a recommended method is to just do
a brief scan instead to get the gist of the story

↳ Prepositions
↬ of
- Familiarise yourself with the usual words that precede
or follow the word ‘of’
- e.g. part, consists, example
↬ into and in
- Into is used when there is movement
- e.g mom always tucks us ​into ​bed at night
- In is used to describe something that is already
present at a location
- E.g Sophie is being lazy and staying ​in ​bed

↳ Common “phrases”
↬ Comprises, consists
- Comprises is used ALONE
- Consists ​of
↬ Includes
- Use includes when the blank is not followed by a
preposition

23
Comprehension Open-ended
→ do not start by reading the passage and instead read the questions, this is
so that you have a good idea of what to look out for in the text
→ do not rely on “trigger words” that you find in the comprehension passage
that matches with ones in the question
→ don’t simply rephrase the text
→ do not copy entire paragraphs, this is called ‘hedging’ and does not prove
that you understand the text that you are reading and could potentially
cause you to get zero marks for the question
→ always start by answering the question and not explaining from the
opposite viewpoint
↬ e.g what did he do?
↬ ans: he did ​not​.... (this is wrong because you are answering it from
the wrong point of view)
→ in most cases, it is unnecessary to copy the question before writing your
answer
↬ e.g. why did Jaquiesha leave the Singing club?
↬ instead of writing “Jaquisha left the Singing club because…”, it’s
easier to get straight to the point with “Jaquiesha was disappointed
with how the club committee were spending their finances on
concert tickets.”
→ when it comes to answering questions where they ask you to copy
phrases or words from the text, unless they provide you with a box to just
insert your answer, write in a full sentence
↬ e.g It is “[insert word or phrase]”.
→ unless the question asks for a sentence, only add the full stop after the
quotation marks
↬ e.g It is “chocolates”.
→ when answering “yes/no” question, make sure you start the answer with
“yes, they/I…” and always be sure that the “yes/no” does not end with just
a full stop.
→ write in full sentences​ ​and never one-word sentences​.

24
 Situational Writing

Take Note:
→ Read “Task” carefully especially the five bullet points
→ Highlight the required information (the five bullet points)
→ Write at least three paragraphs
→ Check after completed:
↬ Names are correct
↬ Intention stated in first paragraph
↬ Tone is correct
↬ All points have been mentioned
→ Include FULL DATE
→ Do not add additional information that was not stated
→ Do be sure to check who you are writing to
↬ If it is someone you are not too familiar with or older than you, use
a formal tone
↬ If it is your friend/peer use informal language but still be sure to
not add in acronyms of jokes like LOL

Tone
Formal InfIn​Informal

Date (DAY) (MONTH NAME) (YEAR IF (DAY) (MONTH NAME)

SPECIFIED)

Salutation Dear… Dear [name]

Madam/Sir (if name is unknown)
Mrs/Mr [surname] (if name is known)

Purpose I am writing to… [insert purpose] How are you?

This could be phrased like: How have you been?

- Inform you....
- Ask you… followed by
- Give you feedback…
- Tell you..... I can’t wait to tell you…
- Inquire about......
Guess what? I saw an interesting...

Content All the points the task asked for: All the points the task asked for:

I patronised your establishment last My mom said I could invite you…

evening and was pleasantly surprised at…
I think you’ll enjoy this!

25
 I was stunned at the attitude with which
the waiter served me...

Contractions NOT ALLOWED ALLOWED (but inadvisable) ​because

contractions are not generally used
in British English

Link back I look forward to your reply. I can’t wait to hear from you!

I hope you will be able to assist me in… I hope to hear from you soon!

Should you require more details, please Let me know as soon as possible!
contact me at [contact number/email]
Get well soon!
I hope this information will be of used to
you.

Thank you.
(This is a must in every formal SW)

Sign off Yours sincerely Love,

(if you don’t know the person’s name but (for family and friends)
this can be used for any situation)
Best wishes
Yours faithfully
(if you used sir or madam in the Best regards/Regards,
salutation)
Cheers,

Yours sincerely,

Name First name with surname First name only

(avoid nicknames)

26
Continuous Writing

Requirements
⟶ Clarity of expression
⟶ Good, non-repetitive vocabulary
⟶ Logical plotline that isn’t plothole-ridden
⟶ Descriptive and not direct
⟶ Good grammar and punctuation
⟶ Has to have a conflict (NO MUNDANE PLOT)
⟶ Make sure to centre around the ​THEME
⟶ Remember to not use short forms of words such as exam instead of
examination or photo instead of photograph

If you can:
⟶ Sophisticated writing style
⟶ Link between opening and denouement
⟶ Interesting and original

Just remember ​SHOW NOT TELL

For example, no one’s going to give you 39/40 for ​“Abigail dreaded the physical
fitness test. She knew she was not going to pass. On the day of the test, she
was tired and fell down after running 2.4 kilometres.​”

Instead, you could elaborate and actually ​describe A

​ bigail. Was it hot on that day?
What did she feel like? Did she want to persist but could not find it in herself to
do so because she simply could not go on? Teachers would be more likely to
award you a score above 36 if you can consistently write something like this:

“​As Abigail ran in the blistering heat of the Sun, beads of perspiration trickled
down her face in rivulets. Breathless and deflated, Abigail felt like her muscles
were going to fall apart at any moment as she lifted her legs to finish the last
lap of her 2.4 kilometre run. Many of her classmates had already completed
their run and were sitting in the shade by the side of the track with their
towels around their necks. Abigail could imagine the bliss sitting in the shade
was compared to sprinting under the Sun, which was blasting heat
mercilessly.

“I can do this!” she chanted in her head as she picked up the pace and
persevered with dogged determination. “If others can do it, so can I!” The
finish line seemed to be just an arm’s reach away, but at the same time, the
last hundred or so metres that Abigail had to cross was like the Pacific Ocean.

27
Unceasing chants of encouragement cheered her on in her head, but alas, the
spirit was willing but the flesh was weak. Without any warning , Abigail’s
knees buckled and gave way as she fell forward helplessly onto the maroon
track. As the pain of hitting the hard ground coursed through her limbs, a
realisation abruptly slammed into her like a meteorite crashing into the
Earth’s surface — she was not going to pass her NAPFA fitness test in time.”

So you may ask, “How do I achieve this level of detail in PSLE?”

I would suggest to stop reading your model composition texts because let’s be
honest, the teacher’s are most likely sick and tired of reading the same texts
over and over again. Imagine being a PSLE marker and reading the same clichéd
sentence like “burning the midnight oil”.

If you use these sorts of sentences, please don’t take offence. It’s not a bad use of
language but it sometimes gets repetitive and overused, especially for markers
that read hundreds of compositions every day.

With the time that you do have, I suggest reading more novels or novellas to
improve your reading skills. Instead of using clichéd terms, chose original
metaphors, not like “ran as fast as a cheetah” but rather “she ran as fast as the
wind, almost as though the wind was carrying her along”. Take note of the use of
languages in these pieces of writings.

If you seriously have very strong feelings against reading, then take to
British/American movies instead. (However, I prefer British as I feel like their
use of language is better and less “basic”. If you can find historical or old shows
based on the past, that would also be much better as their language use is a lot
more sophisticated). Some shows I think would help are ones like Anne with an E
(based on the novel series: Anne of Green Gables by Laud Maud Montgomery
which is available on Netflix).

Of course, I am not tolerating the act of watching TV all day and not focusing on
your studies, instead I think this is simply more of a motivation for you to
improve your skills.

TIP: ​you can also use this same method to study for your mother tongue,
especially when it comes to oral!

28
Advice
↬ Follow the theme and picture you choose ​closely
↬ Replace your words with synonyms but please do not force yourself to do
so as sometimes the words you replace them with do not work
↬ Read widely — both nonfiction and fiction books give you great
information for your stories and plotlines
↬ Stock up on reflections and store your brain with words and synonyms of
positive character traits
E.g. generous, courageous, compassionate and humility
↬ Remember NEVER to waste your precious time during the examination
and do not dwell on any one area for too long.
↬ Finishing your composition and having enough time to proofread at least
once could give you an extra mark or two
↬ Speed write and do not think that you have a lot of time because that will
cause you to underestimate the time you need to write something
↬ Do not use too much dialogue and only use it to advance the plot or if
necessary
↬ When writing dialogue, start a new paragraph so it looks neater.
↬ Write neatly & ​leave lines​ , you would not want to give your marker a
headache from reading your handwriting

29
Oral

Reading
↳ Tips
↬ In your 5 minutes of preparation time, first, quickly scan the
paper and see if you have any words you are unsure of.

↬ If you have any words you are not sure of, use phonics to
sound them out. For example, the word cartridge - sound out
“cart” and “ridge” separately and then put them together.

↬ Next, quietly read the passage out loud with appropriate

expressions and tone

↬ Re-read the sentences which you have trouble saying out

loud until you can fluently read it

↬ During the exam, lift the paper up, or in whatever position is

comfortable for you just try not to face downwards as that
affects your voice projection and the teacher may not be able
to hear you

↬ It is extremely important to make sure you pronounce the

“ending/beginning sounds” properly like “-th”, “-t”, “ch-” etc.

↬ Speak at an appropriate noise level (conversational voice, not

too loud or too soft)

↬ Don’t be afraid to be really dramatic and expressive when

reading!

Conversation
↬ When prepping, always try to think of possible questions that
they may ask.

↬ If the picture is an activity then make sure to take note of the

time, date and place. For example, is it during the June
holidays? Is it somewhere that is convenient for you? Are you
free on the day? Note: Mentioning the details in the picture

30
 may get you extra marks

↬ The first question is almost always: choose one of the

activities/gifts, would you take part in the activity or would
you buy the item?

↬ Answer these questions according to your own personal

preference. ​DON’T​ (at least try not to) make up fake answers
because it causes you to have less to talk about.

↬ UNLESS​, for example, you can’t attend the activity because

you have tuition on that day or whatever. Then, ​DON'T​ bring
it up because that would seem weird and you would not
really have a valid reason to say no.

↬ Don’t worry about the teacher judging you and think out of
the box. The teachers have probably been there for hours
listening to the same stale answers so try to spice it up with
personal experiences or opinions

↬ Use a wide vocabulary and try not to use simple language

meaning words such as happy or sad which are overused

↬ Use connecting words to connect your thoughts to make you

seem more fluent with the language. Dig around in your
worksheets from P4-6 and you should find some lists of
them.

↬ Even when you are thinking, try to only pause for a maximum
of 10 seconds and refrain from using filler words like “uhh” or
“like” . If you are really desperate, simply use phrases like “in
my personal opinion” or “well, i think that…” and try not to
look like you’re buffering.

↬ Instead, elaborate more on what you have already said and

give personal experiences as you think

↬ Practising more always helps. You can even talk to your

computer screen or into a mirror if you want, and record
yourself so you hear what you’re saying and know which
parts sound off.

↬ Please do not try to put up a fake accent while you’re

speaking because teachers can tell when you do this and you
just end up sounding unauthentic and weird

31
 ↬ Trust us, a British accent does not make you sound better!

Common Mispronunciations
↬ Vice versa: exactly how it looks (british) VI-che vehr-sa
(italian)
↬ Jewellery: joo-wool-ree

↬ etc.: et-SEHT-uh-rah (​NOT ​ex-seh-tuh-rah)

↬ Comfortable: cumf-tuh-buhl

↬ Salmon: sah-men

↬ Women: wim-uhn

↬ Colleague: koh-leeg

↬ Applicable: a-PLICK-uh-buhl

↬ Schedule: sheh-jool ​not ​skeh-jool

Things to take note of:

・ Reading
→ Pronunciation & articulation
→ Rhythm & fluency
→ Expression

・ Stimulus-based conversation
→ Personal response (please be sure to add more details)
→ Clarity
→ Engagement
→ Eye contact
→ Speaking volume

Steps:
1. Smile and greet examiner
2. Introduce yourself
3. Ask to sit down
4. Ask to begin reading
5. When done, smile and thank examiner

32
 Lastly, good luck!
believe in yourself and be confident and all will be well for you!

33