NOTES FOR QUESTION 1 (SECTION A)

Many students struggle with this part of the paper , especially the weaker group. So I made this to let them focus on some of the more frequent questions asked in Q1. 8 areas are discussed here. The whole list is a little too long so I decided to split into two posts. I hope it helps you and your learners as well!

1. For nouns (kata nama),

   When the number of people/thing is only 1, the noun should not add ‘-s’, ‘-es’, When the number of people/thing is 2 or more, the noun should add ‘-s’, ‘-es’,

 

*Special words:     1 man –> 2 men

                                    1 woman –> 2 women

                                    1 policeman –> 2 policemen

e.g.:

	Answers
1. Two monkey walked pass our house this morning.	monkeys
2. More than twenty student are running around in the school compound.	students
3. The companies is one of the top companies in Malaysia.	company
4. Two man are caught for stealing the money.	men

 

2. am VS is VS are

          was VS were

am, is, are, was, were are VERBS (kata kerja).

am, is, are, are used in simple present tense.

was, were are used in simple past tense.

 

When 1 person / thing is mentioned, the verb ‘is’ is used in simple present, ‘was’ is used in simple past.

When 2 or more persons/things are mentioned, the verb ‘are’ is used in simple present; ‘were’ is used in simple past.

For ‘I’, ‘am’ is used in simple present; ‘was’ is used in simple past

	Simple present	Simple past
He/She/ 1 person/thing	is	was
We/ They/ You/2persons or more/ 2 things or more	are	were
I	am	was

 

e.g.:

	Answers
1. Today, he are given the best student award.	is
2. They were going to the school now.	are
3. Last year, he is working in New Zealand. He earned 5k a month.	was
4. Annie and Weeshen was good friends. They had been friends for ten years.	were
5. Yesterday, I am in my uncle’s house for three hours.	was

3. has VS have VS had

has, have, and had are VERBS (kata kerja).

has and have are used in simple present tense.

had is used in simple past tense.

 

When 1 person / thing is mentioned, the verb ‘has’ is used in simple present, ‘had’ is used in simple past.

When 2 or more persons/things are mentioned, the verb ‘have’ is used in simple present; ‘had’ is used in simple past.

For ‘I’, ‘have’ is used in simple present; ‘had’ is used in simple past.

 

	Simple present	Simple past
He/She/ 1 person/thing	has	had
We/ They/ You/2persons or more/ 2 things or more	have	had
I	have	had

 

e.g.:

	Answers
1. I has a house near my hometown.	have
2. The law firm have confirmed that they will sign the contract tomorrow.	has
3. Last year, Sheena has three pets. However, one of the cats died in January.	had
4. My brother have a heart disease so he cannot be too active in sports.	has
5. Mother had three siblings and she loves them very much.	has

4. In simple present,

When 1 person / thing is mentioned, the verb should add ‘-s’, ‘-es’, 

When 2 or more persons/things are mentioned, the verb should not add ‘-s’, ‘-es’,

*be careful, this is different from TIP 1: (noun) 

 e.g.:

	Answers
1. The shop sell great products.	sells
2. The factories costs the owner 1 million to build.	cost
3. Six students advances to the second round of the essay writing competition.	advance
4. Ali wash the car every week.	washes
5. Swimming require a lot of energy.	requires

 

5. VERB TO BE +ing

In present continuous, add ‘-ing’ at the back of the verb after ‘am’, ‘is’, ‘are’,

In past continuous, add ‘-ing’ at the back of the verb after ‘was’, ‘were’

e.g.:

	Answers
1. Yolanda and Jesse are go to be the next Beyonce in the future.	going
2. A laptop is become a need in today’s society.	becoming
3. This watch is sell very fast now.	selling
4. This month last year, Saron was give a talk at the Cambridge University.	giving
5. The girls were sit near the balcony when I walked in.	sitting

 

6. Verbs (Kata Kerja) after ‘to’, should not have ‘-s’, ‘-es’, ‘-ed,’ or ‘-ing’

e.g.:

	Answers
1. I want to goes to school now.	go
2. The company wants to formed a new marketing team.	form
3. 10 years ago, Jane decided to came back to her hometown.	come
4. Not long ago, Lee wanted to creating a new application for iPhone.	create
5. My brother is an artist. He plans to works in a gallery soon.	work

 

7. Verbs (Kata Kerja) after ‘will’, ‘will not’, ‘can’, ‘cannot’, ‘should’, ‘should not’, ‘would’, ‘would not’, ‘shall’, shall not’, ‘must’, ‘must not’, should not have ‘-s’, ‘-es’, ‘-ed,’ or ‘-ing’

e.g.:

	Answers
1. We must not polluted the environment because we only have one Earth.	pollute
2. The students can coming out from the class after 12.30pm	come
3. The new medicine will saves many lives in the future.	save
4. The government must took action to tackle the increasing rate of vandalism in  town.	take
5. I would talks to her once she is here.	talk

 

8. a VS an VS the

a + singular noun beginning with a consonant: a toy; a bar; a table; a zoo; a bottle

*special words: a university, a uniform

 

an + singular noun beginning with a vowel (a,e,i,o,u): an island; an egg; an artist; an umbrella; an organ

*special words: an hour, an honest man,

 

the – refer to something specific: I have a car. The car is blue.

       – special nouns: Names: the Nile river, the North Pole.

       –uncountable nouns: I put the water in the bottle.

                                               Put the salt into the pot.

e.g.:

	Answers
1. The diet you are eating now is a unhealthy diet.	an
2. We need an car to travel to the next city.	a
3. Jane is the best person in a whole world.	the
4. A sun is scorching hot right now.	The
5. A apple a day keeps the doctor away.	An
6. There is an key on the table but no one knows whose key is that.	a

For more, you can find part 2 in : PT3- Last Minute Revision Notes For Question 1 (Part2)

Happy Teaching, Happy Learning.