PSLE 2024: 5 PSLE Grammar Questions You May Encounter!

Let’s take a look at PSLE 2023: 5 PSLE Grammar Questions You May Encounter, shall we?

The Grammar MCQ section of the PSLE paper is one section where it is definitely possible for you to score full marks in! To do so, you need to be able to identify the rule that is being tested and to apply your knowledge of the rule accordingly. This also means that you should be looking out for clues within the question to help you work out the correct option, while eliminating the wrong ones. Today, I will be looking at 5 of the PSLE Grammar Questions that were tested in the PSLE 2023 paper, and sharing with you how to tackle them. Ready to learn what they are? Let’s dive right in!

The first clue that you should identify is the word ‘seems’. One of the more common collocation with this word is the preposition ‘to’. As such, it is possible to eliminate the first two options:

The next clues are the phrase ‘since I last saw him’ and the word ‘now’. We normally use ‘seem to + have + participle’ to give the impression of having done an action in the past, i.e. the action of losing weight has already been done because Mohan looks fitter and healthier now, different from how I last saw him. Therefore, the answer for this question is (4) to have lost:

For who / whose / whom / which, the first step is to look at the word after the blank.

For this question, ‘opinions’ is something that belongs to the person mentioned before the blank (Mrs Phua). Therefore, the answer for this question would be the relative pronoun that indicates possession, (4) whose.

For questions asking us to choose an appropriate quantifier to a given noun, the first step is to identify the noun and whether it is countable or uncountable. In this question, ‘luck” is an uncountable noun (UC), therefore you would need to choose the quantifier that goes with such a noun:

Next, eliminate the incorrect quantifiers. ‘many’ and ‘a large number of’ can be crossed out because they are usually used with countable nouns (C).

Last but not least, look for other clues in the question. Since he has won the top prize for the past two years, we know that he is a rather lucky person! That’s why ‘enough’ cannot be used because it does not signify the amount of luck it takes for this to happen, which should be a significant amount. Therefore, the only suitable answer here is (3) a great deal of, which can be used for uncountable nouns such as luck, time, money and trouble.

At a glance, this question seems a tad complicated. However, if you really break it down, you will realise that it is actually a simple Subject-Verb Agreement question! You just need to identify the subject before you proceed with anything else. What is this sentence about? Is it about the different types of books or is it about the action of reading different types of books? If you’re unsure, ask yourself this question: WHAT “improves my vocabulary”? Since the answer is the action of reading different types of books, then we should highlight that as the subject. Let’s also label it ’S’ for singular because there is only ONE action being mentioned (reading):

Remember to eliminate the wrong options. In this case, ‘helping’ is incorrect because the verb form does not fit in the sentence given. Options (1) and (4) are also incorrect because they both only agree with a plural subject.

Therefore, the answer for this question is (2) helps as it agrees with the singular subject.

This is another question testing Subject-Verb Agreement. One way you can tell that is by looking at the options given – notice how you are given singular (is / has), as well as plural verbs (are / have). Just like the previous question, the first thing you should do is to identify the subject. In this instance, it is ‘luggage’. Don’t be tricked by the word ‘all’ and think that ‘luggage’ requires a plural verb here! It is an uncountable noun and is always single. Therefore, put ‘UC=S’ above ‘luggage’ to denote that.

This will then allow you to eliminate the incorrect options, namely (2) are and (4) have been because both only agree with plural subjects. The tricky part is then to locate other clues to help you decide between ‘is’ and ‘has been’. ‘Up to now’ indicates that the action started in the past, but is still ongoing in the present, which shows that the answer needs to be in the present perfect tense. Therefore, the answer for this question is (3) has been.

So there you have it – 5 PSLE Grammar Questions that you may encounter in your exam! I hope you found the steps useful and now feel ready to tackle this section in the PSLE. Remember, practice makes perfect and looking for the right clues increases your accuracy! If you have any further questions, do share them with us in the comments section. See you in my next post!