Grammar And Editing

As we have already learnt about singular and plural nouns, regular and irregular nouns, and comprehension, let’s solve a few questions now.

Question 1:

“Both of these are good but the red __________ is my favourite.”

1. dress
2. dressed
3. dresses
4. dresser

Answer:

1) dress

Explanation:

Answer is a singular word, used for singular nouns. 

So the correct answer is 1) dress.

Question 2:

All the __________ in this neighbourhood love Todo the dog.

1. child
2. childs
3. children
4. childerns

Answer: 

3) children

Explanation:

There are no such words as childs and childrens. All is used for plural nouns. 

So the correct answer is 3) children. 

Question 3: 

Odd one out: The following is a list of regular nouns, except one of them isn’t! Which word doesn’t belong?

1. Sweet
2. Calculator
3. Life
4. Book 

Answer:

3) Life

Explanation:

You don’t have to change the spelling for regular nouns. Here sweet, calculator, and book become plural nouns by adding s, which means they are regular nouns. Life becomes lives, which means it isn't a regular noun. 

The correct answer is 3) Life.

Tense and spelling errors

• The tense of a verb tells you when an action takes place.
• Remember: read the full sentence/paragraph to understand the tense and check (useful for all question types, regardless of subject).
• Spelling errors can sometimes lead to confusion.

Present and past tense

• The present tense is used for actions happening right now. Eg. run, clap, sing.
• The past tense is used for action that has already happened. Whether it was a minute ago, yesterday, or even 5 years ago, generally we use the past tense. Eg. ran, clapped, sang.

Note - some verbs change quite a bit in their past tense form. Eg. eat - ate. 

Future tense 

• Used for action that will happen in the future. Any time that is after the present, is the future.
• Extremely easy because you just need to add a modal in front such as “will” or “shall”.

I will meet you tomorrow.

You will go there later.

I shall do as you wish.

• One thing special about “shall” is that it can be used when you want to make an offer/suggestion. E.g. Shall I make you a cup of tea?
• Remember: We NEVER use “will/shall” with a past tense verb. It simply does not make any sense.

Question 4:

Sounds good. I __________ you there tomorrow.

1. meet
2. will meet
3. met
4. will met

Answer:

2) will meet.

Explanation: 

Our hint is tomorrow - future tense. That means we have to use will. 

The correct answer is 2) will meet.

Question 5:

Bye Mum, I __________ going to school now.

1. am
2. is
3. was
4. were

Answer:

1) am

Explanation:

Let’s look at the hints here - now is present tense. That means was and were is not an option. Never use is with I.

So the correct answer is 1) am.

Question 6:

You think you can defeat me. We __________ see about that.

1. see
2. saw
3. shall see
4. shall saw

Answer:

3) shall see.

Explanation:

Let’s look at the first sentence - it’s a question. So the next sentence should be future tense.

Hence the correct answer is 3) shall see.

Question 7:

It __________ heavily last night.

1. rain
2. rained
3. will rain
4. will rained

Answer:

2) rained

Explanation:

Let’s look at the hint here - last night is past tense. Rain and will rain are present and future tenses. Will rained is incorrect. 

So the correct answer is 2) rained - which is past tense too. 

Spelling errors

Some English words have strange or unintuitive spelling. (Something that is “unintuitive” does not work the way you expect it to be.)

For example: 

4  →  four,  but 40  →  forty,  NOT fourty

• Reading a lot helps your brain to get used to patterns of a language. 
• Read many books, of all types eg. fiction, non-fiction, fantasy, science fiction, and news articles. That way, you get exposed to many words.
• Trust your brain to be able to make sense of things. It is really incredible.

Question 8: 

In the bedroom, there’s a little bookshelf in the cornar.

1. cornur
2. conner
3. corner
4. connor

Answer:

3) corner

Explanation: 

Let’s understand each of these words. Cornur is not a word. Conner is the name of a person. Similarly, connor is also a person’s name. 

So the correct answer is 3) corner.

Question 9:

Does this contain milk? I am allergic to diary.

1. dreary (something that is so dull and repetitive that it feels so awful)
2. diaree (no such word)
3. dairee (no such word)
4. dairy (milk and milk products eg. cheese, butter, milk)

Answer:

4) dairy

Explanation:

As you can see from the hints in the form of each word's meaning explained in brackets, you know that the correct answer is 4) dairy. 

Question 10:

My younger sister is only a year old but she can already read and wright.

1. write
2. rite (a religious or serious ceremony)
3. ryte (no such word)
4. right

Answer:

1) write

Explanation:

Now here also, with the hint explanations of the words, you can already make out the correct answer is 1) write. 

Question 11: 

The number 40 is spelt __________.

1. fourty
2. forty
3. fortey
4. fourtea

Answer:

2) forty

Explanation: 

There are no words like fortey and fourtea. 

The correct answer is 2) forty. 

Summarising what we learned today

• Present tense is used for actions happening right now.
• Past tense is used for actions that have already happened.
• Future tense is used for actions that will happen in the future.
• “Shall” can also be used when you make an offer/suggestion.
• We NEVER use “will/shall” with past tense verbs.