the PEDAGOGY domain

Spot the error - Answer

If you have seen this post on our Facebook Page, you should be here because you want to know what is the right error. This is a good sign! It shows that you are still keen to find out if your understanding of English grammar is correct. :) An open and curious mind is the best learning tool!

Alright, back to the question - what is the correct error?

In the picture, Little Mary, the student was confused over the meaning of 'toast', which is in fact a homonym (word that is spelt and pronounced the same way, but has different meaning). 'Toast' as a noun (name) can mean:

'sliced bread browned on both sides by exposure to radiant heat, such as a grill or fire.'

'a call to a gathering of people to raise their glasses and drink together in honour of a person or thing, or an instance of drinking in this way.'

If we take the first meaning, we should eat the 'toast', since it is a bread.

If we take the second meaning, we should drink the 'toast', since it a drink.

In this case, the teacher is using the second meaning of toast - a drink - so there is no need to change drank to ate.

If so, what is the error?

The error is still the word 'drank', but we need to change the tense of the word, and not the meaning.

A verb (action word) has many forms, depending on when we are doing the action. The table below summarizes the different forms of 'drink'.

Present (Singular)	Present (Plural)	Present Participle	Past	Past Participle
Drinks	Drink	Drinking	Drank	Drunk
Habit/fact	- Habit/fact - Infinitive	- Continuous action - Planned/predicted action	Past action	- Completed action - Passive voice

When there is a was in front of the verb, we should use either

Past Continuous Tense -- was + present participle (i.e. was drinking) to show that the action was still continuing at a point in the past

Past tense in Passive Voice -- was + past participle (i.e. was drunk) to show that something was done to the subject* in the past

*A subject is usually the noun (person/thing) doing the action and is found before the verb (action).

Here, the subject is "The toast".

When the subject did the action, we can use the Active Voice (He drank the toast.)

When the subject was not doing the action, or rather, when the action was done to the subject i.e. the subject is passive, we use the Passive Voice (The toast was drunk.)

In this case, 'the toast' is passive ('The toast drank with happiness' cannot happen because the toast is not a living thing), so we should use the Past Tense in Passive Voice. Therefore the answer should be:

5 English Idioms or Phrases about the Moon

Lo and behold, it is Mid-Autumn Festival, or what we affectionately call the 'Mooncake Festival'!

On this day of full moon, moon cakes and lanterns, let's take a look at some popular idioms and phrases about the moon!

Once in a blue moon

How to REMEMBER it:

A 'blue moon' is a real astronomical phenomenon. It refers to the 'extra' full moon in a year when there are 13 full moons instead of the usual 12 full moons.

This happens once every two to three years to correct the timing in the seasons.

There are many sayings about why this extra full moon is called a blue moon, but the moon rarely looks blue except under certain atmospheric circumstances.

Owing to its rarity, the phrase 'once in a blue moon' is used to refer to a rare event.

How to USE it:

When I say "My friend only treats me to a meal once in a blue moon", it means this friend doesn't treat me to a meal very often. It happens once after a very long time.

Over the moon

How to REMEMBER it:

This phrase has been around since the 16th century, and is said to have originated from a famous, but rather meaningless nursery rhyme 'Hey Diddle Diddle' which goes like this:

“Hey diddle diddle, the cat and the fiddle,
The cow jumped over the moon.
The little dog laughed to see such fun
And the dish ran away with the spoon!”

The fact that the dog laughed at the cow jumping over the moon may have given the meaning of happiness to the phrase 'over the moon'. You can also remember it like this: when you are very happy, you feel like you can fly and go all the way till you are 'over the moon'. Either way, the phrase is used to express that you are extremely pleased and happy.

How to USE it:

"Gary is over the moon when he saw his birthday gift." This means that the gift Gary received must be something that he likes a lot, as he is delighted to receive the gift.

Ask for the moon

How to REMEMBER it:

The moon is beautiful, the moon is difficult to reach and (for a long time, we thought that) there is only one moon in the whole wide world. So, the moon is treated as the utmost priceless gift that anyone can ask for or give.

But the moon is not something that you can pick off the sky and give to someone, so it is impossible to gift the moon to anyone. Thus, when someone is 'asking for the moon', that person is making unreasonable demands for things, or wishing for something impossible to achieve or obtain.*

*Note: There is another similar phrase called 'promising the moon'. It is the opposite of 'asking for the moon'. When you 'promise the moon' to someone, you are making extravagant promises to someone which are difficult to deliver.

How to USE it:

Henry's boss gave him a lot of work at 5pm and told him to finish the work by the next day. Henry told his boss "It is impossible to finish this work by tonight. You are asking for the moon." This means that it is impossible to accomplish what is asked of him and it is unreasonable to ask for that.

Shoot for the moon

How to REMEMBER it:

When we shoot, we need a target.
If the target is close and easy to reach, we will definitely be able to hit it.
If the target is further and more difficult to reach, it will motivate us to work harder to reach.

When we set the moon as our target, it is almost certain that we cannot reach it. But if we work hard enough towards that target, we will push ourselves to achieve beyond our limits. A famous quote by Norman Vincent Peale goes like this:

"Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you'll land among the stars"

So, to shoot for the moon means to aim incredibly high despite the high risk of failure.

How to USE it:

When Joseph Schooling, Singapore's first Olympics Gold medalist, first said that he wanted to win the Olympic Games in swimming at the age of eight, it was almost impossible. However, his parents did not stop him from setting that impossibly high goal, because it can motivate him to work harder towards the goal.

We would say that 'When Joseph decided that he wanted to become a professional swimmer, his parents encouraged him to shoot for the moon.'

Moonshine (in the water)

How to REMEMBER it:

Moonshine refers to moonlight. When you see moonlight in the water, it looks really beautiful, but in fact, it is actually just a reflection, and nothing more. Nowadays, the phrase 'moonshine in the water' is being shortened, and people usually just use the word 'moonshine' (which is also something that you can see, but cannot really touch) to refer to something that only have an appearance but no substance, nonsense or empty talk.

How to USE it:

"When the beggar says that he will buy a big house one day, people dismissed it off as moonshine."

People think what the beggar said was nonsense because according to them it is something that cannot be happening.

Hope you enjoyed this post. Happy Mid-Autumn!

About the Writer

Ms Vivien Wu is the founder of The Pedagogy Domain, a provider of small-group, home-based language workshops for young learners. As an experienced teacher, trainer and facilitator, she is dedicated to improve learners' command of language through interactive, practical and fun workshops. Read more about her here.

If you are keen to join our PSLE English Preparatory Class, see here for details!

Idiom: Let sleeping dogs lie

It's idiom time again!

Let's test your understanding of this idiom - let sleeping dogs lie

How to REMEMBER it:

What happens when you disturb a sleeping or eating dog?

The dog will most likely be aggressive, because they are enjoying their nap/food and will feel threatened when disturbed.

So always remember, if you do not want to get into trouble with the dog, leave it alone when it is sleeping peacefully - and that is what the idiom mean exactly!

" One should leave something alone if it might cause trouble."

How to USE it:

In my example, I wrote "We caught the kid stealing some bread, but we decided to let him off as we decided to let sleeping dogs lie."

Why is letting the kid off likened to "letting sleeping dogs lie"?

The kid may be stealing bread because he is too hungry, if we report him to the police, he may get into trouble. Since we have caught him (and probably warned him about it), no harm was done, and it was better to leave the situation as it is, instead of blowing it up and creating trouble.

Try using this idiom now!

About the Writer

If you are keen to join our PSLE English Preparatory Class, see here for details!

Mnemonics - a great way to improve your spelling

Let's face it, accurate spelling is a very important part of doing well in English Language.

But spelling is very much difficult to remember in English despite the rules, as there are just so many exceptions.

While there are many ways to remember the spellings, like phonetic spelling and spelling rules, the best way to make sure you spell correctly is to read more (so you see the words enough time to know the spelling) and to write more (so that you can commit the spelling to memory).

So, as you can see, there is no shortcuts to mastering spelling - memorization is the best route. However, there is a good tool to help you memorize effectively - Mnemonics!

While we spend the bulk of our time on practising for our Papers 1 & 2, let's not forget that we also have 2 other papers to practise on!

Today, we are going to revise Paper 4, Oral Communication

Made of, Made with or Made from?

Do you recall the difference between 'made of', 'made with' and 'made from'?

When a verb is followed by a preposition, we call the phrase prepositional verbs.
Prepositions are words that show the relation between a noun or pronoun with another word.

Different prepositions can result in a different meaning.
Sometimes, the difference is so subtle that it may be confusing, like in this case.

A cloze passage test - Answers

Here are the answers to the cloze passage test yesterday. Look through the comments and circled words in the passage to appreciate how you should approach a cloze test. Remember to base on the context and refer to the passage for hints!

A cloze passage test

A CLOZE test (also cloze deletion test) is an exercise, test, or assessment consisting of a portion of text with certain words removed, where the participant is asked to replace the missing words.

"Cloze tests require the ability to understand context and vocabulary in order to identify the correct words or type of words that belong in the deleted passages of a text."

Idiom: A hot potato

Are you good with idioms?

I like idioms as they are fun, which makes them easier to remember!

Here's a fun one that you can add to your list of idioms - a hot potato!

Lie or Lay?

It's Sunday! I do not feel like waking up so early. Will I spend my day (lying/laying) in bed?

What is the difference between 'lie' and 'lay' and why is it confusing to remember?

Formal and Informal Letters

Let's revise letter writing today. Remember our discussion on formal and informal letters and the different formats you need to use for them? Besides the difference in format, we also need to use the appropriate tone for the kind of letters we are writing.

Writing prompts for daily writing

Practice makes perfect!

The best way to get ready for your writing test is to practice writing everyday! Follow this link for some interesting writing prompts - one for each day!

"Shall" or " Will"?

36 more days to PSLE! Let's revise what we have learnt in class!
Do you remember the difference between "I will go to school" and "I shall go to school"?

Click on this link to find out more!

ASPIRATIONS

Do you recall what occupation you chose the first time you wrote on the topic "My Ambition"?

Recently, there had been a lot of discussions on the virtues of tuition, the "shadow education" that is slowly overshadowing Singapore's mainstream education system.

I would like to give my two cents worth on what I gathered from the discussions on this phenomenon.

WHAT YOUR CHILD REALLY NEEDS

As a working parent, do you know what your child really needs?

Are you giving them the right attention?

CLASS, GROUP OR INDIVIDUAL - FINDING THE BEST FIT FOR YOUR CHILD

So you have decided that your child needs private help.

Then comes another headache - which kind of private help should you get?

Enrichment classes in tuition centers, small group tuition at the tutor's premises, or home tuition at your convenience?