A Small Test on English Grammar

hog.wash

Round 2 Articles

As some readers are interested, I see no reason why we cannot have some more for a while.

Articles are problematic for Chinese students as we do not have such things in Chinese. Funny enough, the best way to learn them is probably through writing, not through reading, because you tend to skip them when you read.

Again, able students of P6 to F2 should be able to answer at least some of them as they are copied from the notebook I used together with my daughters when they were such ages.

I will post my answers next Saturday.  

Fill in suitable articles (a, an, the) where necessary:

1. He is ___ university student.
2. There is ___ MTR exit nearby.
3. He works at ___ hospital.
4. I am going to ___ hospital to visit Mr Wong.
5. There is a fair at ___ church this afternoon.
6. Is ___ Dengue fever contagious?
7. The teacher came into the classroom, ___ book in hand.
8. The policeman caught the robber by ___ arm.

Q7 & 8 are quite difficult and I don't expect too many lower form students will be able to answer them, possibly except for those who really do a lot of reading or study in international schools.

[ 本帖最後由 hog.wash 於 10-11-22 21:28 編輯 ]

hog.wash

原帖由 stccmc 於 10-11-21 20:22 發表
For Q2, while I agree most of what uncle said, saying "When will we watch?" is Wrong is really harsh for young students.

Agreed. Simple future tense is perfectly acceptable in primary schools or most junior forms. As I said to Whady, even simple present tense is sort of acceptable.

hog.wash

原帖由 stccmc 於 10-11-21 21:37 發表


My girl's answers:

1. a
2. an
3. a
4. the
5. the
6. /
7. /
8. the

I forgot this. Please indicate whether your kid is biased towards British English more or American English more?

wbady

1. He is __a_ university student.
2. There is __an_ MTR exit nearby.
3. He works at __a_ hospital.
4. I am going to __the_ hospital to visit Mr Wong.
5. There is a fair at __the_ church this afternoon.
6. Is __the_ Denque fever contagious?
7. The teacher came into the classroom, __X_ book in hand.
8. The policeman caught the robber by _the__ arm.

hog.wash

Answers to Quiz Two


1. He is __a_ university student.
2. There is __an_ MTR exit nearby.
3. He works at __a_ hospital.
4. I am going to __the_ hospital to visit Mr Wong.
5. There is a fair at __the_ church this afternoon.
6. Is __X_ Dengue fever contagious?
7. The teacher came into the classroom, __X_ book in hand.
8. The policeman caught the robber by _the__ arm.

Actually, the answers to Q3 to Q5 are the same even American English is used. However, we say "the victim has been sent to hospital" in British English but "to the hospital" in American English. We say "go to church on Sunday" in British English but "go to the church on Sunday" in American English. Q7 and Q8 are fixed expressions. Many students in their writing would write "caught the robber by his arm" but the proper expression is "by the arm".

All the answers provided are very impressive indeed. They help to illustrate the point that reading helps.

[ 本帖最後由 hog.wash 於 10-11-27 21:08 編輯 ]

wbady

Thank you for the answers. May I ask why #6 is 'X'? I thought it is 'the' because I have seen sentences like 'the flu is contageous but usually not fatal'.

hog.wash

原帖由 wbady 於 10-11-27 21:09 發表
Thank you for the answers. May I ask why #6 is 'X'? I thought it is 'the' because I have seen sentences like 'the flu is contageous but usually not fatal'.

We say "influenza" but we say "the flu". Strange, isn't it?

hog.wash

原帖由 stccmc 於 10-11-27 22:02 發表
Thanks uncle.

You should give your girl a big hug. Well done indeed.